DEVELOPING CONSERVATION TILLAGE SYSTEMS FOR THE, TENNESSEE VALLEY REGION IN ALABAMA

Cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) has been grown continuously on many of the silt-loam and silty-clay loam soils of Alabama's Tennessee River Valley for over a hundred years. For many of the farms in the region, conservation tillage is the only practical option available to meet soil conservation compliance guidelines, however. yields with no-tillage have not been competitive to conventional tillage on these soils. In 1995 we began a study to develop a conservation tillage system for these soils that would improve soil quality while maintaining yield levels. The study is located at the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station’s Tennessee Valley substation. Belle Mina, AL on a Decatur silt loam. The experimental design is a randomized complete block of four replications. Treatments ate: 1) fall ridging with subsoiling, 2) fall ridging without deep tillage, 3) flat planting with subsoiling, 4) flat planting without deep