tillage and residue management effects on soil properties and yields of rainfed maize and wheat in a...

Tillage and residue management effects on soil propertiesand yields of rainfed maize and wheat in a

subhumid subtropical climate

B.S. Ghuman*, H.S. SurDepartment of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004, Punjab, India

Received 14 October 1999; received in revised form 14 March 2000; accepted 18 July 2000

Abstract

Minimum tillage in conjunction with crop residue mulch may be a promising practice of soil management to improve soil

properties and crop production in the subtropical climate of north-western Punjab. Therefore, a 5-year ®eld experiment was

conducted to study the effect of tillage and crop residue mulch on some properties of a sandy loam soil (Fluvisol) cropped to

rainfed maize (Zea mays L.)±wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) sequence. Three main treatments investigated were minimum

tillage (consisting of making a small trench for seed placement) with 3 Mg haÿ1 crop residue mulch of the previous crop

(MTR), minimum tillage without residue mulch (MT), and conventional tillage (involving two diskings followed by a

planking) without residue mulch (CT). Subtreatments consisted of ®ve rates of fertilizer N (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg haÿ1)

applied to wheat. Maize received 80 kg N, 17 kg P and 16 kg K haÿ1. Soil quality in terms of increased organic matter content,

water retention, in®ltration of water and aggregation, and decreased bulk density of the surface soil was improved in the MTR

relative to other treatments. Pooled grain yield in the MTR treatment remained below the CT treatment during the ®rst 2 years

(1993 and 1994) but was subsequently greater than the CT. However, grain yield in the MT treatment was lower than CT

treatment throughout the study period. The results indicated the necessity of using residue mulch in conjunction with

minimum tillage in order to improve soil quality and sustain/improve crop production. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All

rights reserved.

Keywords: Minimum tillage; Crop residue; N uptake; Water use ef®ciency; Subtropics; Punjab

1. Introduction

A large tract (0.32 million ha) of productive alluvial

soils lies in the north-western Punjab, India. This area,

called `̀ Kandi area'', receives mean annual rainfall

from 750 to 1150 mm. In spite of adequate climatic

conditions, crop yields are rather low. Singh et al.

(1983) reported average yields of 1620 kg haÿ1 for

maize and 1760 kg haÿ1 for wheat on farmer's ®elds.

The reasons responsible for the low yields include

excessive runoff and soil erosion, low soil fertility, low

groundwater availability, erratic rainfall distribution

and low inputs. In order to ameliorate some of these

limitations to crop production, a sound management

system for these soils needs to be developed.

Since these `̀ Kandi'' area soils are poor in organic

matter, which is a primary parameter to evaluate soil

quality, it is essential that an alternative tillage practice

will increase organic inputs. In temperate regions,

the no tillage or minimum tillage concept of soil

management has been adopted with some success.

Soil & Tillage Research 58 (2001) 1±10

* Corresponding author.

E-mail address: [email protected] (B.S. Ghuman).

0167-1987/01/$ ± see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII: S 0 1 6 7 - 1 9 8 7 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 1 4 7 - 1

Working on the tropical soils of Nigeria, Lal (1976)

reported that this practice in conjunction with crop

residue mulch improved soil quality and crop yield by

increasing in®ltration of water into soil pro®le and

lessening water runoff and soil erosion. Minimum

tillage practices are considered as an important com-

ponent of sustainable rainfed farming (Carter, 1994;

Papendick and Parr, 1997). The system is thought of

enhancing soil quality (Steiner et al., 1988). Crop

residue mulch improved soil quality in terms of

organic carbon and biotic activity (Karlen et al.,

1994). An increase in in®ltration of water into soil

has also been reported by Bruce et al. (1992). How-

ever, little work has been done on these aspects for the

`̀ Kandi'' soils.

The present study investigated the effects of tillage

and crop residue mulch on soil quality and grain

production in a maize (Zea mays L.)±wheat (Triticum

aestivum L.) rotation on an alluvial soil in the

`̀ Kandi'' area of the Punjab in a subhumid subtropical

climate.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Experimental site

Field experiments were conducted at Ballowal

Saunkhri (318080N latitude; 718180E longitude) from

June 1993 to April 1998 at the Zonal Regional

Research Station of Punjab Agricultural University,

Ludhiana, Punjab. The soil ranged in texture from

sandy loam near the surface (110 g kgÿ1 clay and

760 g kgÿ1 sand) to loam in the lower layers

(170 g kgÿ1 clay and 600 g kgÿ1 sand) with pH of

8.0 and organic carbon content of 3 g kgÿ1 soil. The

soil was classi®ed as ®ne loamy Fluventic Ustochrept

by Soil Taxonomy (Raj-Kumar et al., 1998) and as

Eutric/Dystric Fluvisols by FAO. Water retention at

ÿ33 kPa pressure ranged from 135 to 207 g kgÿ1 and

at ÿ1500 kPa pressure from 41 to 75 g kgÿ1, in dif-

ferent layers of 0±1.8 m soil.

The test crops were rainfed maize and wheat. Rain-

fall and open-pan evaporation for the summer and

winter crop seasons from 1993±1994 to 1997±1998

and the long-term averages at the study site are given

in Table 1. July and August were the assured rainfall

months. September also received some rain showers in

the ®rst fortnight, which carried summer crop (maize)

to maturity.

2.2. Tillage experiment

Experiment was laid out as a split-plot design with

four replications. The main plot treatments were: (1)

minimum tillage� residue of the previous crop left

on the surface as mulch at 3 Mg haÿ1 (MTR), (2)

Table 1

Rainfall (R in mm) and pan evaporation (PE in mm) in different cropping seasons

Season and

month

1993±1994 1994±1995 1995±1996 1996±1997 1997±1998 1982±1998

(long-term)

R PE R PE R PE R PE R PE R PE

Summer

June 83 372 85 284 10 330 66 120 24 216 70 285

July 576 469 517 104 220 140 246 126 216 126 330 187

August 46 151 555 104 410 93 414 108 510 114 342 129

September 175 132 114 100 321 101 234 84 90 88 175 117

Total 880 1124 1271 592 961 664 960 438 840 544 917 718

Winter

November 0 70 0 60 5 69 0 75 60 55 9 78

December 0 58 8 45 2 61 0 50 175 20 35 54

January 17 48 56 45 52 41 25 25 5 35 41 50

February 43 72 47 58 111 65 10 60 15 75 56 85

March 34 152 54 123 35 114 5 55 110 76 42 139

Total 94 400 165 331 205 350 40 265 365 261 183 406

2 B.S. Ghuman, H.S. Sur / Soil & Tillage Research 58 (2001) 1±10

minimum tillage without residue (MT), and (3) con-

ventional tillage without residue (CT). Minimum

tillage consisted of making small holes with a hoe

for maize, or trenches with a manual plough for wheat

seed placement. Conventional tillage, conducted

before planting, involved two diskings to about

0.1 m depth followed by one planking (leveling with

a 3 m long wooden bar) of the ®eld. There were ®ve

rates of fertilizer nitrogen applied to wheat crop as

subplot treatments. There were no subplot treatments

for maize crop. Size of the main plot was 5:5 m� 15 m

and that of subplot 5:5 m� 3 m. Fertilizer was broad-

cast on the soil surface.

Maize (cv. Megha) was sown in July (when soil

moisture in the surface layer stabilized with the ®rst

two or more rain events) and harvested in October the

same year. A basal application of 40 kg N haÿ1 as

calcium ammonium nitrate, 17 kg P haÿ1 as single

superphosphate and 16 kg K haÿ1 as muriate of potash

was applied at the time of maize sowing. A month

later, 40 kg N haÿ1 as urea was side-dressed. Two

hoeings were conducted at 1 and 2 months after

planting maize to control weeds in conventionally

tilled plots, while the weeds were hand-pulled in

minimum till plots. No herbicide was used in

minimum till plots so as to have a similar practice

of controlling weeds physically under both tillage

systems.

Wheat (cv. PBW 175) was sown in November with

®ve rates of N (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg N haÿ1) in

subplots. The crop was harvested in April of the

following year.

2.3. Soil water use

Soil samples were taken from three replications

from the 0±0.15, 0.15±0.30, 0.30±0.60, 0.60±0.90,

0.90±1.20, 1.20±1.50 and 1.50±1.80 m depths at

wheat sowing and harvesting for moisture determina-

tions and estimating soil water use (SWU in mm) by

the crop. Water use ef®ciency (WUE) of wheat was

computed as the ratio of grain (kg haÿ1) and total

water use (SWU� seasonal rainfall in mm).

2.4. Laboratory study

A laboratory study was conducted to verify

and support the ®eld observations on optimum soil

moisture for wheat germination. Bulk soil was col-

lected from the surface (0±0.15 m) layer, air-dried and

screened through a 2 mm sieve. Soil was packed in

earthen pots at 1.5 Mg mÿ3 bulk density after moist-

ening to 13, 26, 40, 53 and 66 g kgÿ1 moisture content.

Ten seeds of wheat per pot were sown at about 0.04 m

depth in two rows. Pots were kept at room tempera-

ture. Emergence of seedlings was recorded daily.

2.5. Crop yield analysis

Crop yield (at 15% moisture) results were analyzed

by the randomized complete block design for maize

and by the split-plot design for wheat (Little and Hills,

1978).

2.6. Soil properties determination

Soil moisture was determined gravimetrically

(Jalota et al., 1998). After the ®fth crop of wheat,

depth-wise soil bulk density was measured by core

method (Blake and Hartge, 1986), in®ltration rate by

in®ltrometer method (Bouwer, 1986), aggregate ana-

lysis of the soil samples taken from 0 to 0.05 m depth

by wet sieving method (Yoder, 1936) and mean weight

diameter and geometric mean diameter of aggregates

by the formulae of Van Bavel (1949) and Mazurak

(1950), respectively. Soil organic carbon was deter-

mined by Walkley and Black (1934) method.

Nitrogen in wheat grain and straw, one sample per

plot, was determined by Kjeldahl method (Bremner

and Mulvaney, 1982) to estimate N uptake by the crop.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Soil organic carbon

Organic carbon (OC) content was signi®cantly

increased in the MTR and MT treatments over

that of CT treatment in the surface 0.02 m layer

(Table 2). However, there was no noticeable difference

of OC between the MTR and MT treatments. The

increase of OC in the MT treatment was probably

caused by less oxidation of in situ organic matter

(roots, etc.) due to the absence of tillage (Edwards

et al., 1992; Reicosky et al., 1995) and absence of soil

redistribution. Due to reduced soil erosion, surface

B.S. Ghuman, H.S. Sur / Soil & Tillage Research 58 (2001) 1±10 3

runoff and mineralization of organic matter, organic

carbon content is usually greater in soils managed with

conservation than with conventional tillage (Dalal,

1989).

3.2. Soil bulk density

Bulk density in the 0±0.1 m soil layer was signi®-

cantly (p � 0:10) lower (by about 0.05 Mg mÿ3) in

the MTR treatment than the MT and CT treatments

(Fig. 1). At the 0.075 m depth, bulk density was

lower in the MTR than MT treatment, while it

was not different from the CT treatment. However,

at 0.125 m depth, bulk density was signi®cantly

lower in the no-till treatments than the conventionally

tilled plots. This was due to the persistence of

plow sole in the CT treatment in this zone (Sur

et al., 1979). Crop residue mulch has been reported

to improve soil quality in terms of organic carbon and

biotic activity (Karlen et al., 1994; Lal, 1989), and this

might be the cause for the lower bulk density, parti-

cularly near the soil surface in the no-till plots of this

study.

3.3. Aggregation

The mean-weight diameter of soil aggregates was

signi®cantly greater in the MTR than the MT treat-

ment (Table 3). Similarly, geometric mean diameter

was signi®cantly higher in the MTR than the CT

treatment. There were no signi®cant differences in

aggregation indices for the MT and CT treatments.

Angers et al. (1993a,b) positively correlated the

improvement in soil structure stability with microbial

biomass and water soluble carbohydrates, both of

which also in¯uence in®ltration. Further, aggregation

improvement in the MTR treatment was also asso-

ciated with the signi®cant increase in organic carbon

content (Table 2) and protection of the surface layer by

crop residue mulch against the action of falling rain-

drops (Lal, 1989). Our results indicate that where crop

residue was left on the surface (MTR), the aggregation

of the surface layers improved. However, MT alone

did not cause any appreciable change in the aggrega-

tion status of the soil compared with CT.

Table 2

Effect of tillage and residue mulch on soil organic carbon (OC)

Soil depth (m) OC (g kgÿ1) in soil LSD0.05

MTRa MTb CTc

0.00±0.01 6.6 5.0 3.7 1.2

0.01±0.02 4.7 4.2 3.1 0.8

0.02±0.04 2.8 3.1 3.4 NS

0.04±0.06 2.2 2.3 3.0 0.6

0.06±0.08 1.7 2.0 2.7 0.6

0.08±0.10 1.7 1.7 2.1 NS

0.10±0.15 1.3 1.4 1.3 NS

a Minimum tillage� residue.b Minimum tillage without residue.c Conventional tillage without residue.

Fig. 1. Effect of tillage and residue mulch on soil bulk density at

the end of ®fth maize±wheat rotation. Horizontal bars indicate

LSD0.05; MTR: minimum tillage� residue; MT: minimum tillage

without residue; CT: conventional tillage without residue.

Table 3

Effect of tillage and crop residue mulch on soil aggregation

measured as mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean

diameter (GMD)

Treatment MWD (mm) GMD (mm)

MTRa 0.22 0.45

MTb 0.18 0.42

CTc 0.19 0.36

LSD0.05 0.03 0.06



3.4. Soil water retention

At saturation (zero suction), more water was

retained in the surface soil layers of minimum-till

plots, particularly of MTR treatment compared to the

CT plots (Table 4). As the suction increased, moisture

retention pattern varied. At 20 kPa suction, more water

was retained in the 0±0.05 m layer of the MTR than

the CT treatment. However, the reverse was true for

the 0.05±0.10 m layer, i.e., more water was retained in

the soil from the CT treatment than MTR and MT

treatments. This indicates an improvement in soil

structure in the MTR soil. Such an improvement in

moisture retention was not noted in the MT treatment.

3.5. Water intake

Under steady state conditions, cumulative in®ltra-

tion was highest (0.118 m) in the MTR treatment,

intermediate (0.105 m) in the CT, and minimum

(0.099 m) in the MT treatment (Fig. 2). However,

the initial in®ltration rate was 23:6� 5:0 cm hÿ1 in

the CT treatment, followed by 19:6� 1:4 cm hÿ1 in

the MTR treatment, and 18:0� 5:2 cm hÿ1 in the MT

treatment. Steady state in®ltration rate was 3:9� 1:4,

3:7� 2:2 and 3:3� 1:1 cm hÿ1 in the MTR, MT and

CT treatments, respectively. The steady state in®ltra-

tion was inversely related to the bulk density values in

various treatments. Bruce et al. (1992) reported that

when water-stable aggregates formed, due to decom-

position of crop residues (Allmaras et al., 1996), near

the soil surface, in®ltration of water into soil also

increased.

3.6. Wheat seed germination

A laboratory study with the experimental soil

revealed that at seed-zone moisture of 40 g kgÿ1

Table 4

Effect of tillage and crop residue mulch on soil water retention at

different suctions

Soil depth (m) Treatment Water content (g kgÿ1) at

suction (kPa)

0 5 10 20

0±0.05 MTRa 287 207 153 120

MTb 246 160 127 106

CTc 260 180 133 113

LSD0.05 20 20 13 NS

0.05±0.10 MTR 260 160 133 100

MT 273 153 120 106

CT 213 173 146 133

LSD0.05 26 13 13 20


Fig. 2. Effect of tillage and residue mulch on cumulative in®ltration of water into a ®eld soil at the end of ®fth maize±wheat rotation. MTR:

minimum tillage� residue; MT: minimum tillage without residue; CT: conventional tillage without residue.


germination of wheat seed was 95% (Table 5). How-

ever, at 26 g kgÿ1 moisture, germination reduced to

70%. For satisfactory germination of wheat seed,

therefore, 40 g kgÿ1 moisture content in the seed-zone

was considered adequate.

Seed-zone (0±0.15 m) moisture and germination for

the ®rst year (1993±1994) are shown in Table 6. Seed-

zone moisture in the MTR and MT treatments was

identical and was signi®cantly lower than the CT

treatment. Germination, measured as plants mÿ1

row length, was also signi®cantly greater in the CT

treatment compared with the other treatments. There-

fore germination was considered complete in the CT

plots as seed-zone moisture (36 g kgÿ1) was relatively

closer to the optimum moisture (40 g kgÿ1) deter-

mined in the laboratory study (Table 5).

3.7. Grain yield

Tillage and residue mulch signi®cantly affected

maize grain yield during all seasons except that of

1993 (Table 7). The grain yield was lower by 2.3% in

1993 and by 4.5% in 1994 in the MTR treatment

compared with CT treatment. Thereafter, the grain

yield was greater in MTR, compared to CT, by 18.5,

21.9 and 23.4% in 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively.

However, where no residue was kept at the surface

under minimum tillage (MT), grain yield consistently

remained lower than that in CT. These results indicate

that the lag period for improvement in MTR plots over

that of CTwas 2 years. In the temperate region, this lag

period varies from 9 to 12 years (Moldenhauer et al.,

1995; Papendick and Parr, 1997).

Tillage and crop residue mulch signi®cantly

affected wheat grain yield during all the seasons,

except 1995±1996 (Table 8). As observed in case of

maize, wheat yield was lower in the MTR than CT

treatment during the ®rst 2 years (by 11.5% in 1993±

1994 and 18.4% in 1994±1995). After this initial lag

period, MTR treatment produced higher wheat yield

than CT treatment. However, MT treatment continued

to show lower wheat grain production than the CT

treatment throughout the study period.

Year-wise pooled grain yield of the maize±wheat

production system in the MTR and MT treatments

relative to CT is depicted in Fig. 3. As observed earlier

in the cases of maize (Table 7) and wheat (Table 8),

pooled grain yield during the ®rst 2 years in the MTR

treatment remained less than unity relative to CT.

Relative yield crossed above the unity line in the third

year, thereby indicating higher grain production in the

MTR treatment than the CT treatment, and this

trend was maintained in the fourth and ®fth year.

On the other hand, the yield in the MT treatment

remained lower than CT throughout the study period.

It is evident from these results that mulching in

Table 5

Wheat seed germination as affected by seed-zone moisture content

(laboratory study)

Seed-zone

moisture (g kgÿ1)

Germination (%) after days of

seeding

6 10 12 14

13 0 0 0 0

26 5 45 70 70

40 70 90 95 95

53 65 90 95 95

66 40 100 100 100

LSD0.05 11 8 6 6

Table 6

Effect of tillage and crop residue mulch on seed-zone moisture

(0±0.15 m layer) and wheat seed germination in 1993±1994

Treatment Seed-zone

moisture

(g kgÿ1)

Germination

(plants mÿ1

row length)

MTRa 27 108

MTb 25 101

CTc 36 129

LSD0.05 8 16


Table 7

Effect of tillage and crop residue mulch on maize grain yield

(Mg haÿ1)

Treatment 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

MTRa 2.6 3.7 3.7 3.9 4.0

MTb 2.6 3.3 2.9 3.0 3.1

CTc 2.7 3.9 3.1 3.2 3.2

LSD0.05 NS 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.3



conjunction with minimum tillage (MTR) is an alter-

native and sustainable practice of soil management for

rainfed crop production and it also improved soil

properties (Tables 2±4; Figs. 1 and 2).

3.8. Response to N

Wheat invariably responded to applied N up to

80 kg N haÿ1 in all years except in 1993±1994

(Table 8). The lack of response above 40 kg N haÿ1

in 1993±1994 was probably due to lesser carry-over

moisture from the summer season and no rainfall in

the months of November and December (Table 1).

Interactive effect of tillage and N on wheat grain yield

was observed in 1996±1997 and 1997±1998 only. This

was probably due to enhanced soil moisture avail-

ability by adequate rainfall during these two seasons,

viz. 960 and 40 mm in 1996±1997 and 840 and

365 mm in 1997±1998 during the summer and winter

season, respectively (Table 1). As a result of improved

soil moisture, wheat yield responded to fertilizer N up

to 80 kg N haÿ1 in MTR and CT treatments, and up to

Table 8

Effect of tillage, crop residue mulch and N levels on wheat grain yield (Mg haÿ1)

Treatment N level (kg haÿ1)

0 40 80 120 160 Mean

1993±1994

MTRa 0.8 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.3

MTb 0.4 0.8 1.1 1.2 0.9 0.9

CTc 1.1 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.4

Mean 0.8 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.2

LSD0.05: tillage � 0:2; N level � 0:2; tillage� N � NS

1994±1995

MTR 1.0 1.2 1.6 1.4 1.4 1.3

MT 0.8 1.5 1.9 1.4 1.1 1.3

CT 1.1 1.9 2.0 1.6 1.4 1.6

Mean 1.0 1.5 1.8 1.5 1.3

LSD0.05: tillage � 0:2; N level � 0:2; tillage� N � NS

1995±1996

MTR 0.7 0.8 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9

MT 0.4 0.7 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7

CT 0.5 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.8 0.8

Mean 0.5 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.8

LSD0.05: tillage � NS; N level � 0:1; tillage� N � NS

1996±1997

MTR 1.1 1.5 2.3 1.8 1.7 1.7

MT 0.5 1.1 1.4 1.2 0.8 1.0

CT 1.0 1.5 2.0 1.5 1.4 1.5

Mean 0.9 1.4 1.9 1.5 1.3

LSD0.05: tillage � 0:3; N level � 0:2; tillage� N � 0:3

1997±1998

MTR 2.0 3.2 4.5 3.7 3.2 3.3

MT 0.8 2.4 3.3 3.1 2.9 2.5

CT 1.6 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.1 2.9

Mean 1.5 2.8 3.7 3.3 3.1

LSD0.05: tillage � 0:3; N level � 0:2; tillage� N � 0:4



40 kg N haÿ1 in MT treatment in 1996±1997; up to

80 kg N haÿ1 in MTR and MT treatments, and up to

40 kg N haÿ1 in CT in 1997±1998. It clearly indicated

the interdependence of N and soil moisture availabi-

lity in in¯uencing the response of wheat crop to

applied N (Gajri et al., 1993).

3.9. Water use ef®ciency

Because of insigni®cant interaction between tillage

and N factors mean WUE is presented in Table 9. The

WUE of wheat was signi®cantly greater in the MTR

treatment than MT in 1995±1996, and greater than

both MT and CT during 1996±1997 and 1997±1998.

Signi®cantly higher WUE was obtained at N level of

40 kg haÿ1 during 1995±1996 and 1996±1997,

whereas in 1997±1998 a higher WUE was obtained

at 80 kg N haÿ1 level.

3.10. N uptake

Mean N uptake was greater in the MTR treatment,

though the effect of tillage and residue was not sig-

ni®cant compared with CT treatment (Table 10).

Furthermore, uptake of N was signi®cantly lower in

the MT treatment than MTR and CT. Results are

indicative of the fact that minimum tillage must be

coupled with crop residue mulch in order to obtain

improved and signi®cant yield increase in comparison

to the conventional tillage.

Nitrogen uptake by wheat increased from 16 to

42 kg haÿ1 in 1996±1997, and from 29 to 88 kg N

haÿ1 in 1997±1998 when N application rate at wheat

seeding was enhanced from 0 to 80 kg haÿ1 (Table 10).

The N uptake decreased above the 80 kg N haÿ1 rate.

Fig. 3. Year-wise maize� wheat yield in the minimum tillage (MT) and MT plus residue mulch (MTR) treatments in relation to

conventionally tilled (CT) plots. MTR: minimum tillage� residue; MT: minimum tillage without residue; CT: conventional tillage without

residue.

Table 9

Effect of tillage in conjunction with residue mulch and N levels on

water use ef®ciency (kg haÿ1 mmÿ1) of wheat

Treatment Mean water use efficiency

1995±1996 1996±1997 1997±1998

Tillage

MTRa 4.2 15.5 6.0

MTb 3.3 8.5 5.6

CTc 3.8 12.4 5.2

LSD0.05 0.7 2.4 0.7

N rate (kg haÿ1)

0 2.7 9.7 2.7

40 4.0 14.0 5.3

80 4.5 15.1 6.7

120 4.0 11.3 6.3

160 3.8 12.1 5.6

LSD0.05 0.5 1.3 1.0



4. Conclusions

Compared to CT, MTR proved to be a promising

alternative soil management practice to improve and

sustain higher yields of rainfed maize and wheat in a

subhumid subtropical climate. This practice also

improved soil quality by increasing organic carbon,

aggregation, in®ltration rate and soil water retention,

as well as decreasing bulk density near the soil sur-

face. However, under this practice a 2-year lag period

was required to adjust to the new management con-

ditions. Further research is needed to overcome this

yield lag of 2±3 years in the minimum tillage system.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Far Eastern Regional

Research Of®ce at American Embassy, New Delhi, for

providing ®nancial assistance in the form of PL 480

project.

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Table 10

Effect of tillage in conjunction with residue mulch and N levels on

N uptake (kg haÿ1) by wheat

Treatment Mean N uptake

1996±1997 1997±1998

Tillage

MTRa 35 74

MTb 21 57

CTc 33 70

LSD0.05 5 12

N rate (kg haÿ1)

0 16 29

40 29 62

80 42 88

120 33 81

160 29 79

LSD0.05 6 16



Regional Research Station for Kandi Area, Ballowal Saunkhri.

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