Corn was mainly cultivated in slope land during summer season when heavy rain falls so that soil loss occurs severely. Especially, soil disturbance and exposure of topsoil by conventional tillage intensifies soil loss by heavy rain. The aim of this study was to develop surface covering and tillage methods for reducing soil loss in corn cultivation. The experiment was conducted in 17% sloped lysimeter with 8 treatments including strip tillage after surface covering with rye residue, strip tillage after residue covering of several crops and sod culture, black polyethylene film covering after conventional tillage and control. Amount of runoff water and eroded soil, and corn growth were investigated. Amounts of runoff water in all plots except black polyethylene plot ranged from 152 to 375 m 3 ha -1 , accounting for 13~32% of 1,158 m 3 ha -1 in control. Amount of eroded soil decreased by 94 to 99% (3 to 89 kg ha -1 ) in plots of strip tillage after covering with crop residues compared to control with 1,739 kg ha -1 . Corn yields in plots of strip tillage after covering with crop residues ranged from 6.0 to 6.9 Mg ha -1 , while that of control was 6.5 Mg ha -1. The results suggest that strip tillage methods after surface covering with crop residues are very effective on soil conservation of slope land in corn cultivation.

농촌진흥청 고령지농업연구소, ABSTRACT: Soil erosion is one of the most serious problems in alpine upland in Korea. Soil fertility has continuously decreased due to serious soil erosion. To increase soil fertility, new sources of organic matter should be inputted. Therefore, the objectives of this research were to select winter cover crop as new sources of organic matter and to investigate the effect of winter cover crop on soil property changes, major crop productivity (Chinese cabbage, potato) production in highland, and disease occurrence with different cropping systems. Among 17 candidates for winter coverage crop, rye was most suitable due to it's soil covering rate, and over-wintering rate. The optimum sowing period for rye ranged from late August to late September. Soil porosity and organic matter content increased with rye cultivation. Rye cultivation during winter increased amounts of crop (both Chinese cabbage and potato) productivity up to 8%. There was little difference on amount of crop productivity depending on cropping systems such as monoculture (Chinese cabbage or potato) and Chinese cabbage-potato rotation.

There is relatively high vulnerability of soil erosion in slope highland agriculture due to a reclamation of mountain as well as low surface covering in early summer season with high rainfall intensity time. The aim of this study was to evaluate various surface covering methods for reducing soil loss in highland radish cultivation in highland. The experiment was conducted in 17% sloped lysimeter (2.5 m × 13.4 m) with 8 treatments including covering with cut rye, sod culture of rye, Ligularia fischeri var. spiciformis Nakai, Arachniodes aristata Tindale, Aster koraiensis Nakai, Festuca myuros L. and mulching with black polyethylene film, and runoff water, eroded soil and radish growth were investigated. Surface covering with sod culture and plant residue, especially cut rye treatment, had lower runoff water than non-covering, whereas black polyethylene film mulching had the reverse. The amount of eroded soil was also lowest in cut rye treatment, 0.3 Mg ha -1 , and increased in the order of rye sod culture, Ligularia fischeri var. spiciformis Nakai, Aster koraiensis Nakai, Festuca myuros L., Arachniodes aristata Tindale, black polyethylene film, and non-covering, 68.2 Mg ha -1 . The results showed that surface covering with sod culture or plant residue could be effective for reducing runoff water and soil erosion in the radish field, significantly in cut rye treatment. On the other hand, in sod culture of rye, Aster koraiensis Nakai and Ligularia fischeri var. spiciformis Nakai, radish yields were lower than in the non-covering. Unlike this, covering with cut rye, sod culture of Festuca myuros L. had similar radish yield to the non-covering radish yield. In conclusion, covering with cut rye and sod culture of Festuca myuros L. were beneficial for reduction of soil loss without decreasing in radish yield in highland sloped fields.

In 2006, the effect of soil pH adjustment on control of common scab of potato caused by Streptomyces spp. was evaluated in the field. Soil with an original pH 5.7 was treated with sulfur of 42 kg/10a and calcium hydroxide of 81.6 kg/10a and 184.5 kg/10a to adjust pH 5.0, 6.0 and 6.5, respectively. Additionally, the effect of gypsum (522 kg/10a) on soil pH and disease severity was examined. The soil pH of sulfur treatment plot was continuously declined from 5.13 at tuber initiation time to 5.01 at harvest. The disease severity of sulfur treatment plot was relatively low (22.8%) and the marketable yield of that was high (90.5%). By contrast, the soil pHs treated with calcium hydroxide (81.6 kg/10a and 184.5 kg/10a) were increased (pH 6.06 and 6.49, respectively) at harvest. In addition, calcium hydroxide treatment plots showed higher disease severities (51.0% and 61.1%), and lower marketable yields (55.7% and 37.0%). Meanwhile, the soil pH of gypsum treatment plot was not changed until harvest, and the disease severity and the marketable yield were not significantly different from those of control. The effect of crop rotation was also evaluated with four crops such as welsh onion, soybean, corn and Chinese cabbage. These crops were planted in the infested field from 2005 to 2007, and potatoes were planted in the same field in 2008. The disease severities of potatoes produced after rotations with welsh onion, soybean, corn and Chinese cabbage for 3 years were 13.1%, 16.7%, 28.9% and 30.2%, respectively. However, the disease severity of 73.1% was shown in continuous cropping of potato for 3 years. In addition, similar effects were exhibited in the marketable yield. These results demonstrate that the adjustment of soil pH and crop rotation might be very useful tools to control common scab of potato.

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