EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT TILLAGE AND FALLOW METHODS ON WHEAT YIELD AND SOIL QUALITY

The study was conducted to determine the effects of different tillage strip and fallow methods on wheat yield, and yield components, and loam soil quality in semiarid Central Anatolia region in 2010 and 2011. Three plowing and fallow methods, the minimum tillage/stubble fallow, plowing/stubble fallow and plowing/non-stubble fallow methods were implemented, and bread wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. Ekiz) was planted. The plowing/stubble fallow method was more effective than the other methods in terms of high grain yield and yield components. This method led to a yield increase of similar to 50% in both years when compared to the minimum tillage/stubble fallow method. Although both wheat yield and soil quality were positively affected by stubble fallow method, the several farming problems, such as, ignorance of strip farming, difficulty of cultivating in a strip, and leaving a strip blank, and decreased annual net income due to the fallowed strips, may prevent the use of this conservation practice.