Effects of Tillage Direction and Plant Density on soil and water Loss in a Rainfed Land of a Semi-arid Region

Soil erosion by water is a serious environmental problem, particularly in semi-arid regions. In these areas, water loss strongly affects soil loss as well as soil productivity in the rainfed lands. Determination of appropriate seed density for each tillage direction is vital to achieve high crop yield and to prevent soil and water losses. This study was conducted to investigate the combined effects of tillage direction and plant density on the soil and water losses in a rainfed land. Twelve crop plots with the dimensions of 1.5 m × 5 m were installed to investigate the effect of two tillage directions (up to the down slope and on the contour line), two seed densities (90 and 120 kg h-1), a three replications in a rainfed land with 10% slope steepness. Soil and water losses were measured in each plot during the wheat growth period (from October 2015 to June 2016). Significant differences were found between both tillage direction and plant density in the runoff (P<0.05) and soil loss (P< 0.001). Runoff and soil loss in the up to down slope tillage was 4.16 and 4.08 times bigger than the contour line tillage, respectively. Runoff and soil loss with the seed density of 120 kg h-1 were 11.25 and 26.32% lower than those with 120 kg h-1 , respectively. This result was associated with the increased cover crop and its control on water flow and the enhancement of water retention in the soil. There was no significant interaction between tillage direction and plant density in the runoff and soil loss. The importance of tillage direction in the soil and water loss was very larger than that of the plant density. The application of 120 kg ha-1 seed density on the contour line could, therefore, considerably prevent soil and water losses in the rainfed lands.