Soil tillage depth optization in organic farming
2005
Lazauskas, P., Lithuanian Univ. of Agriculture, Akademija, Kauno reg. (Lithuania) | Putys, E., Lithuanian Univ. of Agriculture, Akademija, Kauno reg. (Lithuania)
It is scientifically proven that the use of efficient herbicides in conventional farming allows minimizing soil tillage depth significantly, however, there is no sufficient data on optimum soil tillage depth in organic farming. Our stationary field experiments were conducted on the background of both conventional and organic farming systems. Four years (2000-2003), in autumn, the soil of the treatment plots was tilled, after previous crops - spring barley (Hordeum sativym L.) in 2000 and maize (Zea mays L.) in 2001; and after the crops under investigation - soybeans (Glycine max L.) in 2002 and sugar-beet (Beta vulgaris L., var. saccharifera) in 2003, at three depths of 0 cm., 10-12 cm. and 20-25 cm. The area of each test plot was 134 mE-2; the experiment was carried out in five replications. The influence of tillage depth on crops yield, weed infestation, soil physical properties, earthworm abundance and energy input and output were investigated during the field trial. Efficiency of soil tillage depth in organic farming depended on weed mass, which varied significantly in the case of each crop. In 2002, when weed infestation was high - 65.0 g mE-2 (measured in air, dry weight), the highest soybeans corn yield was obtained ploughing at the depth of 20 cm, and the yield negatively correlated with weed mass. Similarly, in 2003, sugar-beet yield negatively correlated with weed mass, obtaining the highest yield in a shallow ploughing treatment (at the depth of 10 cm). The smallest weed mass (8.9 g mE-2) was observed in the case of spring barley in 2004; therefore, significant negative correlation was not detected.
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