Original article | Open Access
International Journal of Innovative Approaches in Agricultural Research 2023, Vol. 7(3) 307-316
pp. 307 - 316 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.29329/ijiaar.2023.602.5
Published online: October 02, 2023 | Number of Views: 67 | Number of Download: 252
Abstract
In arid and semi-arid regions, the key to increase crop production is maximizing infiltration at the expense of surface runoff. One way of achieving such objectives could be the introduction of conservation tillage practices using appropriate equipment. A field experiment was carried out for two consecutive seasons (2016/2017 and 2017/2018) at the demonstration farm of the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Alsalam, El fula, Sudan. The objective was to observe the effect of selected conservation tillage practices on soil moisture content and sorghum grain yield on sandy loam soil under rain-fed conditions. The treatments consisted of five tillage practices viz: Chisel plowing, cultivator, offset disc harrowing, chisel plowing + offset disc harrowing and no-tillage (traditional) as a control. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications (RCBD). The soil moisture content (%) at three depths of 0-15 cm, 15-30 cm and 30-45 cm was measured. Sorghum grain yield (kg ha-1) was determined. The results of analysis showed that different tillage practices had no significant effect on soil moisture content at the three depths for both seasons, except at 0-15 cm depth during the first season. Whereas, no-tillage practice increased soil moisture content by 37.8 %, 35.3 %, 28.5 % and 13.3 % as compared to the chiseling, chiseling + harrowing, cultivator and harrowing, respectively. The results also indicated that sorghum grain yield was not influenced by conservation tillage practices in the first season. However, the chisel plowing and cultivator practices were significantly increased the sorghum grain yield by 28.3 % and 27.5 %, respectively, as compared to no-tillage practice during the second season.
Keywords: Conservation tillage, Cultivator, No-tillage, Soil moisture, Sorghum yield
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