Investigation of Different Tillage Methods on some Machine and Soil Parameters in Temperate Climate Regions

The effect of no tillage, conservation and conventional tillage were investigated on some characteristics of soil and machine. This study was conducted in a split plot design with three main treatments, three sub-treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of soil tillage methods in three levels: conventional tillage, minimum tillage and no tillage in the main plots and the amount of plant residues in three levels including: without residues, retaining 30 percent and 60 percent of residues in the subplots. The results showed that no tillage and minimum tillage, significantly, reduce fuel consumption (by a maximum of 76% and 60% reduction compared to the conventional method, respectively). A significant reduction in the maximum operating time by 81% and 59% was seen. The reduction of mechanical power used in land preparation and planting operations was at most 66% and 23%, and the reduction of the amount of plant residues returned to 82% and 39%, respectively. The conventional tillage method compared to minimum tillage and no tillage, significantly, reduced the diameter of the soil clods by 21% and 35%, and increased the seed germination rate of seeds by a maximum of 2% and 5%. The soil tillage methods and amount of residues have a significant effect on the soil penetration resistance.