Effect of Tillage Systems on a Soil Moisture Content and Crops Productivity

The soil's physical properties and ability to retain moisture were investigated to keep it as long as possible by applying different tillage systems using various implements (mounted chisel plow ʺChʺ, rotary tiller ʺRʺ and wooden leveler ʺLʺ and laser ʺZʺ), where the treatments were as follows; ChR, 2ChR, ChRZ, ChZ, 2ChZ, ChL and 2ChL. Sugar beet (as winter crop) and sunflower (as summer crop) were planted in the experiments as significant response to water in the root zone. The obtained results showed that the seed-bed preparation system using the tillage treatment of chisel plow one or twice followed by rotary tiller is considered as a suitable tillage system for preparing seed-bed, where they achieved the longest period of time to retain soil moisture either at 25% or 50% of the soil available water. Also, the highest yields were recorded for both sunflower and sugar beet under ChR and 2CHR treatments, while ChL and 2ChL treatments recorded the lowest yield. Generally, it can be concluded that the ChR and 2ChR treatments can be considered as a suitable tillage regime.