Conservation Tillage on a Silt Loam Soil with Reduced Pressure Sprinkler Irrigation

A four-year field study was conducted on a Lowry silt loam soil (Typic Haplustoll, coarse silty, mixed, mesic) to investigate the effect of conservation tillage on surface runoff, soil water content, and corn grain yield under reduced pressure sprinkler irrigation. Plowing, disking, and ridge-planting were the three primary tillage practices used in the study. Disking reduced surface runoff by 35% when compared with runoff from the plow and ridge-plant practices. Plowing produced about two times the sediment yield of the disk and ridge-plant practices. Ridge-planting produced the highest soil water contents and corn grain yields of the three practices, while plowing produced the lowest soil water contents and grain yields. Conservation tillage can be used to reduce surface runoff and increase crop yields under reduced pressure sprinkler irrigation