Comparison of potassium quantity-intensity relationships in tropical paddy soil under tillage and no-tillage systems after fifteen growing seasons

Abstract

In lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation, soil puddling will make rice roots easy to develop, making it easier to do seedling transplanting (Huang et al. 2016). However, plowing causes soil particles and nutrients to drift along with water flow. This results in increased water sedimentation and decreased decomposition rate of organic matter (Sharma and De Datta 1985). Therefore, it is not surprising that in many Asian rice-producing countries, the environmental damage to agricultural lands is directly or indirectly caused by intensive rice production with perfect soil tillage that has been happening for decades (Reddy and Hukkeri 1983).Weeds in lowland rice cultivation reduce rice yields not only because they compete for soil nutrients, moisture, and sunlight but also because they may be an alternate host for insects and diseases of rice. Normally, weed control requires a lot of labour (Lhungdim et al. 2019); hence the use of chemicals (herbicides) for weed control before planting worth to be trying (Gangireddy and Subramanyam 2020). The soil tillage activities for rice cultivation in paddy fields do not absolutely require tillage because the availability of water in paddy fields can actually help the puddling process (Prasanthkumar et al. 2021).