The Influence of Soil Tillage System on Changes in Gas Exchange Parameters of Pisum sativum L.

Abstract

A field experiment was carried out in 2017–2019 as a split-plot design with four replicates at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Grabów, Poland. The aim of the study was to compare the gas exchange parameters of the pea depending on the use of different soil tillage systems. Physiological plant parameters as: net photosynthetic rate (PN), transpiration rate (E), stomatal conductance (gs), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) and relative chlorophyll content were measured in three developmental stages. The study have showed that all the measured parameters were affected by the tillage system of the soil. Net photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate were significantly lower in the treatments, where simplified-tillage was applied. Pea grown in the plough tillage (CT) showed a generally higher rate of net photosynthesis and transpiration rate compared to that of peas grown in the reduced tillage and no-tillage systems, but this was dependent on the plant development stage and the weather conditions prevailing in a given year. The highest intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci) under different cultivation methods were found in the no-tillage system, regardless of the developmental stage of legumes. The values of determination coefficients showed a positive relationship between the photosynthetic rate and seed yield of the peas tested in all the years of the research. The study also showed that a significantly higher SPAD index was found in the CT tillage system, irrespectively on the developmental stage.