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A COMPARISON OF THE SUITABILITY OF TWO SOILS FOR DIRECT DRILLING OF SPRING BARLEY
Author(s) -
PIDGEON J. D.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1980.tb02106.x
Subject(s) - subsoil , tillage , plough , soil water , environmental science , drilling , soil type , soil science , drainage , geology , agronomy , engineering , ecology , mechanical engineering , biology
Summary A long‐term tillage experiment near Edinburgh on two soils types, one suitable for direct drilling and the other not, allowed comparisons to be made of soil responses to tillage and traffic. For all tillage treatments tests, bulk density was always higher and air capacity lower on the soil unsuitable for direct drilling. Cone resistance, while dependent on treatment, was independent of soil type, The results suggested that compactability influences soil suitability for direct drilling. Differences between soils in compactability were greater under direct drilling than other tillage treatments or in laboratory tests, probably due to the interaction of traffic and drainage regime. Drainage was not impaired under direct drillingon either soil type, despite significant reductions in macro‐porosity. Crop yields and root distribution in relation to soil physical conditions suggested the increased importance of subsoil conditions in direct drilling compared with ploughing systems.