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Seedbed Tillage and Irrigation Effects on Yield of Mono‐ and Doublecrop Soybean and Wheat on a Silt Loam
Author(s) -
Wesley R. A.,
Heatherly L. G.,
Pringle H. C.,
Tupper G. R.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1988.00021962008000010030x
Subject(s) - seedbed , loam , agronomy , monocropping , tillage , irrigation , vertisol , randomized block design , cropping system , harrow , field experiment , mathematics , crop , biology , sowing , soil water , cropping , agriculture , ecology
Doublecropping soybean [ Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) is an accepted cropping system in the Midsouth. Soybean is either planted after wheat with subsoiling or disking and harrowing, or both, to prepare a seedbed, or is seeded directly into the wheat stubble. The objective of this study was to determine the yield response of ‘Forrest’ soybean (Maturity Group V) when planted in a conventional monocrop system and in conventional and no‐till doublecrop systems following wheat. The three cropping systems were evaluated in both an irrigated and nonirrigated environment on a Dundee silt loam (fine‐silty, mixed, thermic Aerie Ochraqualf), making a total of six treatments. The six treatments were arranged in a randomized complete‐block design with four replicates, and remained in the same location for the duration of the 3‐yr study. Soybean was planted at a rate of 44 kg ha −1 in rows 1 m apart, whereas wheat was drill‐seeded at a rate of 101 kg ha −1 in rows 0.18 m apart. Average wheat yields for the four doublecrop treatments were not significantly different within or across years. The 3‐yr average was 3475 kg ha −1 . Irrigated monocrop soybean produced the highest average yield of 3165 kg ha −1 , whereas nonirrigated monocrop soybean and the irrigated doublecrop soybean with either no seedbed tillage or conventional seedbed tillage averaged 2491,2596, and 2740 kg ha −1 , respectively, and were statistically similar. Yields from the nonirrigated doublecrop soybean with no‐till and conventional seedbed tillage were the lowest and averaged 1940 and 1909 kg ha −1 , respectively. Soybean yields from all treatments in both the irrigated and nonirrigated environments decreased in a nearly linear fashion from 1984 to 1986. This was largely due to a decline in the number of seed produced, and was apparently caused by higher maximumminimum temperatures during the R1 to R5 growth periods as the experiment progressed in time.