Global Journal of Biology, Agriculture & Health Sciences

Abstract

TILLAGE, CROP RESIDUE, AND NITROGEN LEVEL EFFECTS ON SOIL PROPERTIES AND CROP YIELDS UNDER RICE-WHEAT SYSTEM IN THE TERAI REGION OF NEPAL

G Sah, SC Shah, SK Sah, RB Thapa, A McDonald, HS Sidhu, RK Gupta, DP Sherchan, BP Tripathi,M Davare, R Yadav

In the Central Terai region of Nepal, most farmers utilize extensive tillage combined with the removal of most crop residues from the field for livestock fodder or burning the residues with unbalanced fertilizers applications. These traditional practices lead to soil fertility deterioration, heavy demand of water, and high energy usage. Very few farmers are applying reduced/zero tillage technologies, crop residues, and optimum soil nutrients for sustainable yields. With an aim to assess eco-friendly and energy effective conservation tillage, the field experiments were initiated in summer 2010 and continued for two rice-wheat cycles. The experiments, laid under strip-split-plot design, replicated thrice, consisted of three conservation tillage options, two residue levels, and three nitrogen doses. The results indicated that zero-tillage combined with residue retention lowered soil bulk density and pH, enhanced P and K availability to plants and improved productivity of the rice-wheat system. Therefore, zero-tillage associated with residues is suggested for mass-scale adoption.

Published Date: 2014-10-07;