Effect of Unitary Soil Tillage Energy on Soil Aggregate Structure and Erosion Vulnerability

The integrated soil tillage developed in the Institute of Biosystem Engineering is based on a single pass of basic tillage, secondary tillage and sowing or planting. The integrated soil tillage enables to achieve a relatively high mechanical strength of the soil. An important element of the technology is the use of tillage roller sets which significantly influence the obtained aggregate structure and its eolic resistance. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of roller speed under various soil moisture conditions on the aggregate structure of the arable soil layer. The research was carried out on the production field in Dziećmierowo, Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Poland, on medium soil with the mechanical composition of light clay. During the research, cultivation sets with two units of Campell + Croskill platelet and studded rollers were used. For two actual soil moisture levels and five speeds within the range of 3–7 km/h, the influence of unit tillage energy at three levels of the cultivating layer (0–5 cm, 5–10 cm and 10–15 cm) was analyzed on the aggregate structure of soil and the content of aggregates with the highest resistance to wind erosion. The results of the work lead to the conclusions that it is possible to use the working speed and overloading of rollers set in integrated soil tillage trailer to manipulate the process of forming an optimal, erosion-resistant soil layer. However, it should be pointed out that for even very similar types of roller sets, the process control under different soil moisture conditions may be different and require an individual test.