TITLE:
Effect of tillage systems on soil properties, humus and water conservation
AUTHORS:
Teodor Rusu, Ioan Pacurar, Marcel Dirja, Horea Mihai Pacurar, Ioan Oroian, Smaranda Adina Cosma, Marinela Gheres
KEYWORDS:
Soil Tillage; Water Management; Carbon Sequestration
JOURNAL NAME:
Agricultural Sciences,
Vol.4 No.5B,
July
15,
2013
ABSTRACT: Human action upon
soil by tillage determines important morphological, physical-chemical and
biological changes, with different intensities and evaluative directions. Nowadays, it is internationally
accepted the fact that global climatic changes are the results of human intervention
in the bio-geo-chemical water and material cycle, and the sequestration of
carbon in soil is considered an important intervention to limit these changes.
Carbon sequestration in soil is net advantageous, improving the productivity
and sustainability. The more the organic content in soil is higher the better
soil aggregation is. The soil without organic content is compact. This reduces
its capacity to infiltrate water, nutrients solubility and productivity, and
that way it reduces the soil capacity for carbon sequestration. Organic matter is an
extremely important constituent of soils and is vital to many of the
hydrological, biological and chemical reactions required for sustaining plant
life. We present the influence of conventional plough tillage system on soil,
water and organic matter conservation in
comparison with an alternative minimum tillage system (paraplow, chisel
plow and rotary harrow). The application
of minimum tillage systems increased
the organic matter content 0.8% to 22.1% and water stabile aggregate
content from 1.3% to 13.6%, in the 0 - 30 cm depth, as compared to the
classical system. For the organic matter content and the wet aggregate
stability, the statistical analysis of the data showed, increasing positive
significance of minimum systems. While the soil fertility and the wet aggregate
stability were initially low, the effect of conservation practices on the soil
features resulted in a positive impact on the water permeability of the soil.
Availability of soil moisture during the crop growth resulted in better plant
water status. Subsequent release of conserved
soil water regulated proper plant water status, soil structure, and
lowered soil pene-trometer resistance.