Effect of Tillage Practices and Cropping Pattern on Soil Properties and Crop Yield in the Humid Lowlands of Beles Sub-Basin, Ethiopia

Abstract

Tillage is a land management practice where a sequence of manipulating the soil for crop production. To investigate the response of land management and cropping pattern on soil properties and crop yield, a field experiment was conducted under natural environment on Nitisol of Pawi area. Nine treatments combining two tillage methods (Zero and conventional), four crop covers (continuous maize, continuous soya bean, rotated maize, and maize soya bean intercrop) were laid out in RCBD with three replications. The result showed that land management and crop cover significantly affect bulk density, porosity, soil moisture, nitrogen, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and yield of a crop. Relative to conventionally tilled continuous maize, maize soya bean intercropping managed under zero tillage improve capillary porosity, non-capillary porosity, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and total nitrogen with a response ratio of 1.7, 2.7, 1.3, 2, and 1.3, respectively while reducing bulk density by 10%. Conversion of tillage system from conventional to zero tillage improves grain yield, biomass yield, and soil moisture by 6%, 10%, and 6%, respectively. Generally, zero tillage with greater cover is an appropriate approach to improve soil properties without negatively affecting grain yield. To understand and quantify the long-term impact of tillage and crop cover on soil health and productivity in Ethiopia long-term study is needed as this study was based on oneyear data from four years permanent plots.

A talajkímélő művelési rendszerek áttekintése az éghajlatváltozás hatásához alkalmazkodni képes talajok kialakítása és fenntartása céljából a szubszaharai Afrikában

“…in Ethiopia in a Cambisol and Chernozem soil type evaluated the Soil management practices (minimum tillage (MT) and CT) and they also observed an improvement in SOC and TN through MT compared to CT. Numerous other studies in SSA also have recommended conservation practices for enhancing SOC and other properties involved in soil aggregation (ASFAWESEN MOLLA et al, 2021;GITHINJI et al, 2011;GOTOSa et al, 2011;NAAB et al, 2017;NWACHUKWU et al, 2020).…”

“…In turn, residue retention in CA slows the rate of water flow during rainfall, thus allowing the soil to absorb and store more water. Studies by ASFAWESEN MOLLA et al (2021) reported an increase in total porosity under zero tillage and in zero tillage (ZT) coupled with intercropped treatments. Correspondingly, other researchers observed an increase in BD in NT treatment relative to CT (NAAB et al, 2017;SERME et al, 2015).…”

“…Conversely, the conventional tillage (CT) method involves ploughing the soil to a significant depth to invert and break up the soil (OBIA et al, 2020). It is effective in burying crop residues and controlling weeds but can lead to soil erosion and loss of organic matter (ASFAWESEN MOLLA et al, 2021;KARUMA et al, 2014). Distinct from CT, CST promotes the retention of crop residues and maintains permanent soil cover.…”