Enhancement of Subsoiling Effect on Soil Strength by Conservation Tillage

ABSTRACT THE effects of deep tillage are believed to differ for conventional vs. conservation tillage in the sandy Ultisols of the southeastern Coastal Plains of the United States. To test this, cone indices were measured for a conventional tillage and a conservation tillage treatment before and after in-row subsoil-planting. In the first year of the study, the conservation tillage treatment had a significantly higher moisture content (15.1 vs 12.1% on a dry weight basis) and a mean soil strength that was 0.70 MPa less than the conventional treatment. In the second year, the conservation tillage treatment had a lower moisture content (13.2 vs. 14.9%) and a mean soil strength that was 0.29 MPa greater than the conventional treatment. However, after conventional treatment strengths were corrected for soil moisture content differences, the mean strengths were about the same. The differences in the distribution of the strengths favored the conservation tillage treatment which was evenly distributed while the conventional tillage treatment had areas of higher strength that could more easily inhibit root growth.

[1]  Howard M. Taylor,et al.  SOIL STRENGTH‐ROOT PENETRATION RELATIONS FOR MEDIUM- TO COARSE‐TEXTURED SOIL MATERIALS , 1966 .

[2]  N. Draper,et al.  Applied Regression Analysis. , 1967 .

[3]  C. R. Camp,et al.  Effect of Mechanical Impedance on Cotton Root Growth , 1968 .

[4]  J. G. Collins.  FORECASTING TRAFFICABILITY OF SOILS; REPORT 10: RELATIONS OF STRENGTH TO OTHER PROPERTIES OF FINE-GRAINED SOILS AND SANDS WITH FINES , 1971 .

[5]  J. Ketcheson,et al.  INFLUENCE OF SOIL BULK DENSITY AND MATRIC PRESSURE ON SOIL RESISTANCE TO PENETRATION , 1972 .

[6]  Paul N. Walker,et al.  Tractionability As a Function of Soil Moisture , 1977 .

[7]  D. K. Cassel,et al.  Conservation tillage in the Southeast , 1977 .

[8]  D. K. Cassel,et al.  Variability of Mechanical Impedance in a Tilled One-hectare Field of Norfolk Sandy Loam 1 , 1979 .

[9]  J. V. Perumpral,et al.  Moisture and Density Effect on Cone Index , 1981 .

[10]  J. T. Touchton,et al.  Soybean Tillage and Planting Method Effects on Yield of Double-Cropped Wheat and Soybeans1 , 1982 .

[11]  C. J. Gerard,et al.  Physical Factors Influencing Soil Strength and Root Growth1 , 1982 .

[12]  E. Dale Threadgill,et al.  Residual Tillage Effects as Determined by Cone Index , 1982 .

[13]  G. W. Langdale,et al.  The effects of in-row subsoil tillage and soil water on corn yields in the southeastern coastal plain of the United States , 1984 .

[14]  F. V. Pumphrey,et al.  Restricted Rooting Decreases Tillering and Growth of Winter Wheat1 , 1984 .

[15]  G. Hofman,et al.  Root-growth response of winter barley to subsoiling , 1984 .

[16]  Douglas L. Karlen,et al.  Conservation tillage for soybean in the U.S. Southeastern Coastal Plain , 1984 .

[17]  C. W. Doty,et al.  Simplified data analysis for an inexpensive manual analogue penetrometer , 1986 .

[18]  C. W. Doty,et al.  RESIDUAL EFFECTS OF TILLAGE ON COASTAL PLAIN SOIL STRENGTH1 , 1986 .

[19]  W. Busscher,et al.  The effect of texture on strength of southeastern coastal plain soils , 1986 .