Impacts of Different Tillage Practices on Soil Water Infiltration for Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Over the years, cultivation using sustainable tillage practices has gained significant importance, but the impact of tillage on soil water infiltration is still a concern for landowners due to the possible effects on crop yield. This study investigates the impact of different tillage managements on the infiltration rate of sandy clay loam soil under a semiarid environment. Field experiments were conducted in Chott Mariem Sousse, Tunisia. The tillage practices consisted of three treatments, including a tine cultivator (TC, 16 cm), moldboard plows (MP, 36 cm) and no-tillage (NT). Three infiltration models, Kostiakov, Philip and Horton, were applied to adjust the observed data and evaluate the infiltration characteristics of the studied soils. Comparison criteria, including the coefficient of determination (R2), along with the root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE), were used to investigate the best-fit model. The results showed that moldboard plowing enhanced soil infiltration capacity relative to tine cultivation and no-tillage treatments. The mean saturated hydraulic conductivity was highest under MP, while it was lowest in NT, with 33.4% and 34.1% reduction compared to TC and MP, respectively. Based on the obtained results, Philip’s model showed better results with observed infiltration due to a higher R2 (0.981, 0.973 and 0.967), lower RMSE (3.36, 9.04 and 9.21) and lower MAE (1.46, 3.53 and 3.72) recorded, respectively, for NT, MP and TC. Horton’s model had a low regression coefficient between observed and predicted values. It was suggested that the Philip two-term model can adequately describe the infiltration process in the study area.

The Impact of Tillage and Weed Control Methods on Physical Properties of Sandy Clay Loam Forest Ochrosol in Cassava Cultivation

“…Since the infiltration experiments were conducted between 7 MAP and 10 MAP, and given the relatively high clay content of the soil, settlement of particles [59], lower porosity and closed-pore openings may account for the low initial and basic infiltration rates in the plough-till plots. e infiltration rate under no-tillage and conventional tillage systems estimated by Amami et al [31] also disagrees with our study. ey found that, in the order of mouldboard plowing, tine cultivation, and no tillage, the investigated sandy clay loam soil's infiltration capacity was reduced.…”

“…For example, Lindstrom and Onstad [28] found infiltration to be slower in soils under conservation tillage practices because these soils were denser or less susceptible to crust disturbance. Other studies have demonstrated that no-till, compared to ploughed soil, had higher infiltration rates (as in [29] and as similarly reported by [30]) or lower infiltration rates (as observed by [31]). Nonetheless, weed control is a very important aspect of any crop production enterprise.…”

Towards effectively restoring agricultural landscapes in East African drylands: Linking plant functional traits with soil hydrology

“…K fs increases with the impact of agricultural practices (Figure 3a), which may point to the practice of tillage. Soil tillage can increase porosity and decrease bulk density, thereby increasing infiltration rates (Amami et al, 2021). However, soil tillage may also decrease SOC and aggregate stability which negatively affects soil infiltrability (Sithole et al, 2019).…”

Effects of conservation and standard tillage on soil physico-chemical properties and overall quality in a semi-arid agrosystem

“…Greater leaching of salt under NT is unlikely. Water infiltration measurements carried out at the same site showed higher infiltration under CT and MT than NT (Amami et al, 2021). Qingjie et al (2014) also reported a significant decrease in EC under NT relative to conventional tillage with plowing.…”

“…The study was carried out at the experimental station of the Technical Center of Organic Farming (TCOF) located in Sousse region, Eastern Tunisia (35°55'12.82"N; 10°34'00.51''E). The climate is Mediterranean, semi-arid, with mean annual air temperature of about 17.5°C and with mean annual precipitation of 400 mm, most of which is received during winter Amami et al (2021). The soil is classified as Fluvisol (IUSS Working Group WRB 2015).…”