EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE AND PULVERIZATION IMPLEMENTS ON TILLAGE APPEARANCE AND SOIL PROPERTIES

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the fields of Agriculture College-University of Baghdad Al- Jadiriyah in 2015 in sandy loam soil in order to evaluate the effect of soil moisture level and pulverization implement on tillage appearance and some soil physical properties. Two levels of soil moisture included fist moisture level 14-16% and second moisture level 18-20% and pulverization implements included: disc harrow, Spring Spike tooth harrow and rotary harrow were used. Soil surface roughness, number of clods with diameter larger than 5 cm/m2, disturbed soil volume, and soil total porosity were measured. Split plot design under randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates was used. The results were showed that Rotary harrow and 14-16% moisture level superior in obtained the best soil surface roughness, less number of clods > 5cm/m2 which was 7.56 clod/m2, while Spring Spike tooth Harrow and 18-20% moisture level was superior in record highest disturbed soil volume which was 761.56 m3/ hr and soil porosity of 55.78 %. Using locally manufactured ultrasonic device for measuring soil surface roughness was done successfully in this experiment with high performance efficiency.

Keywords

• soil surface roughness
• number of clods
• disturbed soil volume
• soil total porosity