Effect of tillage practices and residue management on soil quality and crop yield under maize (Zea mays)-based cropping system in Mollisol

A field experiment was conducted during rainy (kharif) and winter (rabi) seasons of 2007–08 and 2008–09 to evaluate the feasibility and suitability of tillage and residue management practices for soil physico- chemical properties, irrigation water requirement, yield attributes and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) in maize–maize crop rotation on Mollisol. Methods comprised the tillage and residue management namely zero tillage with (ZT+r) or without maize residue (ZT-r), raised fresh bed (RFB), permanent raised bed with partial maize residue (PRB+r) and convention tillage (CT). The different tillage and residue management practices could potentially lead to significant difference in soil organic carbon (SOC) content, bulk density and irrigation water requirement. Inclusion of partial crop residue remarkably improved SOC content by 12.60%, bulk density by 6.27% and reduced irrigation water by 18.88% over traditional method. Anthesis silking interval (ASI) was found non-significant among different tillage methods but was smaller in crop residue incorporated tillage methods. Tillage systems had significant influence on grain yields in both the seasons. Maximum grain yield was obtained in RFB, followed by CT and least with ZT-r in both the seasons. Raised fresh bed being statistically at par with CT resulted in significant increase in mean grain yield by 20.8 and 19.6 % (kharif) and 22.5 and 15.3 % (rabi), respectively, over the ZT–r. The maximum saving of irrigation water in kharif (12.3%) and rabi (10.6 %) was noticed with RFB. Grain yield was significantly and negatively correlated (–0.958*, –0.955*) with bulk density during both seasons. Soil properties, irrigation water requirement and grain yield were highly linearly related to different tillage methods in both the seasons.