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Effect of Tillage Practices and Cropping Pattern on Soil Properties and Crop Yield in the Humid Lowlands of Beles Sub-Basin, Ethiopia

Received: 19 November 2021    Accepted: 7 December 2021    Published: 29 December 2021
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Abstract

Tillage is a land management practice where a sequence of manipulating the soil for crop production. To investigate the response of land management and cropping pattern on soil properties and crop yield, a field experiment was conducted under natural environment on Nitisol of Pawi area. Nine treatments combining two tillage methods (Zero and conventional), four crop covers (continuous maize, continuous soya bean, rotated maize, and maize soya bean intercrop) were laid out in RCBD with three replications. The result showed that land management and crop cover significantly affect bulk density, porosity, soil moisture, nitrogen, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and yield of a crop. Relative to conventionally tilled continuous maize, maize soya bean intercropping managed under zero tillage improve capillary porosity, non-capillary porosity, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and total nitrogen with a response ratio of 1.7, 2.7, 1.3, 2, and 1.3, respectively while reducing bulk density by 10%. Conversion of tillage system from conventional to zero tillage improves grain yield, biomass yield, and soil moisture by 6%, 10%, and 6%, respectively. Generally, zero tillage with greater cover is an appropriate approach to improve soil properties without negatively affecting grain yield. To understand and quantify the long-term impact of tillage and crop cover on soil health and productivity in Ethiopia long-term study is needed as this study was based on one-year data from four years permanent plots.

Published in American Journal of Plant Biology (Volume 6, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15
Page(s) 101-113
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Bulk Density, Porosity, Soil Moisture, Tillage, Yield

References
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    Getnet Asfawesen Molla, Mihret Dananto, Gizaw Desta. (2021). Effect of Tillage Practices and Cropping Pattern on Soil Properties and Crop Yield in the Humid Lowlands of Beles Sub-Basin, Ethiopia. American Journal of Plant Biology, 6(4), 101-113. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15

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    Getnet Asfawesen Molla; Mihret Dananto; Gizaw Desta. Effect of Tillage Practices and Cropping Pattern on Soil Properties and Crop Yield in the Humid Lowlands of Beles Sub-Basin, Ethiopia. Am. J. Plant Biol. 2021, 6(4), 101-113. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15

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    Getnet Asfawesen Molla, Mihret Dananto, Gizaw Desta. Effect of Tillage Practices and Cropping Pattern on Soil Properties and Crop Yield in the Humid Lowlands of Beles Sub-Basin, Ethiopia. Am J Plant Biol. 2021;6(4):101-113. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15,
      author = {Getnet Asfawesen Molla and Mihret Dananto and Gizaw Desta},
      title = {Effect of Tillage Practices and Cropping Pattern on Soil Properties and Crop Yield in the Humid Lowlands of Beles Sub-Basin, Ethiopia},
      journal = {American Journal of Plant Biology},
      volume = {6},
      number = {4},
      pages = {101-113},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpb.20210604.15},
      abstract = {Tillage is a land management practice where a sequence of manipulating the soil for crop production. To investigate the response of land management and cropping pattern on soil properties and crop yield, a field experiment was conducted under natural environment on Nitisol of Pawi area. Nine treatments combining two tillage methods (Zero and conventional), four crop covers (continuous maize, continuous soya bean, rotated maize, and maize soya bean intercrop) were laid out in RCBD with three replications. The result showed that land management and crop cover significantly affect bulk density, porosity, soil moisture, nitrogen, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and yield of a crop. Relative to conventionally tilled continuous maize, maize soya bean intercropping managed under zero tillage improve capillary porosity, non-capillary porosity, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and total nitrogen with a response ratio of 1.7, 2.7, 1.3, 2, and 1.3, respectively while reducing bulk density by 10%. Conversion of tillage system from conventional to zero tillage improves grain yield, biomass yield, and soil moisture by 6%, 10%, and 6%, respectively. Generally, zero tillage with greater cover is an appropriate approach to improve soil properties without negatively affecting grain yield. To understand and quantify the long-term impact of tillage and crop cover on soil health and productivity in Ethiopia long-term study is needed as this study was based on one-year data from four years permanent plots.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Effect of Tillage Practices and Cropping Pattern on Soil Properties and Crop Yield in the Humid Lowlands of Beles Sub-Basin, Ethiopia
    AU  - Getnet Asfawesen Molla
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    AU  - Gizaw Desta
    Y1  - 2021/12/29
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15
    T2  - American Journal of Plant Biology
    JF  - American Journal of Plant Biology
    JO  - American Journal of Plant Biology
    SP  - 101
    EP  - 113
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2578-8337
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpb.20210604.15
    AB  - Tillage is a land management practice where a sequence of manipulating the soil for crop production. To investigate the response of land management and cropping pattern on soil properties and crop yield, a field experiment was conducted under natural environment on Nitisol of Pawi area. Nine treatments combining two tillage methods (Zero and conventional), four crop covers (continuous maize, continuous soya bean, rotated maize, and maize soya bean intercrop) were laid out in RCBD with three replications. The result showed that land management and crop cover significantly affect bulk density, porosity, soil moisture, nitrogen, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and yield of a crop. Relative to conventionally tilled continuous maize, maize soya bean intercropping managed under zero tillage improve capillary porosity, non-capillary porosity, organic carbon, available phosphorus, and total nitrogen with a response ratio of 1.7, 2.7, 1.3, 2, and 1.3, respectively while reducing bulk density by 10%. Conversion of tillage system from conventional to zero tillage improves grain yield, biomass yield, and soil moisture by 6%, 10%, and 6%, respectively. Generally, zero tillage with greater cover is an appropriate approach to improve soil properties without negatively affecting grain yield. To understand and quantify the long-term impact of tillage and crop cover on soil health and productivity in Ethiopia long-term study is needed as this study was based on one-year data from four years permanent plots.
    VL  - 6
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

  • Institute of Technology, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia

  • International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

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