Influence of Tillage and Cropping Systems on Soil Properties and Crop Performance under Semi-Arid Conditions

Conservation agriculture helps to mitigate the adverse impacts of conventional practices and intensive cultivation, accordingly enhancing agricultural sustainability. Tillage management and the preceding crop impact the sustainable use of soil resources and ultimately crop growth and productivity. The present study aimed to assess the impacts of the tillage system, cropping system, and their different interactions on soil properties and agronomic performance. No-tillage (NT), reduced tillage (RT), and conventional tillage (CT) were combined with three cropping systems; continuous wheat (wheat/wheat/wheat, W/W/W), lentil/wheat/lentil (L/W/L), and oat/wheat/barley-pea (O/W/BP) during three years crop rotation. The results displayed that the conservative practices (NT and RT) recorded higher soil nutrient content (N, P, K, Ca, and Mg) than conventional tillage (CT). Moreover, NT and RT exhibited higher bulk density (BD) and lower water infiltration rates compared to CT. Besides, NT and RT tended to have higher soil moisture than CT. The cropping system W/W/W displayed higher magnesium content, while W/L/W had higher phosphorous and O/W/BP showed higher sodium values. The mono-cropping system under conventional tillage tended to have lower soil nutrient content compared to the other combinations. The highest wheat aboveground biomass, wheat grain yield, and lentil seed yield were produced by RT and CT compared to NT. Otherwise, the higher emergence of barley-pea was assigned for NT followed by CT and RT.

Automated summary

Conservation agriculture can improve soil nutrient content, but it may lead to increased soil bulk density and decreased water infiltration rate. Different cropping systems have an impact on soil properties and agronomic performance, with lower soil nutrient content in continuous cropping systems and mono-cropping systems under conventional tillage.