Soil and maize response to compaction, slope steepness and nitrogen fertilization in coarse textured soil
Loading...
Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PAU
Abstract
The continuous use of farm machinery and adoption of rice-wheat cropping sequence resulted in the formation of compacted subsoil layer at the depth of 10-40 cm. The subsoil compacted layer affects nearly all soil properties and functions, which in turn affect the growth and productivity of plants. The information on the relationships among the degree of compaction, soil physical properties, N fertilizer rates, slope steepness and annual row crop performance are limited. Thus, the experiment was carried out to quantify the N fertilizer dose in the subsurface compact soils, to evaluate the effects of subsurface compaction and N fertilization on soil physical properties, plant growth and yield of maize and to investigate the effect of subsurface compaction and slope steepness on maize yield. The present investigation was carried out at Research Farm, Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during the years, 2012 and 2013. The experiment-I comprised three subsoil compaction treatments in main plots and three nitrogen levels in sub plots laid out in split-plot design replicated thrice. While, experiment-II comprised three subsoil ompaction levels in main plots and three slope steepness levels in sub plots replicated thrice. The bulk density and penetration resistance was higher under C2 treatment, while total porosity, cumulative infiltration and infiltration rate were lower. The N fertilization did not significantly affect the soil physical properties. Plant height, LAI and dry matter accumulation were negatively affected by subsoil compaction. However N fertilization mitigated the negative effects of subsoil compaction on growth of maize. The C2 treatment reduced heat use efficiency, delayed tasseling and silking stages, while physiological maturity was advanced under C2 treatment than that in C0 treatment. The N2 treatment improved the HUE than that in N0 treatment. The crop growth rate was significantly higher under C0 treatment at 30, 60 DAS and at harvest than that in C1 and C2 treatments. The root mass density was higher in 0-15 cm soil layer under C2 treatment at knee high and pre-tasseling stage than that in C0 treatment. However, root density was higher in C0 treatment than that in C1 and C2 at all other soil depths. The grain yield reduction of 15.5 to 23.5 % was observed under C2 treatment as compared to C0; however N fertilization improved the yield by 14.8 to 16.1 %. The total N uptake was 14.6 and 18.2 % higher under C0 treatment than that in C2 treatment, while N2 treatment had improved the total N uptake by 18.6 and 14.9 % as compared to N0 during the years 2012 and 2013, respectively. The N1 fertilization level can be recommended under subsurface compacted soils as compared to N0 and N2 fertilization. The slope steepness improved the maize grain yield by 4.2-10.2 % and biomass yield by 17-22 %, by reducing the crop lodging and cob barrenness
Description
Keywords
yields, tillage equipment, biological development, irrigation, planting, maize, vegetative propagation, crops, fertilizers, layering