The Influence of Short-Term Tillage, Compost, and Beneficial Microbes on Soil Properties and the Productivity of Wheat and Cowpea Crops

Megahed M. Amer, Mohssen Elbagory, Mahmoud Aiad and Alaa El-Dein Omara ()
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Megahed M. Amer: Department of Soil Improvement and Conservation, Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12112, Egypt
Mohssen Elbagory: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, King Khalid University, Mohail 61321, Saudi Arabia
Mahmoud Aiad: Department of Soil Improvement and Conservation, Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12112, Egypt
Alaa El-Dein Omara: Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Soils, Water and Environment Research Institute Agricultural Research Center, Giza 12112, Egypt

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-22

Abstract: Tillage systems comprise physical, chemical, and biological modification processes that influence soil properties. Soil cultivation aims to create favorable conditions for the development and growth of crops, as evident in their yields. Three growing seasons (winter 2019/2020 (wheat), summer 2020 (cowpea), and winter 2020/2021 (wheat)) were studied in field experiments in Sidi Salem, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, to investigate the effects of soil tillage and the application of organic and beneficial microbes on various biological, chemical, and physical properties of soil and its productivity. Three replicates of the experimental treatments were set up in a split-plot design, in which there were four main plots: conventional soil tillage (ST) treatment for all three seasons (ST 1 ); tillage in the first and second seasons (ST 2 ); tillage only in the first season (ST 3 ); and no tillage for all three seasons (ST 4 ). However, the subplots (soil additives) were conditioned as follows: without treatment (control, T1); compost (C, T 2 ); beneficial microorganisms (BM, T 3 ); and combination (C + BM, T 4 ). The biological property results showed that ST 4 T 4 treatment produced high levels of microbial communities (bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes), as well as high levels of soil enzyme activity (dehydrogenase, urease, and phosphatase), during the three growing seasons. However, the second season produced high numbers and dry weights of cowpea plants’ nodules. Additionally, changes in the chemical and physical properties showed that the application of various soil tillage treatments during the examined seasons led to significant increases in electrical conductivity (ECe, dSm −1 ), bulk density (BD, kg m −3 ), and soil infiltration rate (IR, cm h −1 ), following the trend of ST 4 > ST 3 > ST 2 > ST 1 . In contrast, the results revealed decreases in the exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP, %), porosity (PO, %), soil aggregates (stable aggregates and optimal-sized aggregates, %), and soil penetration resistance (SPRa, Mpa). The combination treatment (ST 4 T 4 ) provided the best yields, with grain yields of 4.991 and 5.325 tons ha −1 and straw yields of 5.214 and 5.338 tons ha −1 in the first and third seasons (wheat), respectively. Cowpea plants showed the same pattern in the second season. Therefore, improvements in soil properties and enhancements in biological activity help maintain its productivity and fertility through simplified tillage processes that reduce interference with the soil surface layer.

Keywords: soil tillage; compost; beneficial microbes; wheat; cowpea; soil properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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