No-tillage and conventional tillage effects on durum wheat yield, grain quality and soil moisture content in southern Italy

No-tillage (NT) is becoming increasingly attractive to farmers because it clearly reduces production costs relative to conventional tillage (CT). However, many producers in southern Italy are reluctant to adopt this practice because NT can have contrasting consequences on grain yield depending on weather conditions. The effect of NT and CT on continuous durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) under rainfed Mediterranean conditions was studied, over a 3-year period (2000–2002) at two locations (Foggia and Vasto) in southern Italy. Yield, grain quality [thousand kernel weight (TKW), test weight (TW) and protein content (PC)] and soil water content were assessed.Higher yield was obtained with NT than CT in the first 2 years at Foggia. In contrast, mean yield and quality parameters at Vasto were similar for the two treatments, except in the third year in which CT produced more than NT (4.6 Mg ha⁻¹ versus 2.9 Mg ha⁻¹). At Foggia, TW and TKW were higher in NT than CT in all years. Highest PC was obtained under CT (19.6% and 15.5% for CT versus 14.7% and 11.4% for NT, respectively, in the growing season 2000–2001 and 2001–2002) indicating that grain was shriveled with low starch accumulation.At Foggia, where this study was part of a long-term experiment started in 1995, a strong correlation was observed between yield and rainfall during the wheat growing season. The coefficient of determination (R²) values for CT and NT were 0.69^* and 0.31 ns, respectively, and the regression straight line crossed around 300 mm of rainfall. These results indicate that NT was superior below this rainfall value, whereas more rainfall enhanced yield in CT. We conclude that NT performed better at Foggia with limited rainfall during the durum wheat growing season. The superior effect of NT in comparison to CT, was due to lower water evaporation from soil combined with enhanced soil water availability.     

秸秆覆盖免耕条件下土壤温度动态变化研究

[目的]研究秸秆覆盖免耕条件下土壤温度的动态变化。[方法]设置常规耕作、秸秆还田和秸秆覆盖免耕3种处理,研究河西内陆河灌区作物生育期土壤温度的动态变化。[结果]8:00时3种耕作方式土壤温度相差不大。14:00时土壤温度增速最明显,覆盖免耕的土壤温度变化较其他两种方式平缓,秸秆的覆盖降温作用在作物生育中前期表现明显,后期减弱。20:00时覆盖免耕的土壤积温分别比常规耕作和秸秆还田小134.31、61.4℃。3种耕作方式的土壤温度差值随土壤深度的增加而减小,降温过程中的差值较增温过程的小。作物生育早期常规耕作和秸秆还田的土壤温度变化剧烈;降温天气覆盖免耕的增温和降温分别为7.42、.4℃,增温天气增温和降温则为13.6、12.7℃。[结论]秸秆覆盖免耕依据气温和作物生育期表现出不同的调温效应,减缓和抑平了土壤时间和空间温度的变化,所产生的"增温效应"和"降温效应"在土壤表层表现突出。     

Soil biopore estimation: effects of tillage, nitrogen, and photographic resolution

Networks of biopores created by plant and animal activity might accumulate in untilled cropping systems. These would be relatively well connected to the soil surface. The objective of this study was to count biopores after long-term no-till in comparison to recently tilled soil. Biopores were counted and measured to 80 cm depth at 10 cm increments in plots either under no-till wheat production for 1 year or for 17 years, and receiving zero or 130 kg ha⁻¹ N. The measurements were repeated using different photographic methods with increased resolution. The only significant difference between the long and short term no-till was in biopore sizes over 1 mm diameter, where long-term no-till produced from 30 to 100% more biopores, probably caused by increased earthworm activity. Over 99% of biopores measured were less than 1 mm diameter. There was no difference between tillage or N treatments in the number of these smaller biopores at any depth. This means small biopores did not accumulate either above or below the plow layer in an untilled cropping system. Improved resolution in the second set of measurements produced a 100-fold increase in detection of biopores in the 0.3–0.5 mm range. This provides evidence that a substantial portion of biopores are very small and were missed in the first year of this study and perhaps in other studies of this type. It is hypothesized that biopores of 0.05–0.5 mm diameter make up over half of total biopore volume and might have a significant role in movement of water and gases.     

秸秆覆盖免耕土壤微生物生物量与养分转化的研究

 多年连续秸秆覆盖免耕，0-20cm土层土壤有机质、全氮、全磷、有效氮、有效磷含量和土壤蔗糖酶、磷酸酶活性明显提高；免耕能提高表层土壤微生物生物量，0-7.5cm土层比翻耕处理年平均增高51.7%。翻耕能增加土壤活跃微生物生物量，0-30cm土层翻耕土壤活跃微生物生物量比免耕高25.3%。0-30cm土层微生物对养分的固结量多于作物年吸收量，土壤微生物生物量在春季和秋季即冬小麦生长苗期增大，固结土壤养分，而在夏玉米生长时期的夏季降低，被矿化释放养分，所以微生物对土壤养分转化具有重要的调控作用。     

保护性耕作技术适宜性区划的指标体系初探——以免耕为例

保护性耕作是国际农业可持续发展的重要支撑技术。但目前该技术类型种类繁多且零散、规范性差,限制了其大面积的推广应用。因此,亟需根据不同区域的自然、社会、经济条件来研究不同技术的空间适应性和布局,制定区域保护性耕作技术区划,为区域保护性耕作技术的推广应用提供科学支撑。基于以往对保护性耕作(以免耕为例)的研究成果,综合分析了免耕与自然环境以及社会经济环境之间的内在联系,利用层次分析法提出了免耕区划的指标体系,对免耕这项保护性耕作技术的适宜性区划进行了初步探讨,以期能够抛砖引玉,为保护性耕作技术区划的进一步研究提供参考。     

免耕对农田土壤生物学特性的影响

农业管理对土壤群落水平下各种生物之间复杂的相互作用的影响是土壤生态学研究的一个热点。土壤生物和酶活性在改善土壤结构、养分循环、有机质分解和保持中起重要作用。与常规耕作系统比,免耕系统中作物残体和土壤矿物质的机械混合要少得多,因此免耕系统更接近于未受扰动的自然生态系统,可能更加依赖于土壤生物体的固有作用。综合有关文献讨论了耕作实践对一些土壤生物学特性的影响。总体看来,土壤线虫总量及功能类群对免耕既可能是正响应也可能是负响应,与常规耕作相比免耕系统中土壤微生物的丰富度或生物量增加,土壤酶活性增强,土壤呼吸作用减弱。最后还对免耕系统中有关土壤生物学特性研究的重要性和需要解决的问题进行了小结。     

华北潮土区不同耕作方式下土壤动物丰富度与多样性

在黄淮海平原小麦-玉米一年两熟地区,试验设置了5个处理,分别为玉米小麦每年均翻耕(CTWT)、玉米免耕+小麦每年翻耕(CNTWT)、玉米免耕+小麦每2年翻耕(CNTW2T)、玉米免耕+小麦每4年翻耕(CNTW4T)、玉米小麦每年均免耕(CNTWNT),所有处理的农作物地上秸秆全部移出。调查结果显示,中小型土壤动物在数量上占总数的比例为83%～91%,土壤动物主要分布在表层,占有其总量的71.9%～73.2%。土壤动物存在显著的季节性动态,其丰富度在玉米季高于小麦季。土壤动物Shannon多样性指数在整体上表现为翻耕高于免耕处理,玉米季翻耕处理下有更高的均匀度指数,但小麦季均匀度指数差异不显著。多元典范冗余分析表明,耕作方式主要是对土壤动物的时间动态和垂直分布产生影响,从而间接地影响了土壤动物的数量和组成。     

免耕法对土壤结构影响的研究

通过对江苏省５大农区５个点连续免耕两年后土壤容重收缩性能和破碎强度的测定,结果表明：免耕能改善土壤结构和土壤排水通气状况。体变率与土壤〈０．０１ｍｍ的物理性粘粒和〈０．００１ｍｍ粘粒含量相关密切;常耕与免耕破碎强度的差值也与粘粒含量有一定的相关。     

Tillage alters corn root distribution in coarse-textured soil

Root responses to tillage vary and the driving factors are not well understood. Characterization of root response is requisite to optimize fertilizer placement and to understand limitations to no-till production. Corn (Zea mays L.) root length and weight were measured in the top 0.3 m of coarse-textured soil (Psammentic Hapludalf) in southwestern Ontario, Canada after 5, 6 and 7 yr of conventional and no-till management. Root length density in the top 0.1 m was greater under no-till (17 km m⁻³) than under conventional till (7 km m⁻³) 2 yr out of 3. Root length density was 4 km m⁻³ lower under no-till than under conventional till in the 0.15 to 0.3 m layer 1 yr out of 3, but otherwise root growth below 0.1 m was unaffected by tillage. Each year, root length and weight were distributed more horizontally under no-till than under conventional till. Corn grain yields did not vary with tillage, even though soil water content was often greater under no-till. The increase in soil water (of between 0.01 and 0.03 m³ m⁻³) was partly due to increased water holding capacity—water held between −8 and −200 kPa matric potential was usually greater under no-till (0.07 m³ m⁻³) than under conventional till (0.06 m³ m⁻³) in the top 0.15 m. The shift in root distribution was apparently driven by soil structure because variation in bulk density with tillage and depth followed the same trends as variation in root length. Bulk density was greater under no-till (1.5 Mg m⁻³) than under conventional till (1.4 Mg m⁻³) in the top 0.15 m. In the top 0.075 m, the proportion of the total space occupied by capillary pores (<36 μm diameter) was greater under no-till (17%) than under conventional till (15%), there were more dry-stable aggregates under no-till (9% of total soil in the 0.85–5.7 mm size fraction) than under conventional till (7%), and a greater proportion of these aggregates were water-stable under no-till (25%) than under conventional till (16%). Greater bulk density may trigger formation of lateral roots, and greater aggregation contribute to the more superficial development by deflecting roots from their gravitropic pathway. Given the more superficial root distribution under no-till, shallower placement of downwardly mobile nutrients such as nitrogen may be more efficient than knife-injection.     

栽培措施对土壤健康影响的研究

土壤健康衰退已经波及整个农业生态领域,针对其衰退现象,采用不同的栽培措施从土壤理化性质、土壤养分指标、土壤生物性状、植物病害和植株生理等指标综合分析其对土壤质量的影响。结果表明,采用免耕、合理的间作和轮作能够较好地维持土壤理化性质,减少土壤的盐分积累,维持了微生物的数量和多样性,维持微生物碳氮源的供应,减少了植物病害发病率,促进了植株的生长。