The effect of machinery traffic on the physical properties of a sandy loam soil and on the yield of sorghum in north-eastern Nigeria

To assess the damage done to sorghum production by soil compaction from vehicular traffic, a randomized complete block design of field plots was selected to comprise treatments of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 passes of a tractor with 31 kPa contact pressure in a sandy loam soil. Agronomical treatments were kept the same for all the plots. The soil dry bulk density and penetrometer resistance for each applied load were measured and the yield from each treatment was determined.

Results indicated higher dry bulk density and penetration resistance with increase in the number of tractor passes. Both the head weight and total plant yield of sorghum increased with increases in the number of tractor passes up to a point, and then decreased with further increases and penetration resistance in terms of the number of tractor passes and contact pressure.