Penetration resistance as affected by shallow-cut land leveling and cropping

2. TITLE:-The effects of shallow-cut land leveling and cropping on penetration resistance in a soil.
Presented by,
Mr. Shinde Sunil Diliprao
reg.no. 2012AE/55B
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE ENGNEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
VNMKV PARBHANI .
WEL - COME
SEMINAR ON

3. Introduction
 Land leveling is a relatively common agricultural practice in the south-central
United States and is routinely performed in fields where flood-irrigated crops
will be grown, such as rice, Similar to land leveling, terracing is a land-forming
practice that is conducted in places such rice production on steep slopes. In
general, land leveling is the practice of creating a slight, but uniform slope
across a field to facilitate more uniform distribution of irrigation water.
 Most commonly, topsoil from spots of relatively high elevation is simply
scrapped away (i.e., cut) and deposited (i.e., filled) in areas of relatively low
elevation.

4.  Similar to tillage, land leveling is a form of soil disturbance that alters
soil physical properties. Land leveling has been shown to alter the
particle-size distribution, but not the textural class, and increase soil
bulk density in the top 10 cm of a silt loam soil.

5. Need for land levelling
 Increased soil bulk density occurs as a result of soil compaction, so that
cone penetrometer is resistance to penetration.
 Compaction has been shown to negatively affect seedling emergence
capability, soil water storage, crop water-use efficiency, crop growth
characteristics, yield, nutrient uptake, and root development and
distribution.
 Soil penetration resistance affects by several other soil properties. Bulk
density, particle-size distribution or texture and water content.

6. Methods
 The study site consisted of a 0.36 ha area within a 25 ha field
predominantly cropped to rice and soybean.
 land leveling, a 40m×90m sampling grid was established in the study
area. Grid points were spaced evenly at 10m apart, for a total of 50 grid
points, to facilitate statistical evaluation of the effects of land leveling on
the magnitude, variability, and spatial distribution of CI values. The grid
was positioned in the field so that roughly one-half of the sampling area
was cut and the other half was filled However, the cut and filled areas of
the grid were not considered experimental treatments.

7. Fig.1 grid survey of area

8. Fig.2 3-dimentional representation of contour map
of given field

9. Fig.3 3D representation of cut and fill of soil in the
given area

10. Methods of land leveling
 Bullock drawn implements
 2-wheel tractors using harrows and leveling boards
 4-wheel tractor using rear mounted tractor blades or drag
buckets.
 4-wheel tractor with a laser controlled bucket.

11. Prepared by Prafull Mange
SYSTEMS OF LAND LEVELING
DRAFT ANIMALS

12. 2-WHEEL TRACTORS USING HARROWS AND
LEVELING BOARDS

13. 4-WHEEL TRACTOR USING REAR MOUNTED TRACTOR BLADES OR
DRAG BUCKETS

14. 4-WHEEL TRACTOR WITH A LASER CONTROLLED BUCKET.

16. Results and discussion
 Land leveling affected soil particle-size distribution and
bulk density in the top 0.1m (Table 1).
 Sand and clay content and bulk density increased
significantly (P < 0.05), while silt content decreased
significantly (P < 0.05), following land leveling.
 The soil textural class (i.e., silt loam) was unaffected by
land leveling. Bulk density was also significantly greater (P
< 0.05) approximately 1 year after land leveling.
 Land leveling also affected soil particle-size distribution
within the top 0.5m

18. Cone index:-
Cone index is an indication of soil hardness and is
expressed as force per square centimetre required for a cone to
penetrate into soil. Cone index in the soil varies with cone apex
angle and area of cone bottom. A standard cone penetrometer
was used to determine the cone index.

23. Conclusions:
 Shallow-cut land leveling significantly increased CI at all depths
between 0.05 and 0.35 m. Land leveling decreased the depth to a root-
limiting hard pan.
 Land leveling significantly decreased CI variability at the 0.05m depth,
but increased CI at each depth between 0.1 and 0.35 m.
 Land leveling also disrupted the spatial distribution of CI throughout the
0.36 ha study area.
 The 50% reduction in soil volume for root growth.
 Proper management of a non-continuously, flood-irrigated alternative
crop, such as soybean, for maximum yield when in rotation with rice
may be difficult.

24. References :
 Penetration resistance as affected by shallow-cut land
leveling and cropping, by K.R. Brye∗, N.A. Slaton, R.J.
Norman
 Arshad, M.A., Lowry, B., Grossman, B., 1996. Physical
tests for monitoring soil quality. In: Doran, J.W., Jones, A.J.
(Eds.), Methods for Assessing Soil Quality. Soil Sci. Soc.
Am Spec. Publ. 49. Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison, WI, pp.
123–141
 Ayers, P.D., Penumbral, J.V., 1982. Moisture and density
effect of cone index. Trans. ASAE 24, 1169–1172.
 Hooks, C.L., Jansen, J.J., 1986. Recording cone
penetrometer
 developed in reclamation research. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.
50,10–12.

25. Topic open for discussion

26. Thank you