Impacts of Different Tillage Practices on Soil Water Infiltration for Sustainable Agriculture

Roua Amami, Khaled Ibrahimi, Farooq Sher, Paul Milham, Hiba Ghazouani, Sayed Chehaibi, Zahra Hussain and Hafiz M. N. Iqbal
Additional contact information
Roua Amami: Higher Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sousse, 4042 Chott Meriem, Tunisia
Khaled Ibrahimi: Higher Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sousse, 4042 Chott Meriem, Tunisia
Farooq Sher: School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Environmental and Computing, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Paul Milham: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University, LB 1797, Penrith 2751, NSW, Australia
Hiba Ghazouani: Regional Centre for Field Crop Researches, 9000 Beja, Tunisia
Sayed Chehaibi: Higher Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of Sousse, 4042 Chott Meriem, Tunisia
Zahra Hussain: Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan
Hafiz M. N. Iqbal: Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Monterrey 64849, Mexico

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: Over the years, cultivation using sustainable tillage practices has gained significant importance, but the impact of tillage on soil water infiltration is still a concern for landowners due to the possible effects on crop yield. This study investigates the impact of different tillage managements on the infiltration rate of sandy clay loam soil under a semiarid environment. Field experiments were conducted in Chott Mariem Sousse, Tunisia. The tillage practices consisted of three treatments, including a tine cultivator (TC, 16 cm), moldboard plows (MP, 36 cm) and no-tillage (NT). Three infiltration models, Kostiakov, Philip and Horton, were applied to adjust the observed data and evaluate the infiltration characteristics of the studied soils. Comparison criteria, including the coefficient of determination (R 2 ), along with the root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE), were used to investigate the best-fit model. The results showed that moldboard plowing enhanced soil infiltration capacity relative to tine cultivation and no-tillage treatments. The mean saturated hydraulic conductivity was highest under MP, while it was lowest in NT, with 33.4% and 34.1% reduction compared to TC and MP, respectively. Based on the obtained results, Philip’s model showed better results with observed infiltration due to a higher R 2 (0.981, 0.973 and 0.967), lower RMSE (3.36, 9.04 and 9.21) and lower MAE (1.46, 3.53 and 3.72) recorded, respectively, for NT, MP and TC. Horton’s model had a low regression coefficient between observed and predicted values. It was suggested that the Philip two-term model can adequately describe the infiltration process in the study area.

Keywords: sustainability; energy saving; tillage; infiltration; Philip model; unsaturated soil and water-stable aggregates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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