Water infiltration into soil related to the soil tillage intensity

Abstract

Soil infiltration capacity is one of the key factors in the soil protection against unfavourable effects of water erosion. The purpose of its measuring was to compare and evaluate the changes of the soil physical properties and of water infiltration into soil caused by different intensity of soil cultivation at two individual sites. The ploughing (PL), shallow tillage (ST), and direct drilling (NT) effects on the soil physical properties, water infiltration into soil, and soil surface coverage with the crop residua under the soil condition loamy Haplic in soil. The variant with ploughing showed water saturation in the top layer, the variants with reduced tillage were characterised by vertical macropores and crack effects with the water drain into deeper layers. Ploughing proved its advantage for the short-term rainfall retention. Similar results were also brought in the evaluation on the plot with clay soil (Klapý). The loosening effect was evident during coloured water infiltration in the period of snow thawing. The loosed soil layer showed a significantly higher soil water holding capacity as compared with variants with reduced soil tillage. The result showed major differences in the water infiltration rate into soil and different characters of water infiltration into soil at different soil tillage.

Soil physical quality in contrasting tillage systems in organic and conventional farming

“…Soil hydraulic properties exhibit temporal variation due to the effects of wetting and drying cycles on soil pores (Bodner et al, 2013). Other studies on loamy soils in the Czech Republic and western Germany found similar ranges of infiltration values (on average 1-1.5 cm min À1 ) compared to our mean values (Kroulík et al, 2007;Vogeler et al, 2009). K fs is known to be a highly variable parameter and therefore requires both spatial and temporal replication (Reynolds et al, 2002).…”

The Effect of Soil Preparation Methods on Rain Water Infiltration as The Basis of Irrigation Application for Dry Land Rice

“…The results of our study are in line with the results of the study by Destra et al (2014), where the intensive tillage system produced the highest infiltration and cumulative infiltration rates (293.7 mm and 585 mm/hour), compared to minimum tillage (158.8 mm and 320 mm/hour) or no tillage (106, 7 mm and 205 mm/hour). Similar results were also conveyed by many other studies (Auchaogu et al, 2015;Kroulík et al, 2007;Akinbile et al, 2016) where more intensive tillage resulted in a greater infiltration rate than minimum tillage or no tillage. Hoeing or ploughing causes the soil structure in the top soil layer to crack and break so that it becomes crumbly and is more easily penetrated by water.…”

A Review on the Effect of Soil Compaction and its Management for Sustainable Crop Production

“…High soil strength influences water and gaseous transport, water flow, soil biological activity, and mechanical strength, which can be altered due to soil compaction (Berisso et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2014). However, deep plowing resulted in a loose soil layer which showed a higher soil water holding capacity than the reduced soil tillage (Kroulík et al, 2007). Soil compaction reduces pore volume and changes pore size and distribution, connectivity, and tortuosity, decreasing gaseous and fluid transport capability and water holding capacity in the soil (Zhang et al, 2007).…”