Soil water retention as affected by tillage and residue management in semiarid Spain

Bescansa, Paloma; Imaz, M.J.; Virto, Iñigo; Enrique, Alberto; Hoogmoed, W.B.

doi:10.1016/j.still.2005.02.028

Cited by 256 publications

(172 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…These results, which are in agreement with the findings of other authors (Bonfil et al, 1999;De Vita et al, 2007;Su et al, 2007), can be explained by the greater availability of water for the crop in NT than in CT (Bescansa et al, 2006). This is generally attributable to: i) the enhancement of the hydraulic characteristics of the soil that occurs with NT with respect to water infiltration, storage, transport, and drainage (Kay and VandenBygaart, 2002) as the result of a change in soil porosity into more small pores and fewer large pores; ii) the creation of a more continuous pore system from decaying roots and soil macrofauna activity.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Conservation tillage in a semiarid Mediterranean environment: results of 20 years of research

Ruisi¹,

Giambalvo²,

Saia³

et al. 2014

Ital J Agronomy

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Conservation tillage techniques are becoming increasingly popular worldwide as they have the potential to generate environmental, agronomic, and economic benefits. In Mediterranean areas, studies performed on the effects of conservation tillage [in comparison with the conventional tillage technique (CT)] on grain yield of cereal crops have reported contradictory results as well as considerable year-to-year variation, demonstrating how the impact of different soil tillage techniques on crop productivity is strongly site-specific. The present paper summarises the main results from a set of experiments carried out in Sicily during the last 20 years in which we compared no tillage (NT) to CT in terms of their respective effects on the productivity and quality of durum wheat, while at the same time varying some other crop management practices (e.g. crop sequence, N fertilisation, wheat genotype, sowing time). On average, no differences were observed between the two tillage techniques; yields were 3.84 and 3.87 Mg ha -1 for CT and NT, respectively. However, NT guaranteed superior yield when water stress during the crop cycle was high, whereas CT led to higher yields when water availability was adequate. Moreover, the results suggest that the use of NT needs to be accompanied by a rational crop sequence. In fact, a cumulative detrimental effect of NT over time was found for continuous wheat. Finally, grain quality in terms of protein content was slightly higher for CT (15.1%) than NT (14.4%). Thus, when using NT, the rate of nitrogen fertiliser application should be increased to offset this difference.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 93%

Conservation tillage in a semiarid Mediterranean environment: results of 20 years of research

Ruisi¹,

Giambalvo²,

Saia³

et al. 2014

Ital J Agronomy

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“…Macropore geometry in conventional tillage showed lower pore connectivity compared to no-tillage systems where macropores were predominantly of biological origin. Bescansa et al (2006) and Fernández-Ugalde et al (2009) reported the same trend for a clay loam and a silt loam soil, respectively, in a semi-arid climate in Spain, leading to better crop performance in the reduced tillage systems during dry years. South America is among the leading continents in reduced tillage (Derpsch 1998).…”

Section: Tillage Systemsmentioning

confidence: 63%

Management of crop water under drought: a review

Bodner

Nakhforoosh

Kaul

2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

426

234

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Drought is a predominant cause of low yields worldwide. There is an urgent need for more water efficient cropping systems facing large water consumption of irrigated agriculture and high unproductive losses via runoff and evaporation. Identification of yield-limiting constraints in the plant-soil-atmosphere continuum are the key to improved management of plant water stress. Crop ecology provides a systematic approach for this purpose integrating soil hydrology and plant physiology into the context of crop production. We review main climate, soil and plant properties and processes that determine yield in different water-limited environments. From this analysis, management measures for cropping systems under specific drought conditions are derived. Major findings from literature analysis are as follows. (1) Unproductive water losses such as evaporation and runoff increase from continental in-season rainfall climates to storage-dependent winter rainfall climates. Highest losses occur under tropical residual moisture regimes with short intense rainy season. (2) Sites with a climatic dry season require adaptation via phenology and water saving to ensure stable yields. Intermittent droughts can be buffered via the root system, which is still largely underutilised for better stress resistance. (3) At short-term better management options such as mulching and date of seeding allow to adjust cropping systems to site constraints. Adapted cultivars can improve the synchronisation between crop water demand and soil supply. At long term, soil hydraulic and plant physiological constraints can be overcome by changing tillage systems and breeding new varieties with higher stress resistance. (4) Interactions between plant and soil, particularly in the rhizosphere, are a way towards better crop water supply. Targeted management of such plant-soil interactions is still at infancy.We conclude that understanding site-specific stress hydrology is imperative to select the most efficient measures to mitigate stress. Major progress in future can be expected from crop ecology focussing on the management of complex plant (root)-soil interactions.

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“…The small difference in soil water retention between NT and CT in the upper 15 cm layer indicated that tillage had little effect on pore-size distribution, but was more indicative of the destructive effects of traffic and tillage and the consolidating nature of loess soil on macropores. Bescansa et al (2006) also reported that retention of water was significantly greater in untilled soils than in tilled soils in the 20-30 cm soil layer.…”

Section: Soil Water Retention Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 88%

Soil physical properties and infiltration after long‐term no‐tillage and ploughing on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Wang

et al. 2009

New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science

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Water is the most limiting factor for crop production in dryland farming. A better understanding of the long-term impact of tillage and residue management systems on soil structure and water infiltration is necessary for the further development of conservation tillage practice to improve water use efficiency. The objectives of this study were to assess the influence of no-till with residue retention (NT) and conventional (plough) tillage with residue removal (CT) on soil properties and soil water transmission characteristics in a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) monoculture system in Shanxi, on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Soil physical parameter measurements were made in the top 30 cm depth in September 2007 after 16 years under the two tillage treatments. Compared with CT treatment, NT significantly (P < 0.05) reduced soil bulk density (7.1%) in the 20-30 cm soil layer, and increased macroporosity (>60 µm, 17.0%) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (249%) in the 15-30 cm soil layer. There were no significant differences in these soil physical properties between tillage systems in the 0-15 cm layer. In addition, plant available water and water infiltration rate were greater in the NT treatment. The improved soil quality parameters and water infiltration from this long-term experiment indicate that no-tillage with residue retention is a promising farming system for the dryland farming areas of northern China.

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Soil water retention as affected by tillage and residue management in semiarid Spain

Cited by 256 publications

References 26 publications

Conservation tillage in a semiarid Mediterranean environment: results of 20 years of research

Conservation tillage in a semiarid Mediterranean environment: results of 20 years of research

Management of crop water under drought: a review

Soil physical properties and infiltration after long‐term no‐tillage and ploughing on the Chinese Loess Plateau

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