STUDIES ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AS AFFECTED BY CONSERVATION TILLAGE AND LAND MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN DIFFERENT SEQUENCE CROPPING SYSTEMS UNDER RAINFED CONDITIONS

– A field experiment on conservation agriculture was conducted on a fixed plot at main agricultural research station, Dharwad, Karnataka to evaluate the effect of conservation agriculture practices on soil physical properties. After four years of experimentation, soil analyses results revealed that all conservation tillage with broad bed and furrow and flat bed, crop residues retained on the surface and partial incorporation in to the soil showed significantly improved soil physical properties viz . percent aggregate stability, bulk density, total porosity, maximum water holding capacity and penetration resistance at plough depth. Conventional tillage with incorporation of crop residues performed significantly superior as compared to conventional tillage with no crop residues where all crop residues were removed and land was ploughed.