Performance Study of Moldboard Plow with Two Types of Disc Harrows and Their Effect on Some Soil Properties Under Different Operating Conditions

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted in two different locations at Agricultural Research Station of Garmat Ali in Basrah-Iraq. The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the effective field capacity, field efficiency, draft force, pulverization index (PI), soil bulk density and soil porosity for moldboard plow (primary tillage), mounted disk harrow and offset disk harrow (secondary tillage) under different operating speed (2.54 (S1), 3.84 (S2) and 5.77 (S3) km hr-1) in two different soil textures (silty loam soil and clay soil). The design of the experiment was complete randomized blocks design in factorial experiment. The results showed that the moldboard plow had high values of draft force, pulverization index (PI) and soil porosity and lower soil bulk density, effective field capacity and field efficiency than that of mounted disk harrow and offset disk harrow in both soils. The operating speed and the interaction between operating speed and implements tillage type had significantly affect (p < 0.05) on all the studied parameters. The silty loam soil achieved higher effective field capacity, field efficiency, soil porosity (low bulk density) and considerable pulverization of soil clods than that of clay soil. The results also showed that the optimal operation conditions of implements tillage were associated with high operating speed of 5.77 km hr-1 in silty loam soil especially with using the disks harrow.

A Field Study of Soil Pulverization Energy by using Different Moldboards Types Under Various Operating Condition

“…This could be attributed to an increase in acceleration of the soil blocks and collision it each to other led to break up the soil blocks to small sizes which decrease the soil pulverization index (SPI) thereby increasing the soil pulverization. These results agree with Aday (1997), Nassir (2017) and Muhsin (2017a).…”

The Influence of Some Secondary Tillage Implement and Mixing Organic Residues on Some Physical Properties of Soil at the Beginning and End of the Oat (Triticum aestivum L.) Growing Season

“…In a study in which primary and secondary soil preparation equipment was used in two types of soils (silty loam and clay) when plowing at a depth of 20 cm that the moldboard plow achieved the highest bulk density of 1.32 and 1.36 Mg.m -3 for both types of soils on the respectively, while the suspended and pulled disc harrows recorded a lower density of 1.14, 1.25 Mg.m -3 for silty loam soil and 1.26, 1.28 Mg.m -3 for clay soil for both harrows, respectively. It was also found that the moldboard plow gave less porosity, which was 5.27 % and 48.80% for both types of soils, respectively, while the suspended and drawn disc harrow recorded a higher porosity of 57.10% and 52.75% for silty loam and 52.36% and 51.53% for clay soil for both harrows, respectively [4]. In a study that included the addition of organic residues at the level (0, 10, 20, 40 tons ha-1) mixed with the soil in a silty mixture, the bulk density of the soil decreased significantly at the depth 0-20 cm at the end of the maize season with the addition of the residues, as the density values reached Apparent 1.35, 1.27, 1.25, and 1.21 Mg m -3 respectively, and he explained this to the effect of animal waste through an increase in the average weighted diameter and soil aggregates greater than 1 mm and a decrease in the density of organic matter compared to the bulk density of soil, which led to a decrease in the values of the bulk density.…”

Effect of Tillage Systems and Organic Fertilizers on Maize (Zea Mays, L.) Productivity in Alkaline Soils

“…The comparative study on tillage system found that disc plough resulted in higher maize yield than the others in alkaline soil; this is due to improving physical seedbed properties and effective role in breaking down soil layers to improve soil bulk density (Abdel-Maksoud et al, 2018). The system of disc plough can improve soil physical properties (Muhsin, 2017). Sadiq et al (2007) reported that the grain yield of maize increased with the intensity of tillage by disc plough as a result of improved soil properties such as, rise of moisture content and porosity and decrease of bulk density, pH, soil penetration resistance and ESP, which leads to breakdown of soil compaction, increases pore spaces, management of water resources, facilitate drainage and decrease water retention in the root zone and enhance macro pore flow to regulate leaching of agricultural chemical and salts.…”