The effect of tillage system on organic carbon content in the soil

Abstract

The effect of long-term standing discontinuation of the organic carbon content of cultivated humus soil layer was observed in 1994–2000. Three cultivation systems were used in the experiment: conventional tillage with plough (CT) as a control plot, ploughless tillage (PL), and direct drilling (DD). The research was conducted on three different soils: Orthic Luvisol developed from loess, Rendzina developed from chalk rock and Eutric Cambisol developed from boulder clay. Soil samples were collected from two layers 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm deep from under winter wheat once during a vegetative season in early spring. Organic fertilisation was not applied in the course of the experiment. Standard doses of mineral fertilisers were used according to the soil, the needs of plants, and weather conditions. It was stated that the biggest changes of organic carbon content principally referred to fluctuations between the vegetative seasons which were studied. The replacement of plough with ploughless tillage (PL) and direct drilling (DD) had an affect of no great importance on organic carbon content of soil. It could be noticed that in the last year of the research the highest concentration of organic carbon in all analysed soils was found in the layer 0–10 cm deep on the plots with direct drilling (DD). However, the differences were not statistically significant.