Soil Physical Characteristics and Crop Productivity as Affected by Tillage in Rice-Wheat System

Abstract

Tillage practices significantly influences soil physical characteristics and crop productivity. The infiltration characteristics, bulk density, porosity, penetration resistance, grain yield of rice and wheat were measured under no-till without residue (NT), roto-tillage (RT), and no-till with residue i.e. happy seeder (HS) in rice-wheat cropping system in sandy loam (SL) and loamy sand (LS) soils. For surface soil layer (0-15 cm) highest soil bulk density (Mg m -3 ) was recorded in HS (1.58) followed by RT (1.56) and NT (1.55) in LS soil. Soil porosity ranged from 40.6 % to 41.2 % under HS and RT, respectively for 0-15 cm depth in SL soil. The PR (K Pa) varied from 2412 (NT) to 2539 (HS) in SL. In LS soil PR (K Pa) varied from 2433 (NT) to 2603 (RT). Final infiltration rate (FIR) varied from 0.1 to 0.3 cm hr -1 under RT and NT in SL soil, while, in LS soil FIR varied from 0.5 to 0.8 cm hr -1 in RT and HS, respectively. Maximum rice grain yield (t ha -1 ) was recorded in RT (8.0) followed by NT (7.5) and HS (7.0) in SL soil. The corresponding rice yield (t ha -1 ) in LS was 6.5, 5.8 and 5.5 in RT, NT and HS, respectively. Wheat straw yield (t ha -1 ) ranged from 4.9 (NT) to 5.9 (HS) in SL soil. The wheat grain yield (t ha -1 ) was observed to be maximum in HS (4.5), followed by RT (4.0) and NT (3.9) in SL soil, while in LS soil the wheat grain yield (t ha -1 ) values were observed to be 2.7, 3.0 and 3.6 in NT, RT and HS, respectively. No significant effect of tillage and residue management practices was observed on grain yield of rice and wheat, however, significant changes were observed on water transmission characteristics and straw yields.