• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.662-668
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• 2016

No-tillage dry-seeding of rice can offer potential benefits by reducing time and labor cost compared with conventional tillage practices. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of no-tillage dry-seeding on rice growth and soil hardness in comparison with other rice cultivation methods, machine transplanting and wet-hill-seeding on puddled paddy. The seedling stand fell within optimum range for both no-till dry-seeding and wet-hill-seeding on puddled paddy. Plant height, number of tillers and SPAD values in no-tillage dry-seeding cultivation were higher than those observed in other methods. There were no significant differences in grain yield of rice among three cultivation methods. The quality characteristics of milled rice grown in no-tillage dry-seeding were similar to those grown in other cultivation methods. Soil hardness in top 10 cm depth was significantly higher in no-tillage dry-seeding than other cultivation methods, while soil hardness below 10 cm depth was highest in machine transplanting cultivation. Results indicate that no-tillage dry-seeding practice is comparable to conventional tillage system in terms of seedling establishment, growth, yield and grain quality.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.531-540
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• 2016

The adoption of legume cover crops in no-tillage system can contribute to improve soil fertility by providing several benefits, including reduction in soil erosion, suppression of weed growth and N supply to subsequent crops. We conducted a field study to investigate the effect of cover crops and nitrogen fertilization rates on yield and nitrogen use efficiency of waxy corn (Zea mays L.) in no-tillage upland field. Two legume cover crops, hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnuturn L.) were mechanically terminated with roller in early June. For each cover crop treatment, nitrogen (N) fertilizer was applied at three different rates (145, 72.5 and $0kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$). The growth and yield characteristics of corn were significantly affected by the N fertilization rates in crimson clover plots, which suggest N mineralization from the cover crop residue was not sufficient. In contrast, N fertilization rates had no significant effect on growth and yield of corn in hairy vetch plots, indicating that the amount of N released from the cover crop is large enough to meet most of the N requirement of corn. However, the application of N fertilizer in hairy vetch cover plots resulted in slight increase of crop yield, though not statically significant, and high levels of N concentration in corn plant tissue possibly due to luxury consumption of N. Organic residues on the soil surface in hairy vetch cover plots had substantial amounts of N after harvest, ranging from 100 to $116kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$, which is presumably retained during winter season and released by microbial mineralization in subsequent year. The highest nitrogen yield efficiency was achieved in the plot with hairy vetch cover and no N fertilizer application, followed by the plot with hairy vetch cover and $72.5kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$ fertilization rate. In conclusion, hairy vetch showed better performance in corn productivity as compared with crimson clover. In addition, it was concluded that the application of N fertilizer between 0 and $72.5kg\;N\;ha^{-1}$ in combination with hairy vetch cover crop might be most efficient for corn yield under no-tillage system with climatic and soil characteristics similar to those of the experimental site.