Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T23:56:29.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Cultivation systems for spring barley with special reference to direct drilling (1971–1974)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. R. Hodgson ,
J. R. Proud  and
S. Browne
D. R. Hodgson
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Leeds, Leeds Ls2 9Jt
J. R. Proud
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Leeds, Leeds Ls2 9Jt
S. Browne
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Leeds, Leeds Ls2 9Jt
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Five cultivation systems for spring-sown barley were tested on a clay to sandy-clay loam for 4 years and their cumulative effects on soil and crop measured. Four primary cultivations in the autumn, shallow (7·5 cm), medium (15 cm) and deep (23 cm) tine cultivation and mouldboard ploughing (23 cm deep) followed in spring by secondary cultivations and sowing, were compared with direct drilling seed into uncultivated soil after controlling weeds with herbicides. At the same rates of seed and fertilizer for all systems, direct drilling and shallow cultivation yielded significantly less grain than deeper tillage in the second year only; over 4 years the differences in mean yield were small and non-significant. In terms of crop output per unit of implement net energy (estimated) direct drilling was eight times more efficient than ploughing.

Direct drilling and shallow cultivation caused concentration gradients of ‘available’ phosphorus and potassium to form in the top soil. Soil strength and to a lesser extent bulk density were greater without than with cultivation but these changes had only a relatively small effect on root distribution in the profile. In untilled soil the proportion of the root system was less in the surface 2·5–12·5 cm and greater in the 12·5–32·5 cm horizon than in shallow or deep tilled soil.

Mean nitrogen uptake by the crop in the third and fourth seasons was least in direct - drilled barley probably due to lower rates of mineralization of soil nitrogen in compacted than tilled soil. It was deduced that for spring barley the ‘yield plateau’ was the same for each system but that optimal rates of nitrogen would be higher for crops in untilled than tilled soils.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , June 1977 , pp. 631 - 644
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baeumer, K. (1970). First experiences with direct drilling in Germany. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 18, 283–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baeumer, K. & Bakermans, W. A. P. (1973). Zerotillage. Advances in Agronomy 25, 78–120.Google Scholar
Baxermans, W. A. P. & De Wit, C. T. (1970). Crop husbandry on naturally compacted soils. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 18, 225–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Camjell, R. Q. & Ellis, F. B. (1972). Reduced cultivation for cereal crops. Agricultural Research Council Letcombe Laboratory Annual Report 1971, 43–9.Google Scholar
Cannell, R. Q. & Finney, J. R. (1973). Effects of direct drilling and reduced cultivation on soil conditions for root growth. Outlook on Agriculture 7, 184–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crompton, A. & Matthews, B. (1970). Soils of the Leeds district. Agricultural Research Council, Memoirs of the Soil Survey of Oreat Britain. Harpenden.Google Scholar
Davies, D. B. & Cannell, R. Q. (1975). Review of experiments on reduced cultivation and direct drilling in the United Kingdom, 1957–1974. Outlook on Agriculture 8, 216–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dowdell, R. J. & Cannell, R. Q. (1975). Effect of ploughing and direct drilling on soil nitrate content. The Journal of Soil Science 26, 53–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eavis, B. W. & Payne, D. (1968). Soil physical conditions and root growth. In Root Growth, Proceedings of the 15th Easter School in Agricultural Science, University of Nottingham (Ed Whittington, J.), pp. 315–36.Google Scholar
Elliott, J. G. & Pollard, F. (1974). Cereal production by minimum cultivation. Agricultural Research Council Weed Research Organisation, 5th report, 1972–1973, pp. 32–42.Google Scholar
Ellis, F. B. & Barnes, B. T. (1973). Estimation of the distribution of living roots of plants under field conditions. Plant and Soil 39, 81–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finney, J. R. & Knight, B. A. G. (1973). The effect of soil physical conditions produced by various cultivation systems on the root development of winter wheat. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 80, 435–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fleige, H. & Baeumer, K. (1974). Effect of zero-tillage on organic carbon and total nitrogen content, and their distribution in different N-fractions in loessial soils. Agro-ecosystems 1, 19–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goss, M. J. (1974). Effects of mechanical impedance on root growth. Ph.D. thesis, Reading University.Google Scholar
Hesse, P. R. (1971). A. Textbook of Soil Chemical Analysis. London: Murray.Google Scholar
Holmes, J. C. & Lockhart, D. A. S. (1970). Cultivation in relation to continuous barley growing. 1. Crop growth and development. Proceedings of the International Tillage Conference, Silsoe, England, pp. 46–57.Google Scholar
Kuipers, H. (1970). Historical notes on the zero-tillage concept. Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 18, 219–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Large, E. C. (1954). Growth stages in cereals. Plant Pathology 3, 128–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ministry Of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1973). The analysis of agricultural materials. Technical Bulletin 27. London: H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Schuurman, J. J. (1965). Influence of soil density on root development and growth of oats. Plant and Soil 22, 352–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shear, G. M. (1968). The development of the no-tillage concept in the United States. Outlook on Agriculture 5, 247–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shear, G. M. & Moschler, W. W. (1969). Continuous corn by the no-tillage and conventional tillage methods - a six year comparison. Agronomy Journal 61, 524–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triplett, G. B. & Van Doren, D. M. (1969). Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilization of non-tilled maize. Agronomy Journal 61, 637–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whybrew, J. E. (1968). Experimental Husbandry Farm experience with herbicides and tillage systems for cereal growing. N.A.A.S. Quarterly Review 80, 154–60.Google Scholar