Silage maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings emergence as influenced by soil compaction treatments and contact pressures

Abstract

Soil compaction caused by mechanical force affects the vegetative and generative plant growth. Field experiments were conducted to study the effects of soil compaction treatments and soil contact pressures on bulk density, penetration resistance and silage maize emergence in a clay-loam soil. Soil compaction treatments were applied while planting as follows: Compaction on furrow surface (F-surface), compaction on furrow bottom (F-bottom), compaction on inter row (I-row), and non-extra compaction as a control (C). The soil contact pressures of 0.025, 0.051 and 0.076 MPa were applied while the control was 0.0085 MPa. Significant differences between soil compaction treatments and contact pressures were recorded in bulk density, penetration resistance and silage maize emergence. Percentage of emerged seedlings increased as the soil contact pressure was increased slightly. The lowest mean percentage of emerged seedlings (52.63%) was obtained with 0.076 MPa contact pressure in F-surface treatment and the highest mean value (81.58%) was obtained with 0.025 MPa contact pressure in F-bottom compaction treatment. The control treatment gave the 69% mean value under the non-irrigated condition.