Effects of tillage and fallow period management on soil physical behaviour and maize development

Effects of two tillage treatments and two fallow period managements under continuous maize cropping on soil temperature, soil water dynamics and maize development were evaluated over a 4-year period (2005–2008). Tillage treatments were conventional tillage with mouldboard ploughing and conservation tillage with disk harrowing. The fallow period managements were bare soil or soil sown with a cover crop after maize harvest. For each year, topsoil temperature (0–20cm-depth) was lower under conservation tillage systems at sowing, from 0.8 to 2.8°C. This difference persisted several weeks after sowing, and disappeared afterwards. Under conservation tillage, higher soil water content was generally measured at sowing and during the growing season strong fluctuations were observed at 40cm-depth. Under conventional tillage, soil water content varied mainly in the tilled layer (20cm-depth). Tillage and fallow period management affected water flow rate at 40cm-depth. During the maize growing season, the lowest drainage volumes were measured in 2006 and 2008 under conservation tillage in cover cropped plots. No effect of fallow period management on maize development and yield was observed but significantly higher yields were measured under conservation tillage in 2005 and 2007. From this 4-year experiment under continuous maize cropping, using cover crop and reducing tillage intensity enhanced water use efficiency while maintaining or increasing maize yields.