Conservation tillage has been promoted as a solution to counteract constraints caused by intensive agriculture. In this work the effects of two conservation tillage systems, reduced tillage (RT) and no-tillage (NT) were compared to the traditional tillage (TT) in a long(15 years, RT) and short-term experiment (3 years, NT). Both experiments were carried out under semi-arid, rainfed agriculture ...

Conservation tillage combined with cover crops or mulching may enhance natural enemy activity in agroecosystems by reducing soil disturbance and increasing habitat structural complexity. In particular, weed seed predation can increase with vegetation cover and reduced tillage, indicating that mulches may improve the quality of the habitat for weed seed foraging. The purpose of this study was to...

The effects of conservation-tillage practices on the root environment of corn (Zea mays L.) may differ with varying amounts of irrigation. Dryland, 50% irrigation, and 100% irrigation treatments were applied in combination with disc, no-tillage, and a postemergence chisel treatment designed to allow rapid infiltration of irrigation water. The study was conducted during the 1980 growing season a...

Two field experiments were conducted for two years with the aim of studying the effects of deep tillage and straw returning on soil microorganism and enzyme activity in clay and loam soil. Three treatments, (1) conventional tillage (CT), shallow tillage and straw returning; (2) deep tillage (DT), deep tillage and straw returning; and (3) deep tillage with no straw returning (DNT), were carried ...

Management of crop residues and soil organic matter is of primary importance in maintaining soil fertility and productivity and in minimizing agricultural impact on the environment. Our objective was to determine the effects of traf®c and tillage on short-term carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) ̄uxes from a representative soil in the southeastern Coastal Plain (USA). The study was conducted o...

The effect of tillage intensity on nematode community trophic structure and the role of nematodes in the regulation of decomposition rates in agroecosystems were examined. Conventional (CT) and no-tillage (NT) agroecosystems were sampled monthly for 1 year. Tillage affected nematode trophic structure and total abundance. Monthly mean densities of bacterivorous, fungivorous, and total nematodes ...

A microplot experiment was conducted in soybean–wheat cropping system at New Delhi during 2010-11 and 2011-12 to study the effect of continuous or cyclic tillage, viz., conventional tillage (CT) and zero-tillage (ZT) and residue management of either soybean (SR) and/or wheat (WR) on yield performance and soil physico-chemical properties. The experiment was laid out in randomized block desi...

1545 Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 73:1545-1558 doi:10.2136/sssaj2008.0311 Received 26 Sept. 2008. *Corresponding author ([email protected]). © Soil Science Society of America 677 S. Segoe Rd. Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any informatio...

Interest in tillage impacts on sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) has increased greatly during recent years. The use of reduced and no-tillage (NT) practices generally increases the SOC concentration in surface few centimeters when compared to conventionally tilled soils. However, use of conservation tillage does not always result in increased SOC storage overall. The effects of sample ...