EFFECT OF TILLAGE AND RESIDUE MANAGEMENT ON HYDROTHERMAL REGIME, NUTRIENT-UPTAKE AND YIELD OF WHEAT IN A RIVER DEPOSIT

Field experiments were conducted on a river deposit during 1983-1984 and 1984-1985 in order to study the effect of different soil management practices, such as zero tillage with surface-applied crop residue mulch at a rate of 10 t ha-1 (ZT+M), conventional tillage (CT), CT+ surface-applied crop residue mulch at a rate of 10 t ha-1 (CT + M), CT+crop residue incorporation at a rate of 10 t ha-1 (CT + SI), CT + farmyard manure incorporation at a rate of 10 t ha-1 (CT + FYM), on soil hydro-thermal regime root growth, nutrient uptake and dry matter yield of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The soils of the site are classified as Entisol, Typic Psammaquent with pH 6.0, cation exchange capacity 10 c mol (p+) per kg in the surface (0-0.3 m) depth. In the CT + M and CT + FYM treatments, higher water retention was observed compared to CI. The minimum soil temperature was also raised by ∼ 3°C under CT + M to CT at 0.1-m depth. CT + M and CT + FYM had significantly higher root mass density compared with other treatments at all stages of crop growth. The nitrogen (N) uptake under these two treatments was also significantly higher compared to CT. Under CT+M, plants did not suffer from N stress compared to other treatments. Phosphorus (P) uptake (except at tillering) and potassium (K) uptake under CT+M and CT + FYM were significantly higher than for all the other treatments. Treatments ZT+M and CT+SI behave simply to CT in terms of hydro-thermal regime, root growth, nutrient uptake and dry matter yield. The grain yield under CT+M and CT+FYM during 1983-1984 and 1984-1985 was significantly higher than that under all the other treatments. © 1990.