Effects of Conservation and Conventional Tillage on some Soil Hydraulic Properties

Abstract

Abstract The aim of the study is to compare the effects of both conservation tillage and conventional tillage on soil physical properties, such as soil water content, soil porosity, bulk density, and soil organic matter. The majority of farmers in Iraq apply conventional tillage for grain production, by using different types plow for land preparation before planting, which increases the cost of production. On the other hand, some farmers use conservation tillage as known as no-tillage system that involves the cultivation without tillage, the only soil disturbance being during the planting time. The research was conducted in Erbil Agriculture Research Directorate for planting bread wheat for three growing seasons (2017 – 2018), (2018 – 2019), (2019-2020) and (2020 – 2021). The land was divided into two parts, the first part was planted with no-tillage tillage, and the second part was planted with conventional tillage by using chisel plow and disk plow before planting. The results indicated that the soil physical properties and soil organic matter were influenced by tillage system. There are no significant differences between both tillage systems on soil moisture content from the sowing time until eight weeks of planting. However, no-tillage system has higher soil moisture content after eight weeks of sowing until flowering stage at 10cm depth. The no-tillage system decreases of soil bulk density and increases soil porosity and soil organic matter compared to conventional tillage system.