Abstract:
The studies carried out over 2010-13 involved a sta
tic field experiment initiated in 1999
at Brody Research Station of the Poznan University
of Life Science, Poland. The soil
tillage systems for winter wheat were compared on a
soil classified as Albic Luvisols. The
aim of experiments was to evaluate impact of plough
less soil tillage on some soil physical,
chemical, biological properties and winter wheat pr
oductivity parameters. Tillage systems
included: Conventional Tillage based on moulboard p
loughing (CT), Reduced Tillage
with a stubble cultivator (RT), and No-Tillage (NT)
. The soil tilled under RT and NT
recorded higher values of water content and soil bu
lk density, especially in the top layer.
On the other hand, in the 10-20 cm layer, soil bulk
density was significantly higher under
CT than under RT and NT. Soil penetration resistanc
e was lower under CT than under
RT and NT from 0 to 20 cm depth. However, soil pene
tration resistance was consistently
higher under CT than under RT and NT from 21 cm to
30 cm depth. Organic C and
nutrient elements tended to accumulate in the surfa
ce horizons under RT and NT
compared with CT. Enzymatic activities were found i
n the more superficial layers of soil
under RT and NT than under CT. The grain yield decr
eased by 6.9%
under NT
compared to CT, and ranged over a similar level und
er RT and CT. The decreased yield
in NT probably resulted primarily from a lower numb
er of ears per unit area. In our
opinion, in the future, more research is needed to
determine the role of changing soil
properties over time in crop yields, and no-tillage
system needs to be improved to secure
plant establishment and crop yield.
Keywords:
Enzyme activities,
Soil compaction,
Triticum aestivum
L., Tillage systems, Yield
components.
