Water Management Effects of Different Tillage Systems

Due to the climate change and the effect of the resulting warming up the amount of snow is declining in the past few years, so the chances for the autumn sowings to be winterkilled are growing and the amount of water stored in the soil is also significantly reducing. The intensive agricultural production is trying to compensate the conditions for the altered production by changing methods of soil cultivation and building up irrigation systems. The long-term aim of choosing the right method of soil cultivation is the protection of the soil structure and surface, and also the beneficial affecting of its biological activity, moisture and air circulation. The experiment was set in Szarvas, on the experimental area of Szent István University, Faculty of Agricultural and Economical Studies, organised as 5 by 2 repetition. By the planned experiments we were seeking answers for the ways of possible optimisation of soil cultivation in order to reach the highest possible value of water management for the soil, to improve the hydrating ability of the soil and also to provide sustainable agricultural production and to reduce the effects of farming which are hazardous to the water quality to the lowest possible level. The aim of our experiment is the reasonable utilisation, protection and preserving the diverse abilities of functionof the soil resources as parts of our most important natural resources. Within the framework of our monocultural duration experiment we examine the plant physiological and harvest effects of the various soil cultivating systems, deep disintegrating, deep ploughing, semi-deep ploughing, disc ploughing and strip-till cultivation by applying irrigated and non-irrigated cultural techniques. The results of non-rotating soil cultivating techniques show that they have beneficial effects on the water and nutrient management of the soil. The other technology we applied is the strip till technology. The advantage of strip cultivation that instead of the whole area one only cultivates the line/strip. In the cultivated strip the best possible soil conditions are provided for the plant by preparing seedbeds, sowing and fertilizing only in the line. We were trying to find an answer for the relationship between soil resistance measured on methods of soil cultivation and the estimated average production. The Variance analysis shows significant results, the soil cultivating method influences the soil resistance at 40,231%, and also the expected harvest.