Cultivation and nitrogen requirements for continuous winter barley on a gleysol and a cambisol

Long- and short-term direct-drilling and seed broadcasting plus rotovation were examined as possible quick and cheap alternatives to conventional mouldboard ploughing and drilling. The experiment was the continuation of an existing long-term tillage experiment for spring barley. The conventional ploughing and long-term direct-drilling treatments continued on the same plots. The broadcasting and the short-term direct-drilling treatments were applied to previously chisel-ploughed and deep mouldboard-ploughed treatments, respectively. Autumn nitrogen treatments of 30 or 60 kg ha⁻¹ and spring nitrogen treatments of 150 or 225 kg ha⁻¹ were applied. The experiment is located on a cambisol (15% clay in topsoil) and on a gleysol (17% clay in topsoil) in south-east Scotland. Straw was removed by baling and the stubble remained when the treatments were applied.

Long-term direct-drilling yielded most over the 3 years of the experiment and was particularly successful after the unusually wet autumn and winter of the third season. Short-term direct-drilling was the lowest yielding treatment in the first season only. The success of the long-term direct-drilling treatment was associated with the development of a stable, protective surface tilth as a result of organic-matter accumulation. This was associated with some soil structural improvement deeper in the profile in the long-term direct-drilled gleysol as shown by measurements of air permeability. Crop performance apparently was not related to soil compactness or cone resistance. The relatively high rates of nitrogen applied, both autumn and spring, gave worthwhile crop responses except for the third season, when the crop lodged. Short-term direct-drilling, broadcasting with rotovation and ploughing with drilling gave similar average yields on the gleysol, but on the cambisol broadcasting with rotovation outyielded the other two treatments by an average of 0.3 t ha⁻¹.     

Cultivation and nitrogen requirement for winter barley as assessed from a reduced-tillage experiment on a brown forest soil

Direct drilling, spring-time cultivation to 60 mm and shallow mouldboard ploughing to 100 mm depth were examined as possible quick and cheap alternatives to mouldboard ploughing to 250 mm depth. Nitrogen was top-dressed either at the recommended rate or at 40% greater than the recommended rate. The experiment was on a well-drained sandy loam containing 3.8% easily oxidisable organic matter, representative of many coarsetextured Scottish soils, and ran for three seasons during 1980–1983. Crop and soil conditions were measured frequently throughout the duration of the experiment.No significant differences in yield were detected between the cultivation treatments at either nitrogen level in any year. The mean yield for the three seasons at the recommended rate of nitrogen top dressing was 5.8 t ha^?1 which was increased, on average, by 0.72 t ha^?1 by the higher rate of nitrogen top dressing, a profitable response. Grain water content, weight, specific weight and nitrogen content were influenced little by cultivation treatment. The similar grain yields and qualities were consistent with the similarly satisfactory seedbeds produced by the cultivation treatments and the stable structure of the soil which, though moderately compact, was relatively weak and ensured that soil physical properties were similar in all cultivation treatments. Both primary and secondary cultivation requirements are low. Shallow ploughing to 100 mm gave a small yield benefit and may be the most suitable cultivation treatment. Soil disturbance below this depth is probably not necessary for winter barley on such coarse-textured brown forest soils.     

Factors influencing the variation of some properties of soils in relation to their suitability for direct drilling

Soils from fifteen field experiments in the United Kingdom and one in France that compared direct drilling with mouldboard ploughing were examined with respect to their composition and physical properties. Indices of the stability and shrinkage of soil aggregates were obtained by measurement and an index of compactability was derived from an established relationship. It was hypothesized that these properties were possible determinants of soil responses to zero-tillage.Aggregate stability and shrinkage were correlated with organic carbon and clay content, respectively. Organic matter contents were greater at the surface of direct-drilled soils than in the complete topsoil layer after direct drilling or ploughing. In some cases the increase in organic matter significantly improved the physical properties of the soils.The three indices, of stability, shrinkage and compactability, were each ranked in high intermediate or low groups, and the soils classified according to their ratings in these groups. The resulting classification broadly agreed with a previous one of soil suitability for sequential direct drilling mainly based on experimental agronomy.     

Stability and organic matter content of surface soil aggregates under different methods of cultivation and in grassland

The effects of direct drilling, shallow and deep tine cultivation, ploughing, and of growing and permanent grass sward on the stability and organic matter content of surface soil aggregates were studied on a range of soils in Southern England. Cultivation treatments were applied continuously for 4 to 6 years. Generally, relative aggregate stability, assessed by turbidimetric and wet-sieving techniques, was enhanced by direct drilling and other forms of simplified cultivation compared with ploughing. Increased stability was associated with increased organic matter status and was not pronounced under grass. In the case of a soil which was previously under permanent grass stability and organic matter content declined after direct drilling but significantly less so than after mouldboard ploughing. Differences in aggregate stability were detected in some soils only after modifying the test procedure and it appeared likely that the magnitude of differences were variable within a season and were related possibly to the tilth forming properties of the soils.     

Carbohydrate composition in relation to structural stability, compactibility and plasticity of two soils in a long-term experiment

The effects of tillage on soil organic carbon content, carbohydrate content, monosaccharide composition, aggregate stability, compactibility and plasticity were investigated in a field experiment on a gleysol and on a cambisol under winter barley in South-East Scotland. Two long-term treatments (direct drilling and conventional mouldboard ploughing for 22 years) were compared with short-term direct drilling and broadcast sowing plus rotavation for 5 years. Carbohydrate released sequentially to cold water, hot water, 1.0 M HCl and 0.5 M NaOH was determined after hydrolysis as reducing sugar equivalent to glucose in both fresh and air-dried samples. All other measurements were made on dry soils only. About 3% of the soluble carbohydrate was extracted by cold water, 10% by hot water, 12% by HCl and 75% by NaOH from both the dry and fresh soils. The total reducing sugars of the fractions were proportional to the total organic carbon determined by dichromate oxidation or C analysis. Organic carbon and carbohydrates were concentrated near the surface of the direct drilled soil, but were more uniformly distributed with depth in the ploughed soil. The surface soil under direct drilling was more stable, less compactible and had greater plasticity limits than under ploughing. However, particle size distributions were unaffected by tillage so that differences in soil properties were attributed to differences in the quantity and quality of organic matter. Differences in compactibility, structural stability and plasticity limits between depths and tillage treatments correlated with total carbon and with total carbohydrates. The hot water extractable carbohydrate fraction correlated best with aggregate stability and the NaOH fraction correlated best with compactibility and plastic limit. Both fractions were greatest in the long-term direct drilled soil. The hot water fraction had a galactose plus mannose over arabinose plus xylose ratio of 1.0–1.6 in comparison to 0.4–0.7 in the NaOH fraction indicating that the microbial contribution within the hot water-soluble fraction was the greater. The hot-water fraction was likely to contain more exocellular microbial polysaccharides involved in the stabilizing of soil aggregates. The hot-water and NaOH carbohydrate fractions may be good indicators of soil organic matter quality relevant to the preservation of good soil physical conditions.     

EFFECTS OF CULTIVATION ON SOIL WATER RETENTION AND WATER USE BY CEREALS IN CLAY SOILS

The effects are repotted of direct drilling and mouldboard ploughing on soil water retention and extraction in three soils over two to four years. In the years 1972–75 when winter rainfall was close to or greater than the long-term average the maximum soil water content of the upper 100 cm differed little between the cultivation treatments. In contrast, after the dry winter of 1975–76, about 10 per cent more water was stored in the direct-drilled soil, especially below 50 cm. In the following dry summer, winter wheat extracted up to 22 mm more water from uncultivated soil and this was associated with better growth of the crop than after ploughing. When simulated rain was applied, water infiltrated rapidly to a depth of 50–100 cm in direct-drilled soil, whereas on ploughed land its movement was retarded below the plough sole even when cultivation had been carried out under conditions which minimized smearing. Water storage at depth was consequently greater under dry conditions in the direct-drilled soil while excess water reached drain depth more rapidly in wet conditions.     

Direct drilling compared with ploughing for winter wheat grown continuously and the effects of subsoiling

Abstract. Direct drilling was compared with mouldboard ploughing on a sandy clay loam using winter wheat as the test crop for a period of four years (1978/79 to 1981/82). The effect of short- and long-term sequences of direct-drilling on grain yield from 1981/85 was also investigated and in 1983/84 and 1984/85 the effect of soil loosening by a slant-legged subsoiler, the'Paraplow'. The range in annual mean yields was 7.19 to 9.32 t ha^-1. There were no significant differences in grain yield between direct-drilling and ploughing except in 1979 when direct-drilled wheat yielded 0.60 t ha^-1 more than wheat after ploughing. The number of years the land had been direct-drilled had no effect on grain yield.
Using a slant-legged subsoiler on direct-drilled land significantly reduced cone resistance and increased root density, but these effects were variable across the working width of the implement. Subsoiling did not increase yield in 1983/84, and in 1984/85 it reduced yield by 0.45 t ha^-1.
Long-term direct drilling of winter wheat on the Tickenham soil series is unlikely to result in a loss of yield provided straw is burnt and grass weeds are controlled.     

Direct drilling and soil loosening for spring cereals on a fine sandy loam in Atlantic Canada

Changes in soil structure and properties, plant growth and diseases and agronomic aspects were determined, after 3 years, on a Charlottetown fine sandy loam, an Orthic Podzol with a perhumid soil moisture regime, subjected to three tillage systems for spring cereals. The tillage systems consisted of direct drilling, soil loosening with a “paraplow” followed by direct drilling and mouldboard ploughing.

Rate of plant growth and other crop measurements were not changed by the tillage systems, except for the depth of seeding. Direct drilling reduced the accumulation of N and K in the plant, and reduced grain N, compared with mouldboard ploughing. Soil loosening prior to direct drilling prevented the decline in N and K accumulation, and increased grain yield and N content, in comparison with mouldboard ploughing. Direct drilling caused changes in soil macro-aggregation and reduced the evaporation rate, and increased microbial biomass C and N, total organic C and N and extractable ions at the soil surface (0–5 cm), compared with mouldboard ploughing. In addition, earthworm numbers were increased under direct drilling. Root lesion and spiral nematodes were not influenced by tillage differences.

Soil loosening prior to direct drilling alleviated the significant reductions in soil macroporosity, and prevented the increase in soil bulk density, soil strength and percentage water-filled pore space (%WFPS) associated with direct drilling alone. Although soil permeability was optimum under direct drilling alone, the relative increase in %WFPS and reduction in soil aeration were associated with a concomitant increase in common root rot.     

Preliminary investigation on the response of spring barley (Hordeum sativum) to soil cultivation with the ‘paraplow’

In a long-term cultivation experiment on a sandy clay loam overlying magnesian limestone and cropped with spring barley (Hordeum sativum) each year, mouldboard ploughing, shallow tine cultivation and direct drilling were compared. Compaction had become evident on the direct drilled treatment and to alleviate this the ‘Paraplow’, a slant-legged soil loosening implement, was used on all treatments to a depth of 35 cm in the autumn of 1980.A crop of spring barley (var. Athos) was grown in 1981, at a nitrogen fertiliser rate of 75 kg ha^?1 N. Root growth, shoot dry matter, nitrogen uptake, grain yield and components of yield were recorded. Soil strength (by cone resistance) and dry bulk density of the soil were also measured. As a mean of all cultivation systems the ‘Paraplow’ increased grain yield by 12%. The response of the crop to cultivation by the ‘Paraplow’ was greatest on the mouldboard ploughed and long-term direct-drilled systems. The latter out-yielded the former, with shallow tine cultivation intermediate.The decrease in soil strength caused by the ‘Paraplow’ resulted in more rapid penetration of root axes and greater proliferation of roots in each horizon of the profile. There was no significant effect on shoot dry matter up to anthesis but, at harvest, barley on land treated with the ‘Paraplow’ had more ears with more grains per ear. Thousand-grain weight was not affected.The poorer growth of barley on ploughed than direct drilled land in 1981 was explained by temporary waterlogging of the soil in May.     

Humic substances in soil and crop sciences: P. MacCarthy, C.E. Clapp, R.L. Malcolm and P.R. Bloom (Editors), American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, 1990, 281 pp., price US$ 30.00, ISBN: 0-89118-104-0

Studies were conducted to determine changes in organic matter and microbial biomass carbon in comparison with structural stability at the surface soil (0–5 cm) of a Charlottetown fine sandy loam, an Orthic Podzol, at three tillage and grassland sites situated in Prince Edward Island. The tillage experiments, established for 3–5 years, included comparisons of mouldboard ploughing, direct drilling, shallow tillage, and chisel ploughing. Two indices of soil structural stability were used: mean weight diameter (MWD) and aggregation index (AI). The latter index assigns a weight factor to aggregate size ranges based on their value for plant germination and root growth.Direct drilling and reduced tillage increased the level of soil organic carbon by 10–17%, relative to mouldboard ploughing. Organic carbon was more enriched in 1–2 mm and 4.75–9.00 mm macroaggregates, especially the former, compared with whole soil. The MWD of aggregates after wet sieving was 33% and 55%, relative to the grassland sites, for mouldboard ploughing and direct drilling, respectively. On these soils of similar mineralogy and particle size, a close linear relationship (r=0.942) was observed between organic carbon (r=0.947) and nitrogen (r=0.923). The AI was significantly correlated to both organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon using power regression. In contrast to MWD, the AI under direct drilling and reduced tillage, associated with an organic carbon level of 2.5%, approximated the AI under grass. Overall, the study showed that minimum tillage systems in humid climates can improve structural stability at the soil surface of fine sandy loams over a relatively short time frame.     

Characterization of soil physical properties and organic matter under long-term primary tillage in a humid climate

Chisel ploughing is considered to be a potential conservation tillage method to replace mouldboard ploughing for annual crops in the cool-humid climate of eastern Canada. To assess possible changes in some soil physical and biological properties due to differences in annual primary tillage, a study was conducted for 9 years in Prince Edward Island on a Tignish loam, a well-drained Podzoluvisol, to characterize several mouldboard and chisel ploughing systems (at 25 cm), under conditions of similar crop productivity. The influence of primary tillage on the degree of soil loosening, soil permeability, and both organic matter distribution throughout the soil profile and organic matter content in soil particle size fractions was determined. At the time of tillage, chisel ploughing provided a coarser soil macrostructure than mouldboard ploughing. Mouldboard ploughing increased soil loosening at the lower depth of the tillage zone compared to chisel ploughing. These transient differences between primary tillage treatments had little effect on overall soil profile permeability and hydraulic properties of the tilled/non-tilled interface at the 15–30 cm soil depth. Although soil microbial biomass, on a volume basis, was increased by 30% at the 0–10 cm soil depth under chisel ploughing, no differences were evident between tillage systems over the total tillage depth. Mouldboard ploughing increased total orgainc carbon by 43% at the 20–30 cm soil depth, and the carbon and nitrogen in the organic matter fraction ≤ 53 μm by 18–44% at the 10–30 cm soil depth, compared to chisel ploughing.     

THE EFFECTS OF TILLAGE, DIRECT DRILLING AND NITROGEN FERTILISER ON SOIL TEMPERATURE UNDER A BARLEY CROP

Continuous hourly records of soil temperature were collected at 1, 5 and 20 cm, throughout two growing seasons, 1973 and 1974, under crops of spring barley in the east of Scotland. Measurements were obtained from three cultivation treatments, deep ploughing, normal ploughing and direct drilling, at two nitrogen fertiliser levels, 0 and 150kg/ha. Compared with ploughed soil, direct-drilled soil had a higher surface reflection coefficient and a higher thermal diffusivity between 5 and 20 cm; overall, this resulted in lower heat sums (°C hours/day over 5 °C and 10 °C) in direct-drilled soil at 1 cm and 5 cm during the first 20 days after sowing. The thermal regimes of normally and deeply ploughed plots were very similar. Nitrogen fertiliser caused significant lowering of soil temperature at all three depths in the latter half of the growing season, due to increased shading of the soil surface by the crop canopy. Some implications of these findings for cultivations for cereals are discussed.     

Amelioration of a hardsetting Alfisol through deep mouldboard ploughing, gypsum application and double cropping. III. Crop production and profitability

Deep mouldoard ploughing to 0.45 m, gypsum application (5 t ha⁻¹), and double cropping were evaluated, alone and combined, as ameliorants for a hardsetting red-brown earth (Alfisol). The double cropped treatment consisted of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) and a summer forage crop consisting of sudax (Sorghum sudanese) intersown with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). This paper describes the effect of these treatments on crop development, yield, crop-water relations and economic returns. Crop emergence was not affected by any treatment. Mouldboard ploughing significantly increased wheat grain yield from 1.86 to 2.15 t ha⁻¹, in 1984, but not in 1985. Yield was also increased from 5.18 to 5.68 t ha⁻¹ as a result of gypsum addition in 1985—after no significant difference in 1984. Double cropping significantly increased yield (by 0.6 t ha⁻¹) in 1985. Greater increases were obtained with the summer cropping phase where higher evaporative demand during the summer would have aggravated soil structural problems associated with hardsetting. Sudax-cowpea dry matter yields were increased from 13.6 to 17 t ha⁻¹ and from 13.0 to 17.5 t ha⁻¹ during summer 1984–1985 by gypsum and mouldboard ploughing, respectively. The higher yields are attributed to increased water storage and depletion, and reduced soil strength for the mouldboard ploughed and gypsum main treatments. No interactions were found between the main treatments, except at the end of the 1985 winter cropping phase when there was a negative interaction between mouldboard ploughing and gypsum application for dry matter, equivalent root length and yield. The yield increases associated with mouldboard ploughing did not persist beyond the second year of the experiment. Double cropping combined with mouldboard ploughing (Mb+DC) was the most profitable treatment, whereas mouldboard ploughing with gypsum (Mb+G) was the least profitable for the crops grown in this experiment.     

Straw incorporation and tillage for winter barley: Soil structural effects

A large-scale field experiment was conducted over four seasons on a gleysol (24% clay in topsoil) in Scotland. Conventional ploughing, shallow ploughing and shallow rotary or tine cultivation were investigated for the incorporation of straw in winter barley. Straw after harvest was either chopped or removed. Thus the residue treatments were either straw plus stubble or stubble only. Incorporation depths ranged from 0–100 to 0–300 mm.The presence of straw changed soil physical conditions after several seasons in which straw was incorporated. In the ploughed treatments, the presence of straw plus stubble decreased the average soil water content and matric potential in the topsoil in comparison to stubble only, indicating more rapid drainage. This was associated with the presence of buried straw in zones of loose soil just above plough depth and with a long-term increase in soil pore continuity related to the presence of straw residues. The presence of straw plus stubble under conventional ploughing decreased thermal diffusivities in the top 150 mm of soil in comparison with stubble only. Shallow incorporation of straw plus stubble gave higher overall strengths, bulk densities, lower water infiltration rates and poorer drainage in the topsoil than deeper incorporation. However, shallow incorporation caused an accumulation of organic matter over the first three seasons. This accumulation probably contributed to the increased aggregate stability and resistance to compaction of the top 50-mm soil layer, indicating improved resistance to erosion and to further compaction.     

Spring barley growth, grain quality and soil physical conditions in a cultivations experiment on a sandy loam in Scotland

Widely differing cultivations for spring barley, ranging from conventional ploughing to direct drilling and including broadcasting on to undisturbed soil, were examined over two seasons (1979 and 1980), conventional ploughing yielding highest and either chisel ploughing or direct drilling lowest. Yield differences were associated with plant population differences; they were significant only in the abnormally wet season of 1980. Broadcasting before tine cultivation to 50 mm resulted in lower seedbed strength and higher yield than drilling after a similar cultivation. Compaction by the same level of seedbed traffic was greater in a treatment cultivated to 50 mm depth than in the conventional ploughing treatment. Grain milling energy, which is inversely related to endosperm suitability for malting, and grain nitrogen content both decreased with increasing yield. Total nitrogen removed per ha in the grain in 1979 was similar in all treatments (about 72% of applied). In 1980, it was generally lower (about 62% of applied). After allowing for differences in plant populations it was lowest after direct drilling, broadcasting and very shallow tine cultivation (60% of applied), highest after conventional ploughing (70% of applied) and intermediate after rotary cultivating and shallow tine cultivation (65% of applied). Soil water release characteristics were described by logistic equations. Treatment differences were greatest at matric potentials greater than -3 kPa at 10 and 60 mm depth. The porosities of the cultivated soils were similar to each other, and were greater than those of the direct drilled treatments.     

EFFECT OF PLOUGHING AND DIRECT DRILLING ON SOIL NITRATE CONTENT

The concentration of nitrate-N at 30 cm depth in a clay soil was 2–5 times greater (p<.05) after ploughing than after direct drilling during the winter and spring of 1972–3. However, by early May no significant differences could be detected between cultivation treatments. It is concluded that decreased mineralization of soil nitrogen in the direct-drilled soil is the main factor responsible for the differences observed.     

Long-term experiments with different depths of mouldboard ploughing in Sweden

With the main objective to produce a basis for advice to farmers concerning optimal ploughing depth under various conditions, a series of field experiments were initiated throughout Sweden. At 19 sites on various soils (clay content 72–521 g kg⁻¹, organic matter content 21–89 g kg⁻¹) mouldboard ploughing to about 15, 22 and 28 cm depth was repeated annually for up to 17 years. The total number of location-years was 241. Traditional farming had previously been practised at the sites, including annual mouldboard ploughing to 20–25 cm depth. Spring-sown barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and oats (Avena sativa L.) were the most frequent crops but many other crops were grown less frequently. Crop residues were generally returned to the soil; straw was chopped at harvest. Post-emergence herbicides were regularly used, generally resulting in an adequate control of annual weeds. However, the control of perennial weeds, particularly couch grass (Elymus repens L. Gould) was often inadequate. At ploughing depths of 22 and 28 cm, the mean crop yields were 2% and 3%, respectively, higher than at 15 cm. However, the results varied considerably between sites. In soils with a high silt content, the shallowest ploughing resulted in up to 10% higher yield than deeper ploughing, provided the control of perennial weeds was adequate. The main reason seemed to be improved structural stability in the surface soil because the concentration of organic matter in this layer became higher the shallower the ploughing. In clay soils with relatively stable structure, as well as in sandy soils, the deepest ploughing resulted in the highest yields, probably because of the deeper loosening. At sites where perennial weeds imposed problems, the weed control was better the deeper the ploughing, sometimes increasing the relative yield after deeper ploughing by several percent as compared with shallow ploughing. Most of this effect was obtained already at the intermediate ploughing depth. The results led to the following conclusions for Swedish agriculture. It may be profitable to plough sandy soils annually as deep as 30 cm, coarse sandy soils perhaps even deeper. In clay and clay loam soils, ploughing deeper than 20–25 cm generally cannot be recommended. In silty soils with an unstable structure, mouldboard ploughing, if any, should be shallow (≤15 cm), and perennial weeds should be controlled by other methods.     

The influence of tillage on the proportion of organic carbon and nitrogen in the microbial biomass of medium-textured soils in a humid climate

Summary Microbial biomass C and N respond rapidly to changes in tillage and soil management. The ratio of biomass C to total organic C and the ratio of mineral N flush to total N were determined in the surface layer (0–5 cm) of low-clay (8–10%), fine sandy loam, Podzolic soils subjected to a range of reduced tillage (direct drilling, chisel ploughing, shallow tillage) experiments of 3–5 years' duration. Organic matter dynamics in the tillage experiments were compared to long-term conditions in several grassland sites established on the same soil type for 10–40 years. Microbial biomass C levels in the grassland soils, reduced tillage, and mouldboard ploughing treatments were 561, 250, and 155 g g^-1 soil, respectively. In all the systems, microbial biomass C was related to organic C (r=0.86), while the mineral N flush was related to total N (r=0.84). The average proportion of organic C in the biomass of the reduced tillage soils (1.2) was higher than in the ploughed soils (0.8) but similar to that in the grassland soils (1.3). Reduced tillage increased the average ratio of mineral N flush to total soil N to 1.9, compared to 1.3 in the ploughed soils. The same ratio was 1.8 in the grassland soils. Regression analysis of microbial biomass C and percent organic C in the microbial biomass showed a steeper slope for the tillage soils than the grassland sites, indicating that reduced tillage increased the microbial biomass level per unit soil organic C. The proportion of organic matter in the microbial biomass suggests a shift in organic matter equilibrium in the reduced tillage soils towards a rapid, tillage-induced, accumulation of organic matter in the surface layer.     

OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS IN A CLAY SOIL AFTER PLOUGHING OR DIRECT DRILLING

The concentration of oxygen at three depths (15, 30 and 60 cm) has been measured in a direct-drilled or ploughed clay soil of low hydraulic conductivity (Evesnam series) which was cropped with winter wheat in three consecutive growing seasons (1972/73 to 1974/75). The mean oxygen concentrations between January and March varied with the seasonal rainfall; in the relatively dry winter of 1972/73they were 20 per cent (v/v) at 15 cm and 12 per cent (v/v) at 60 cm, but in the wetter winters of 1973/74 and 1974/75 they were less than 11 and 6 per cent (v/v) at 15 and 60 cms respectively. Direct drilling resulted in higher oxygen concentrations at 15 cm than ploughing in both wetter winters, the mean concentration being 10.2 and 7.2 per cent (v/v) in direct-drilled and ploughed plots respectively. Frequency distributions of values obtained at individual sampling points showed that when the mean oxygen concentration of the soil at 15 cm decreased to its annual minimum (in January-March), a significantly higher proportion of the sampling points under direct drilling continued to show concentrations of oxygen greater than 10 per cent (v/v). The results are interpreted as indicating that the higher oxygen concentrations found in this soil after direct drilling are due to the development of a system of continuous large pores and channels which would otherwise be destroyed by annual ploughing.     

Amelioration of a hardsetting Alfisol through deep mouldboard ploughing, gypsum application and double cropping. II. Soil-water relations

Deep mouldboard ploughing to a depth of 0.45 m, gypsum (5 t ha⁻¹) and double cropping wheat (Triticum aestivum) with a summer forage crop were applied individually, and in combination, to modify a hardsetting red-brown earth (Alfisol) used for flood-irrigated wheat production. The effects of these treatments upon water infiltration, storage and intake during irrigations, application efficiency, and depletion between irrigations were measured. Gypsum markedly increased saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) immediately after being applied in June 1984 but not in 1985. Mouldboard ploughing and double cropping had little effect on K_s. All K_s values were less than 0.5 m day⁻¹. Plant available water content (PAWC) was increased by gypsum application and mouldboard ploughing after the initial irrigation in 1984, and by the three main treatments in 1985. The order in which the main treatments increased PAWC was: gypsum>mouldboard ploughing>double cropping. Water applied and water intake during irrigations were increased by mouldboard ploughing and gypsum during the first irrigation in 1984 by as much as 60 mm. Thereafter mouldboard ploughing, gypsum and double cropping had little effect on water intake, and only gypsum increased the amount of water applied in 1985. The ratio of water intake to water applied during irrigations (application efficiency) was increased by mouldboard ploughing to 59% in 1984; no treatment had values greater than 40% during 1985. Water depletion was significantly increased by mouldboard ploughing in 1984 and by gypsum and double cropping in 1985. Few significant interactions were found between the three main treatments, each of which would improve soil-water relations for crop growth, although the effect of mouldboard ploughing on soil-water relations declined after the first year. Despite substantial improvements after 2 years in some treatments, soil hydraulic properties were inadequate for optimal irrigated cropping.