High-yielding agriculture in an intensive rice–wheat rotation system leads to plenty of residues left in the field after harvest, which is detrimental to seeding operation, seed germination, and early plant growth. Some residue thus needs to be incorporated into the soil. Providing the relationship between tillage operations and residue incorporation and establishing a mathematical model play important roles in residue management and the design of tillage machinery. In order to obtain detailed data on the interaction between residue incorporation and tillage operations, a multifunctional field-testing bench with precise parameter control was developed to assess residue incorporation characteristics of rotary tillage, and we investigated the effects of straw length, stubble height and rotary speed on residue incorporation. Three experimental factors affecting residue incorporation performance were studied, i.e., six lengths of straw (30–150 mm), four heights of stubble (50–200 mm), and three rotary speeds (240–320 rpm). Chopped straw and stubble with certain sizes were prepared for the test, and we measured the burying rate and distribution uniformity of residue after rotary tillage. The results indicated that straw length, stubble height, and rotary speed all impact residue incorporation quality. The burying rate and distribution uniformity of residue decreased with the increase in straw length and stubble height; a lower rotary speed parameter buried less residue and distributed it with worse uniformity than a higher one. It is suggested that farmers determine the straw length and stubble height at the stage of harvest according to the required burying rate and distribution uniformity of residue.
As an advanced agricultural production technology, conservation tillage has been developed rapidly and adopted widely for many crops all over the world, but challenges remain with regard to dealing with excessive residues, especially for intensive rice–wheat rotation systems. Most studies to date have been based on a single type of tool and the indoor bin test to explore its performance. Accurate field test data on the tillage performance of different types of tools for conservation tillage are lacking in this area. In this study, five tillage tools were tested in a paddy field with plenty of crop residues to compare their performance. They were three vertical discs with plain disc (PD), notched disc (ND), and rippled disc (RD) and two disc coulters with plain disc coulter (PDC) and notched disc coulter (NDC). All five tools were tested using a specific field test rig at two different working depths of 70 and 100 mm. Tillage forces, straw cutting efficiency, soil disturbance width, and soil cutting depth were measured. The results showed that tool geometry and working depth had a significant impact on tillage performance. The vertical disc performed a higher average straw cutting efficiency, as well as lower tillage forces and lower soil disturbance width than the disc coulter. For straw handling and furrowing operations, RD had the highest straw cutting efficiency, moderate tillage force, and appropriate soil disturbance width among the five tools. For all five tools, the 100 mm working depth results in 40% higher draught force, 39% greater vertical force, and 18% higher straw cutting efficiency on average. For no-tillage seeding in the intensive rice–wheat rotation system, the RD would be a more suitable rotary tool for conservation tillage practice.
Conventional soil-tool interaction has been upgraded to straw-soil-tool interaction due to plenty of straw remains in the field after harvesting. Understanding the straw-soil-tool interaction relationship and quantifying the straw movement and distribution characteristics at various tillage operation parameters is critical for straw management and the design of tillage tools. Here, in order to investigate the interactive effects of key operation parameters on the displacement and burial of straw, a specific field test rig was developed to perform straw movement test. According to the singe-factor test and multifactor interactive experiment, we investigated the effect of straw length, tillage depth and rotary speed on straw movement, and established a mathematical model between operation parameters and straw movement. The results showed that the significant order of the influence on the displacement and burial of straw was as follows: the tillage depth, the straw length, the rotary speed. As determined by response surface analysis, the optimal combination of parameters for straw incorporation was straw length of 5 cm, tillage depth of 13 cm, and rotary speed of 320 rpm, and the corresponding straw burial rate and straw displacement were 95.5% and 27.6 cm, respectively. The relative errors of the optimization results are less than 5%. These results indicated that the mathematical model can be used to predict and evaluate straw movement. Therefore, it is feasible to enhance the straw incorporation performance by a reasonable setting of operation parameters, which may provide a comprehensive strategy to improve the working quality of tillage tools.
Straw incorporation after tillage plays an essential role in soil organic matter and fertility. Despite the importance of understanding the effect of tillage on straw distribution in the soil, an accurate method to measure and evaluate the spatial distribution of straw has not been developed. In this work, we proposed a method for quantifying straw distribution in soil following tillage. The approach uses a straw spatial coordinate digitizer, Pro/Engineer drawing software, and MATLAB visualization software. Straw of four different lengths was mixed into soil by a rotary tillage. Results indicated that the uniformity of straw spatial distribution decreased with the increase of straw length. T50 (50‐mm straw length) had the greatest uniformity. As a result, it is recommended that straw be cut to 50 mm or shorter. This work offers a new insight into the quantitative analysis of straw spatial distribution in soil.
Rain‐fed rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (RFRW) rotation can be a resource‐saving solution for sustainable cropping systems. However, conventional puddled and flood transplanted rice, repeat tractor compaction, and years of shallow rotary tillage and paddy–dryland rotation had a negative impact on soil physical in the RFRW rotation (e.g., soil consolidation and shrinkage, shallow tillage layer). A 4‐yr field experiment was established to determine if different post‐paddy tillage systems would improve soil physical properties and plant factors. We compared no‐tillage (NT), conventional rotary tillage (RT), and deep tillage (DT) to improve the deteriorated soil structure, soil water, wheat root system, and grain yield. The results indicated that DT increased the average soil water content by 7.25% and 9.98%, increased field capacity by 9.58 and 5.23%, and decreased the soil bulk density by 6.2 and 2.2% at 0‐to‐20‐cm soil depth in 4 yr as compared to NT and RT, respectively. The NT increased the average relative soil moisture and had higher soil bulk density at 0‐to‐20‐cm depth. The DT deepened the root growth and increased the total root point numbers by 21.0 and 22.8% at 0‐to‐40‐cm soil depth in 4 yr, respectively, compared with NT and RT. In 4 yr, the DT significantly achieved higher average grain yield by 5.3 and 13.5%, respectively, compared with NT and RT. Overall, DT after rice was shown to be a promising management approach for improving wheat yields and might enable sustainable intensification of RFRW rotation.
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