Effects of incorporation depth of tillage and straw returning on soil physical properties of black soil in Northeast China

Black soil in northeast China is well known as high natural fertility for grain production, but the growth and yield of crop can be limited due to the high clay content of black soil can deteriorate physical properties. In this case, both tillage and straw return can be expected to serve as the important agronomic practices, in order to efficiently improve soil physical properties. However, the optimal depth of tillage and straw return into soil for favorable soil physical properties still remained unknown, particularly in black soil region. In this study, a field experiment, referred to the depth of tillage and straw return into soil, was conducted for six years in the black soil region in northeast China, in order to investigate the effects of incorporation depth of tillage and straw return into soil on soil physical properties of black soil. Seven treatments consisted of four replicates and random block design, including no tillage (D0), shallow tillage (0-20 cm) without or with straw return (D20 or D20S), deep tillage (0-35 cm) without or with straw return (D35 or D35S), super deep tillage (0-50 cm) without or with (D50 or D50S) straw return. In the treatments with straw return, a straw rate of 10 000 kg/hm2 was set to return into the corresponding tilled soil layer. Bulk density and water holding capacity were measured using cutting ring method, while the hydraulic conductivity was determined using constant head method, and the aggregate was measured using wet sieving method. The results showed that: 1) Compared with initial soil values, D0 treatment significantly increased soil bulk density, while decreased soil porosity, water holding capacity, hydraulic conductivity and >0.25 mm water stability aggregate (WAS>0.25) within 0-20 cm soil layer (P<0.05). However, there was no significantly impact on those indicators in soil layer within 20-50 cm (P>0.05). 2) In D20, D35 and D50 treatments, there was no obvious impact on the soil physical properties within 0-20 cm soil layer with exception for WAS>0.25 in D50 treatment, but D20S and D35S treatments remarkably all indicators of soil physical properties within 0-20 cm soil layer. 3) D35, D35S, D50 and D50S treatments significantly improved soil physical properties within >20-35 cm soil layer with exception of bulk density in 2014, while D50 and D50S treatments dramatically enhanced soil physical properties within in >35-50 cm soil layer (P<0.05). Specially, aeration porosity and hydraulic conductivity increased significantly, within the corresponding soil layers, while the higher effect was found in the treatment with straw return, compared with only tilled treatments. The comprehensive evaluation also showed that D35S and D50S treatments reached the best effect for improving soil physical properties. Therefore, the findings demonstrated that deep tillage or super deep tillage with straw return can efficiently improve soil physical properties within the whole tilled soil layers, concurrently to increase the depth of tilled soil layer, and thereby to enhance the water infiltration rate and soil water storage in black soil with heavy clay. In view of the positive effect of deep tillage and super tillage with straw return on soil physical properties and the limit of no tillage, the combined tillage practices of deep tillage (or with straw return) and no tillage were proposed for the black soil with high clay in northeast China and other regions. © 2020, Editorial Department of the Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering. All right reserved.