Evaluation of Soil Loss According to Surface Covering and Tillage Methods in Corn Cultivation

Abstract

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.

Effect of Legume Cover Crops and Nitrogen Fertilization Rates on Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Waxy Corn (Zea mays L.) in No-Tillage System

“…농경지의 토양 유실을 경감하기 위해 선진국에서는 무경 운 재배기술이 많이 연구되고 있는데, 특히 무경운 재배와 피 복작물을 결합하면 토양보전 효과가 매우 높은 것으로 밝혀 져 도입이 증가하는 추세이다 (Kim et al, 2004;Lee et al, 2013;Seo et al, 2005). …”

Effect of seed size, planting depth, and hybrid on the emergence, grain quality, and drying of maize (Zea Mays L.) in a perennial groundcover and bare soil system

“…However, research have shown that just a 40-60% groundcover is sufficient to enhance returns for producers and support ecosystem health (Lee et al, 2014;Dobbratz, 2017). Ideal tillage and herbicide applications are necessary to ensure each system works to its full potential.…”