No‐tillage Advantages for Soybean Seed Quality During Drought Stress¹

Abstract

Seed quality can be affected by soil and climatic conditions. The availability of soil water can be enhanced under no‐tillage. Under drought stress this can result in a more vigorous plant and production of higher quality seed. Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr. ‘Forrest’] seed quality was evaluated in an experiment comparing no‐tillage, and five conventional tillage methods ranging from disking 10 cm deep to under‐row subsoiling 25 cm deep. The methods were studied on a Lexington silt loam (fine‐silty, mixed, thermic, Typic Paleundalfs) in 1979 and 1980. No‐tillage soybeans were of higher quality in the dry season of 1980 as compared to conventional methods. Seed from no‐tillage had significantly less purple stain [Cercospora kikuchii (T. Matsu. and Tomoyaso) Chupp.] and wrinkled seed coats. Seed germination, weight, density, and yield were also superior in no‐tillage as compared to conventional methods. Soil water availability was also higher in notillage due to water conservation by the surface mulch. Higher seed quality in no‐tillage could have resulted from greater soil water availability and reduced soil splash of purple stain organisms.

Residue Management and Water Delivery Effects on Season-Long Surface Soil Water Dynamics in Soybean

“…After achieving similar maximum water contents, stored soil water was conserved more effectively under NT than CT, resulting in consistent numerically greater minimum water contents, which is similar to other studies that have reported greater soil water contents under NT than CT (Blevins et al, 1983;Harper et al, 2008;Tyler and Overton, 1982). Correspondingly, soil under CT dried more rapidly than soil under NT, as indicated by the consistent numerically more negative slope of the regression line representing the dry-down rate, during each dry-down period for all rainfall (Table 1; Fig.…”

“…No-tillage has been shown to increase infiltration, soil water contents, and waterholding capacity as compared with CT (Blevins et al, 1983;Dao, 1993, Harper et al, 2008Pankhurst et al, 2002;Tyler and Overton, 1982). Thus, tillage was expected to affect soil water dynamics.…”

Soil Conservation Tillage Effects on Yield and Water Use Efficiency on Irrigated Crops in Central Italy

“…It has been shown that in conservation tillage systems, more water is generally stored in the soil profile compared with conventional systems, due to lower soil evaporation, increased infiltration and soil conductibility, reduced run‐off and deep percolation, mainly as a consequence of the presence of crop residues on the soil surface and of soil structure modifications (Blevins et al. 1971, Hill and Blevins 1973, Tyler and Overton 1982, Munawar et al. 1990, Unger 1990, Blevins and Frye 1993, O’Leary 1996, Hatfield et al.…”

Influence of Tillage and Crop Rotation on Yields of Corn, Soybean, and Wheat

“…This represents an increase from 16.4 million hectares in 1973 to 45.3 million hectares in 1982. The reason tor the shift in tillage systems is the increased availability of subsoil water (Weatherly and Dane, 1979) and reduced water runoff, soil erosion, and energy requirements (Gallaher, 1977;Langdale et al, 1978;Tyler and Overton, 1982;Vaughan et al, 1977) in minimum tillage systems.…”