effect of sugarcane harvest machinery traffic on soil compaction in south west of khuzestan

in order to study the effects of sugar cane harvest machinery traffic on bulk density and cone index variation, a survey was conducted in 10 farms of deabel khozaiee sugarcane agro-industrial company, ahvaz, in 2006. in this experiment, two types of harvesters including wheel half track and tire wheels with 14 tons of weight, versus two types of tractor and basket transporters, with 10 and 18 tons of weight, both with two axles were used. soil bulk density was measured in 3 depths (0-5, 30-35, 60-65 cm) and cone index was determined at 80 cm depth. results revealed increased soil bulk density at all depths. the highest amount of increase of soil bulk density with 6.69% was measured in 0-5 cm depth. half track harvester increased bulk density more than wheel type harvester, but at 60- 65 cm depth wheeled harvester with 5.89% increase was higher than half truck harvester. variation of soil bulk density in both transporters was not significant at any depth. results showed that cone index measurement was only greater for half truck harvester treatment where soil moisture was near field capacity. cone index for half truck and 18 ton transporter at 60-80 cm depth was significantly greater (p≤ 5%), but for other treatments and depth variations, it did not show any significant difference. generally, results showed greater use of harvesters and wheel half trucks and harvest at low soil moisture could reduce sugar cane field compaction problems.