Strip-till as a means of decreasing spatial variability of winter barley within a field scale |
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Authors: | Iwona Jaskulska Anna Gałązka |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Bydgoszcz, Poland;2. Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation - State Research Institute, Pulawy, Poland |
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Abstract: | The tillage system, which joins soil tillage, fertilisation, and seed sowing in one pass of a machine, is rarely used in cereal cultivation. This research aimed to study whether strip-till and conventional tillage (post-harvest ripping and mixing of stubble, ploughing, pre-sowing fertilisation, and seedbed preparation) differ in plant density, yield components, and grain yield of winter barley cultivated on Cambisol in a region with low rainfall, the annual average is about 500?mm. To reach this aim, a two-year, large-plot experiment was conducted in a production field. The soil within the field was spatially variable in texture, moisture, and chemical and biological properties, CV 2.3% do 29.6%. Strip-till had lower within-field spatial variability of winter barley grain yield than conventional tillage. The standard deviation was 0.36?t?ha?1, 0.67?t?ha?1 in the first year and 0.12?t?ha?1, 0.30?t?ha?1 in the second year, respectively. During the period of limited rainfall, strip-till had greater uniformity of plants after emergence; after the winter with low air temperature and a low amount of snow, it had greater plant density. Thus, strip-till can reduce variability of plants and their yield within a field, especially in adverse environmental conditions. |
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Keywords: | Conservation tillage soil properties spatial plant uniformity winter cereal zone tillage |
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