The Effect of Reduced and Conventional Tillage Systems on Soil Aggregates and Organic Carbon Parameters of Different Soil Types

Abstract

Tillage is a significant type of soil intervention and should be conducted based on the specific soil type. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of different tillage intensities (RT: reduced tillage; CT: conventional tillage), which are correlated with carbon sequestration, on soil properties. The study areas included fields on real farms in Eutric Fluvisol (EF), Mollic Fluvisol (MF), Haplic Chernozem (HC), Haplic Luvisol (HL), Eutric Regosol (ER), Eutric Gleysol (EG), and Stagnic Planosol (SP). The effects of tillage systems depended on the soil type and were more evident in soil aggregates of more productive soils. Agronomically, the most valuable fractions of aggregates were dominant in more productive soils (EF, MF, HC) in the CT system and less dominant in less productive soils (HL, ER, EG, SP) in the RT system. Smaller aggregates (<0.5 mm), which indicate deterioration of soil properties, were negatively correlated with clay (r = −0.364, p < 0.01), total organic carbon (r = −0.245, p < 0.05), and stabile carbon fractions (r = −0.250, p < 0.05). In the case of soil organic carbon, tillage system was mainly correlated with soil texture. Tillage had no influence on soils with lower proportions of silt. On the whole, the suitability of the tillage system for a specific soil type depended on soil productivity and soil texture; however, EG was an exception and showed no differences in response to the tillage system used. The results of this study show that the main factors influencing the choice of tillage system are soil type and genesis, soil texture, and soil production ability.