The Effect Of Stratified Rotary Tillage On Post-paddy Wheat And Soil Physics

There are a number of paddy soils exist in South China,occupying a large area of farming land and widely distributed into different regions.However,the yield of a major portion of the paddy soils is low,which reason is due to the long term shallow tillage,reduced thickness of tilled layer,increased compaction layer and degraded soil workability.Traditional tillage implements was unable to fragment paddy soil to a satisfactory degree.The poor workability and friability of the paddy soil poses a challenge for the development of new tillage technologies.Researchers have investigated stratified rotary tilling(SRT)and its benefit for soil fragmentation.This paper will further investigate the SRT.By comparing no-till,conventional rotary tillage(CRT)and SRT,we will highlight the influence of different tillage method on wheat root development,soil physics and soil self-mulching.So that reasonable tillage technology can be provided for improved crop yield.CRT,no-till and simulated SRT were trial tested and compared to illustrate the influence of tillage treatments on wheat root tensile strength,root viability,root architecture,root biomass and wheat yield,and to highlight whether SRT was a feasible tillage technology,as well as the effect of tillage methods on wheat root parameters and wheat yield.It was proved that,(1)Significant improvement of wheat root parameters were achieved from SRT as compared with both no-till and CRT.Under SRT,tensile strength of wheat root increased 14.07%and-6.52%as compared with no-till and CRT,and root viability increased from 16.46%and 12.2%and root biomass increased from 68.79%and 36.14%,respectively;(2)SRT increased wheat yield by 10.69%and 15.41%as compared with no-till and CRT.A research platform was constructed to further simulate the effect of SRT.The constructed platform was used for field tillage test.Soil physical parameters were monitored during wheat growing season,revealing contrasted influenced of tillage methods on soil physical properties.The result proved that,compared with no-till and CRT,SRT increased water holding capacity by 1.47%and 0.3%,reduced soil bulkdensity by 0.11Mg/m3 and 0.07 Mg/m,increased tilled depth by 10 cm,increased soil moisture content by 6.78%and 7.04%,decreased penetration resistance by 43.19%and 27.64%and increased soil porosity by 0.05%and 0.01%,respectively.Soil physical properties were not only affected by tillage systems,crop rotations and soil biology,but also modified by weather conditions.Self-mulching is one potential mechanism influencing soil physical properties.Soil self-mulching parameters were compared after different tillage treatments,revealing that tillage treatments did have significant effect on soil properties.Results found that,after a whole wheat season,aggregate content increased by 122.72%in the 0-40 mm top soil layer,while the internal friction angle decreased by 16.1%.