Rice receives a large amount of water during land preparation and the growing period, causing poor crop water productivity and lower net benefits. In wheat, excessive tillage operations delay its sowing, resulting in low yields and net returns. Dry seeding of rice and zero tillage in wheat can be expected to reduce water inputs and tillage costs compared with the conventional system of rice-whe...

As a conventional farming practice, tillage has lasted for thousands of years in Loess Plateau, China. Although recent studies show that tillage is a prominent culprit to soil carbon loss in croplands, few studies have investigated the influences of tillage on the responses of soil CO2 efflux (SCE) to soil temperature and moisture. Using a multi-channel automated CO2 efflux chamber system, we m...

In arable cropping systems, reduced or conservation tillage practices are linked with improved soil quality, C retention and higher microbial biomass, but most long-term studies rarely focus on depths greater than 15 cm nor allow comparison of microbial community responses to agricultural practices. We investigated microbial community structure in a long-term field trial (12-years, Lincoln, New...

Few experiments in the coastal plain region of the southeastern United States have reported the effect of long-term tillage and tillage intensity on chemical soil quality indicators. The purpose of this study was to determine the 17-year influence of four tillage systems on chemical soil quality indicators in a Benndale fine sandy loam (coarse-loamy, siliceous, semiactive, thermic, Typic Paleud...

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 ...

Soil nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) data arranged on a three-dimensional grid were analyzed to compare tillage effect on the spatial distribution of residual NO3-N in the soil profile of agricultural plots drained by subsurface tiles. A three-dimensional median-based resistant (to outlier(s)) approach was developed to polish the spatially located data on soil NO3-N affected by directional trends (non...

Tillage has long been an essential component of traditional agricultural systems. Broadly defined, tillage is the mechanical manipulation of the soil and plant residues to prepare a seedbed for crop planting. The benefits of tillage are many: it loosens soil, enhances the release of nutrients from the soil for crop growth, kills weeds, and regulates the circulation of water and air within the s...

Understanding tillage, N, and P interactions can contribute to improved N and P utilization and crop response. This study examined the interaction effects of tillage and N rate of two N sources on N and P uptake by corn (Zea mays L.). The study was conducted on Kenyon loam (fine loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludolls) soil at the Iowa State University Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm nea...