Can a Change in Agriculture Management Practice Improve Soil Physical Properties

Abstract

Soil conventional tillage has been associated with deterioration of its characteristics, while organic farming has been promoted as an approach to conserve a favorable soil environment. With the interest in nominating the tillage strategies without ploughing for maintaining long-term soil quality and subsequently increasing yields, this study set to identify if and how conservation tillage practices in organic management (OM) do improve soil physical properties compared to conventional management (CM). This study was conducted on matched field pairs in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The conservation tillage treatment effects of OM (superficial tillage using chisel at 10 cm depth) was compared with conventional tillage practices CM (mouldboard ploughing at 30 cm depth). The field pairs were homogenous in most respects that would reflect tillage impacts. Measurements included soil infiltration capacity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, penetration resistance, and effective bulk density. Infiltration rate, measured using a hood infiltrometer at 10 parcels, was computed using Wooding’s analytical method, while Gardner’s equation was used to calculate the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks). The steady infiltration rate qs (h) was two times higher under OM than under CM with an average of 624 mm/h and 303 mm/h, respectively. Penetration resistances of OM were lower than under CM irrespective of the clay content. The degree of compactness (effective bulk density) was greater under CM than OM. That small change in soil compactness affects the water infiltration rate and the hydraulic properties rather than intrinsic soil matrix such as texture. Numerical model Hydrus-1D results were more representative for simulating the soil water transfer and hydraulic parameters under tillage changes.