Effect of cropping system and tillage practices on soil physical properties and maize growth

Abstract

Conservation practices (CA) are one of the most suitable options to improve productivity and ensure food security. Conservation agriculture (CA) practices such as zero tillage (ZT) and permanent raised beds (PB) accelerate deposition of soil organic matter, reduce compaction and bulk density. Therefore, we analysed the effect of three medium-term tillage practices and three intensive crop rotations on selected physical properties of soil. The tillage practices consist of ZT, PB and conventional tillage (CT) in main plots and three crop rotations (MM, maize–maize; MW, maize–wheat; MC, maize– chickpea) in subplots. The experimental design was split-plot with three replications. After 7 years, we observed a significant positive effect of CA practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) content, soil compaction, bulk density, root length density (RLD) of maize. Thus, our medium-term (≥5-years) study showed that the combination of CA (PB and ZT) practices and appropriate choice of rotations (MC) appears to be the most appropriate option for restoration and improvement of the soil health of medium to coarse textured Inceptisols through the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM) and improvement in soil physical properties.