The Responses Of Different Crops To Conservative Tillage In Hilly Area Of The Loess Plateau

Conservative Tillage is an advanced cultivation technology that avoids cultivation or little cultivation on farmland and with stubble cover, reduces the wind erosion and water erosion, and improves the soil fertility and drought-resistant ability. The objective of conservative tillage is meliorate the structure of soil to adjust the ratio of solid, liquid and gas, harmonize the relationship of water, fertilizer and gas, and create the good condition for crop growing.This research was according to the field experiment in Ansai, Shaanxi province. We studied the effects of conventional soil tillage, no-tillage, manure and fertilizer on corn, soybean, adzuki bean and potato in Hilly Area of the Loess Plateau. The growth duration was divided into seedling stage, flowering stage, pod-filling stage and maturity stage. We investigated the responses of different crops on different tillage methods from morphological establishment, biomass, photosynthesis, soil water and soil nutrient factors on seedling, flowering and pod-filling stage. The result showed that:1. The growth characteristic, photosynthesis rate, biomass, root/shoot ratio, soil moisture content and yield of soybean, corn, adzuki bean and potato had significant differences under different tillage treatments. The sequence of photosynthesis rate was NM>NF>CM>CF for corn. The soybean was NM>CM>NF>CF, and the adzuki bean NM>NF>CF>CM. For growth characteristic, the NF had the most significant effect on yield of corn, and CF,NM had the most significant for biomass of corn. The NM had the significant effect on yield of soybean and adzuki bean. The next was NF and CM. The highest yield of potato was NF treatment.2. By looking at the rotation tillage system of soybean→corn( the average for two years), the yield sequence was: NF>CF>NM>CM> NO>CO. And for the potato→adzuki bean rotation tillage system the yield sequence was: NF>NM>CF>CM>CO>NO. The average of biomass, economic yield and economic value of no-tillage were higher than tillage treatment. The average of biomass, economic yield and economic value of fertilizer were higher than manure. The yield of potato→adzuki bean rotation tillage system was higher than soybean→corn because the potato had better drought-resistance, WUE and yield. 3. There had close relationship between yield and WUE. Therefore, the WUE sequence of corn under different treatments was NF>CF>NM>CM>NO>CO. Soybean was NM>CF>CM>NF>NO>CO, adzuki bean was CM>NF>NM>CF>NO>CO, potato was NF>NM>CF>CM>CO>NO. We could see that the corn and potato had the highest WUE and yield under NF treatment, the soybean had the highest under NM treatment and the adzuki bean had the highest WUE and yield under NF treatment.4. There had the most suitable tillage ways and fertilization ways for different crops. The effect was best with no-tillage and manure treatment for leguminous plants and no-tillage and fertilizer treatment for gramineous plants and nightshade. Therefore, we should use no-tillage with manure for leguminous plants, and no-tillage with fertilizer for gramineous plants and nightshade. At the same time, we should adopt potato→leguminous plants rotation tillage system. The suitable tillage way was no-tillage with manure matched with potato→leguminous plants rotation tillage system in Hilly Area of the Loess Plateau.