Infiltration and Soil Loss Changes during the Growing Season under Ploughing and Conservation Tillage

Gergely Jakab, Balázs Madarász, Judit Alexandra Szabó, Adrienn Tóth, Dóra Zacháry, Zoltán Szalai, Ádám Kertész and Jeremy Dyson
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Gergely Jakab: Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, 1112 Budapest, Hungary
Balázs Madarász: Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, 1112 Budapest, Hungary
Judit Alexandra Szabó: Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, 1112 Budapest, Hungary
Adrienn Tóth: Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, 1112 Budapest, Hungary
Dóra Zacháry: Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, 1112 Budapest, Hungary
Zoltán Szalai: Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, 1112 Budapest, Hungary
Ádám Kertész: Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Institute, 1112 Budapest, Hungary
Jeremy Dyson: Syngenta Crop Protection AG, 40002 Basel, Switzerland

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 10, 1-13

Abstract: Decreased water retention and increased runoff and soil loss are of special importance concerning soil degradation of hilly crop fields. In this study, plots under ploughing (conventional) tillage (PT) and conservation tillage (CT; 15 years) were compared. Rainfall simulation on 6 m 2 plots was applied to determine infiltration and soil loss during the growing season. Results were compared with those measured from 1200 m 2 plots exposed to natural rainfalls in 2016. Infiltration was always higher under CT than PT, whereas the highest infiltration was measured under the cover crop condition. Infiltration under seedbed and stubble resulted in uncertainties, which suggests that natural pore formation can be more effective at improving soil drainage potential than can temporary improvements created by soil tillage operations. Soil erodibility was higher under PT for each soil status; however, the seedbed condition triggered the highest values. For CT, soil loss volume was only a function of runoff volume at both scales. Contrarily, on PT plots, some extreme precipitation events triggered extremely high soil loss owing to linear erosion, which meant no direct connection existed between the scales. Improved soil conditions due to conservation practice are more important for decreasing soil loss than the better surface conditions.

Keywords: rainfall simulation; USLE; PESERA; runoff; soil erosion; water management; tillage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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