Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2012, 60(5), 89-96 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201260050089

Effect of different tillage intensity on yields and yield-forming factors in winter wheat

Martin Houšť¹, Blanka Procházková¹, Pavel Hledík²

¹ Ústav agrosystémů a bioklimatologie, Mendelova univerzita v Brně, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Česká republika

² Výzkumný ústav rostlinné výroby, v. v. i. Praha, Drnovská 507, 161 06 Praha 6 - Ruzyně, Česká republika

The paper presents results of a study on application of minimum tillage technologies when growing winter wheat. Experiments were performed in the sugar-beet-growing region with loamy chernozem within the period of 2005-2009. Aanalysed and evaluated were effects of different methods of soil processing on yield-forming factors in stands of winter wheat grown after three different preceding crops (i.e. alfalfa, maize for silage and pea). Evaluated were the following four variants of tillage: (1) conventional ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m (Variant 1); (2) ploughing to the depth of 0.15 m (Variant 2); (3) direct sowing into the untilled soil (Variant 3), and (4) shallow tillage to the depth of 0.10 m (Variant 4).
The effect of different tillage intensity on winter wheat yields was statistically non-significant after all forecrops. After alfalfa, the highest and the lowest average yields were recorded in Variant 2 (i.e. with ploughing to the depth of 0.15 m) and Variant 3 (direct sowing into the untilled soil), respectively. After maize grown for silage, higher yields were obtained in Variant 2 and Variant 1 (conventional ploughing) while in Variants 4 and 3 the obtained yields were lower. When growing winter wheat after pea as a preceding crop, the highest and the lowest average yields were recorded after direct sowing (Variant 3) and in Variant 1 (i.e. ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m), respectively.
Results of studies on effect of different tillage technologies on yields of winter wheat crops indicate that under the given pedological and climatic conditions it is possible to apply methods of reduced tillage intensity. However, the choice of the corresponding technology must be performed with regard to the type of preceding crop.

Keywords: tillage, winter wheat, yields, yield-forming factors

Grants and funding:

This study was carried out within the framework of the project No. QJ1210008 and project No. TA02010669.

Received: November 30, 2011; Prepublished online: July 24, 2013; Published: July 30, 2013  Show citation