New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research abstracts
Effect of subsoiling on soil physical properties and dry matter production on a
Brown Soil in Southland, New Zealand
J. J. DREWRY
AgResearch
C/- Soil and Physical Sciences Group
Soil, Plant and Ecological Sciences Division
P.O. Box 84
Lincoln University
Canterbury, New Zealand
R. J. PATON
AgResearch
Invermay Agricultural Centre
Private Bag 50034
Mosgiel, New Zealand
Abstract This study examined the effect of shallow subsoiling
on soil physical properties and ryegrass-white clover pasture production on a
Waikiwi silt loam (Brown Soil) over 2.5 years. Macroporosity, hydraulic
conductivity, and air permeability were measured in 6-cm increments down to 30
cm soil depth. The topsoil was loosened by pulling both conventional tines or
wing-shaped tines set at 50 cm apart through the soil, at a depth of 25-30 cm.
Subsoiling increased macroporosity by up to 39% of the soil volume, and
increased saturated hydraulic conductivity and air permeability by up to two
orders of magnitude. Improvements in soil physical conditions were evident for
up to 2 years after subsoiling with both the winged tines and conventional
tines, although there were few differences between the tine types. Some
recompaction and settling over time occurred in the upper 12 cm of the soil
profile. For the second year, the conventional tine subsoiling treatment
reduced total production by 9%. Pasture dry matter production for the winged
tine subsoiling treatment was variable with no significant differences in total
production compared with non-subsoiled controls.
Keywords compaction; Southland; treading; subsoiling; soil
physical properties; macroporosity
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 2000, Vol. 43: 259-268
0028-8233/00/4302-0259 $7.00/0 (c) The Royal Society of New Zealand
2000
PDF file of entire paper: medium quality (743K); (scanned from paper original: notes about this process)
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