Effects Of Tillage Managements On Soil Quality And Crop Yields In Northwest Shanxi

In this study,the comparative experiment in decertified arable land of northwestern Shanxi was carried out under four different tillage managements: Conventional tillage(CT),No-tillage straw mulching(NTS),tillage combined with plastic film mulching(CTF),tillage combined with spray aquasorb(CTA).The soil water,physical properties and soil nutrient dynamics under four different tillage managements during the three consecutive years of 2014,2015 and 2016.As well as the effects of four plant varieties on the maize plant height,leaf area index,yield and economic benefit,The main research results are as follows:(1)Four different tillage managements for soil profile moisture content:The saturated water content of CTF was relatively high,and the saturated water content of NTS remained low in the whole maize growth period,and the soil water content of CTA was improved compared with that of the previous year.(2)Four different tillage managements of soil nutrients: CTF and CTA treatments compared with CT treatment,the soil had higher nitrate and ammonium nitrogen contents during the maize growing season,and the effect of CTA treatment on the soil nitrate and ammonium nitrogen more obvious,and the effect increased year by year.The contents of NO3--N and NH4+-N under NTS were the lowest in three consecutive years.(3)The physical properties of soil under four tillage managements:During the three-year trial period,the bulk density of the NTS treatment was consistently high,but decreased to the lowest at the end of the growing season.CTF and CTA treatments relative to the CT treatment had reduced the role of weight gain.The effect of CTA treatment on the reduction of bulk density increased with year increasing.Soil water holding capacity for all tillage treatments increased in three years.The water holding capacity of NTS was low,but the increase was the highest after maize harvest season.The CTA treatment,to some extent,improved the water holding capacitycompared to CT.The soil saturated water content with NTS was the lowest,but the CTF was the highest.The soil saturated water content under CTA treatment increased with year increasing,which is better than CTF treatment.(4)Growth,yield and economic benefit of maize under four tillage managements: NTS treatment of soil corn for three consecutive years of the worst growth,low yield,poor economic returns.the CTA and the CTF treatments had the best effect on the maize growth and yield,and the CTF had the highest maize yield.The yield and economic gap between CTA and CTF treatments decreased with year increasing.(5)NTS treatment showed poor results for all indicators,it is not suitable in the northwest of Shanxi.CTF and CTA treatments showed better results compared with the CT treatment,but the film of CTF treatment is difficult to break down,which will cause environmental pollution.CTA treatment showed improved effects with the year increasing,some of the results showed even better than CTF treatment.CTA treatment can be further studied in the northwest Shanxi area.