Effects of Various Strip Widths and Tractor Forward Speeds in Strip Tillage on Soil Physical Properties and Yield of Silage Corn

In this study, a 2 year experiment was conducted in field conditions in order to determine the effects of various strip widths on seedling emergence, plant growth and yield of silage corn. A row crop rotary hoe with C type blades, which was equipped for this purpose, was used for strip tillage. In the experiment, 30%, 40% and 50% of the field area was tilled respectively with the strips in 22.5, 30 and 37.5 cm widths, which were obtained by changing the positions of flanges and blade connections of the rotary hoe. The rotary hoe, which was used with a constant rotor rotation speed of 370 min(-1) and a tillage depth of 10 cm, was operated at 3 different tractor forward speeds such as 1.8, 3.6 and 5.4 km h(-1) in order to get various soil fragmentation values. The seeds were sown by using precision seed planter at 70 cm row intervals. According to the results obtained from the study, since increasing the strip width also increased the soil temperature and accelerated the evaporation, it resulted in a reduction of the soil moisture content. While seedling emergence, plant height and the silage yield increased with the increase of the strip width, the average emergence time decreased. Tractor forward speed had an effect on soil fragmentation. When the tractor forward speed increased, there seemed to be a reduction in the breaking of soil particles. It was found that the tractor forward speed did not have a statistically significant effect on other parameters.