The effect of tillage practices on grain yield and water use efficiency

Tillage practices and depth of plow play an important role in altering the porosity and infiltration capacity of soils and hence surface runoff and soil water availability. A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of tillage method and depth on grain yield and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) during the dry season at Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia. Treatments for this study included were chisel plow at 150 and 250mm depth (CH150 and CH250), and disk plowing to 150mm and 250mm depths (DP150 and DP250); moldboard plow (MB150 and MB250) and “Maresha” (local plowing) (LP). Grain yield was determined by taking samples from three sections of the central furrow. Grain yields were adjusted to 10% moisture content. It was found that tillage method did not significantly affect the average grain and biomass yield and IWUE of grain and biomass. The grain yield for tillage method treatments averaged from 5325kg/ha for local plow to 5839kg/ha for disk plow. The effect of depth of plow on grain yield (kg/ha) ranges from 392 to 7108 for MB150 and DP250, respectively. The IWUE (grain, kg/hacm) for tillage depth treatments averaged from 16.73 for DP150 to 30.90 for DP250, and their respective IWUE (biomass, kg/hacm) averaged from 95.4 (MB150) to 124.6 (CH250). ► The effect of tillage depth and type on grain yield and water use efficiency was evaluated. ► Increasing tillage depth will increase the net average intake. ► There was a significant increment of application efficiency in the first two irrigations. ► Increasing till depth significantly increased grain yield and irrigation water use efficiency. ► The type of tillage did not affect yield and irrigation water use efficiency.