The Effects of Tillage Methods on Soil Penetration Resistance, The Effects of Tillage Methods on Soil Penetration Resistance, Porosity and OkraYield

摘要

The effects of primary, minimum, conventional and ridging tillage on soil penetration resistance, porosity and the yield response of Okra (Abelmoschus) were investigated for a growing season in 2008, on a sandy loam soil. Experimental factors included tillage depths, tillage operations, and soil properties such, as soil resistance and porosity. Two different tillage depths of 0-150 and 150-300 mm were studied. Okra parameters investigated were plant height, plant leaf count and yield in terms of number of seeds per plot, number of fruits per plant, fruit weight, length and diameter of the fruits. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using ANOVA and regression analysis. Results showed that the highest porosity of 31.78% (v/v) was recorded on the ploughed + harrowed + harrowed plot, 30.35% (v/v) was recorded on ridged, while 29.76% (v/v) and 29.67% (v/v) were recorded in ploughed + harrowed plot and ploughed plot respectively. The results further showed that the highest soil penetration resistance of 1.13 KN was recorded in the ploughed plot, while the lowest value of 0.61 KN was obtained from the ridged plot. The other values were 1.08 and 1.05 KN for ploughed + harrowed plot and ploughed + harrowed + harrowed plot, respectively. Analysis of variance indicated no significant difference in soil porosity for depths, between plots and blocks at the 5% level of significance, while penetration resistance showed significant difference at the same level of significance. On the whole the mean highest okra yield was obtained from ploughing + harrowing + harrowing tillage operation. The values were 30.26 kg/ha for number of plant per plot, 5.27 kg/ha for number of fruits per plant, 1.76 kg for fruit weight, 68.2 mm fruit length and 31.5 mm for fruit diameter. This study has ploughing + harrowing + harrowing as the best operation suitable for efficient mechanization underlying the high labour productivity for Okra.