Vol. 7, Issue 6 (2019)
Impact of various tillage treatments on physical properties and infiltration characteristics of the soil
Author(s): Hirapara Paraskumar S, Kathiriya Gaurav R and Ashish Sonawane
Abstract: Tillage is one of the most important operations in agriculture. Tillage not only helps to provide favorable soil conditions for plant growth but also improves the physical condition of the soil. It also affects the moisture holding capacity of the soil. An experiment was conducted to study the effect of various tillage operations on the physical properties of the soil and on the infiltration characteristics. It was observed that moisture content was highest in rotavator tilled soil (17.75%), while least in the soil tilled by M.B. plough (14.68%). Bulk density was found to be highest in M. B. plough (2.35 gm/cc) while it was lowest in M. B. ploughed and rotavator tilled soil (1.39 gm/cc) and bulk density in rotavator tilled soil was 1.91 gm/cc. When the infiltration rate was measured for all the treatments it was revealed that the infiltration rate was least in the undisturbed soil (0.01 cm/min) and was highest in the soil tilled by M. B. plough (0.1 cm/min). It was also observed that the infiltration rate was higher in the case of M.B. ploughed and rotavator tilled soil (0.09 cm/min) as that of only tilled by rotavator (0.03 cm/min). It can be thus concluded that there could be a sort of compaction of the soil surface during the tillage operation using a rotavator. Seed germination percentage was observed in the M. B. ploughed and rotavator tillege soil was highest (90%) while lowest in only rotavator tille soil which was around 85%. In the overall scenario, it was revealed that the combination of M.B. plough and rotavator could be the best combination as compared to other treatments considered for the study. It can be also concluded that the rotavator compact the soil and may form a hard layer in the subsoil layer. In rotavator tilled land infiltration rate and germination percentage was also found to lower compared to other treatments under study. It was also revealed that Horton’s model was better in estimating infiltration rate as compared to the Kostiakov’s model for infiltration. When compared the observed and predicted values of the infiltration rate, the R2 value was found to be approaching unity for Horton’s model in all the tillage treatments under study.
Pages: 2772-2776 | 223 Views 49 Downloads
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How to cite this article:
Hirapara Paraskumar S, Kathiriya Gaurav R, Ashish Sonawane. Impact of various tillage treatments on physical properties and infiltration characteristics of the soil. Int J Chem Stud 2019;7(6):2772-2776.
