1. Yield, water use productivity, and soil properties as influenced by conservation tillage and irrigation methods in wheat-maize cropping system.
- Author
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Afzalinia, Sadegh and Dehghanian, Sayed Ibrahim
- Subjects
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CONSERVATION tillage , *WATER use , *CROPPING systems , *IRRIGATION , *SOIL moisture , *NO-tillage , *CORN , *SOIL infiltration - Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate the interaction effect of conservation tillage and irrigation methods on the soil properties, crop yield and water use productivity in wheat-maize cropping system. A split plot experimental design with three replications was used for this study in Fars province, Iran. Surface irrigation (SI), drip tape irrigation (DTI), and sprinkler irrigation (SpI) were considered as main plots, and no-tillage (NT), reduced tillage (RT), and conventional tillage (CT) were considered as sub plots. Results showed that SI had the maximum wheat yield on average and the maximum maize yield was obtained from DTI on average; while tillage methods had no significant effect on crops yield. Results also indicated that the maximum water use productivity in wheat and maize production were obtained from DTI on average and the minimum use productivity were related to the SI on average. DTI and SpI saved water compared to the SI by 43% and 22% on average in wheat and 57% and 36% on average in maize, respectively. NT increased water content of soil compared to the CT by 51%. SI had the lowest soil infiltration rate, and NT reduced soil infiltration rate compared to the CT by 26% on average. Conservation tillage (CoT) increased organic carbon of the soil depth of 0.00 to 0.10 m by 12% compared to the CT. Therefore, DTI combined with CoT is recommended for wheat-maize cropping system in a semi-arid climate condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021