The low average grain yield (0.7 ton ha(-1)) of tef in Ethiopia is mainly attributed to low soil fertility, and inappropriate tillage and weeds control practices. Despite this, limited scientific information has been documented so far on their interaction effects on tef crop productivity in northern Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to assess the separate and interaction effects of till...

Post-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land may provide an excellent opportunity to satisfy certified organic crop production requirements. However, conversion of CRP or long-term pastureland to certified organic production will require tillage because the use of herbicides is prohibited in organic production. Our objectives were to evaluate stand establishment, weed competition, yield, and gr...

Maintenance and improvement of soil quality in continuous cropping systems is critical to sustaining agricultural productivity and environmental quality for future generations. This review focuses on lessons learned from long-term continuous cropping experiments. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most often reported attribute from long-term studies and is chosen as the most important indicator o...

The paper presents comparison of three soil tillage systems in maize, winter wheat and soybean growing on anthropogenic Albic Luvisol in north-west Slavonia, Croatia, during 1996-1999. Tillage systems and implements were: 1. conventional system (CT)-plough, disc-harrow and combined implement, 2. conservation system (RT)-chisel plough and multitiller, 3. no-till system (NT). The aim of testing w...

BACKGROUND A three-year field experiment was conducted to examine the responses of corn yield and soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission to various management practices in middle Tennessee. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The management practices include no-tillage + regular applications of urea ammonium nitrate (NT-URAN); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + denitrification inhibitor (NT-in...

In this study a comparison of the soil CO2 fluxes emitted from two maize (Zea mays L.) fields with the same soil type was performed. Each field was treated with a different tillage technique: conventional tillage (30 cm depth ploughing) and no-tillage. Measurements were performed in the Po Valley (Italy) from September to October 2012, covering both pre- and postharvesting conditions, by means ...

Roots may respond to restrictive soil physical conditions and send signals to shoots to control plant growth. Soil mechanical resistance and aeration can be managed to improve the soil physical conditions for plant growth by using different tillage systems. The objective of this study was to quantify the influence of no-tillage and conventional-tillage systems on plant response to soil mechanic...

Decisions about reducing agricultural land tillage to offset global warming potential (GWP) are based on the evaluation of the agricultural eco-system and the profitability to local farms. Carbon sequestration and nitrous oxide emissions from winter wheat (WW) cropping were evaluated by modeling typical dryland cropping systems in eastern Washington. Variations in rainfall, tillage intensity an...

A field experiment with six treatments was conducted to study the nitrogen reserves in summer maize topsoil on the north China plain. Results showed that topdressing significantly increased topsoil nitrogen reserves. Summer corn topsoil nitrogen reserves were affected by several management measures. Shallow tillage, wheat straw no-returning and deep intertillage at the corn seedling stage signi...

Soil thermal conductivity determines how a soil warms or cools with exchange of energy by conduction, convection, and radiation. The ability to monitor soil thermal conductivity is an important tool in managing the soil temperature regime to affect seed germination and crop growth. In this study, the temperature-by-time data was obtained using a single probe device to determine the soil thermal...