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International Journal of Agricultural Science Research

International Journal of Agricultural Science Research Vol. 5(3), pp. 040-050, May 2016 ISSN 2327-3321 ©2016 Academe Research Journals

 

Full Length Research Paper

Influence of summer tillage on soil characteristics, weeds diversity and crop yield of certain vegetable crops grown in Tarai region of Ganga River, India

Vinod Kumar* and A.K. Chopra

Agro-ecology and Pollution Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology and Environmental Science, Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar-249404 (Uttarakhand), India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: drvksorwal@gmail.com.

Accepted 12 May, 2016

Abstract

The influence of summer tillage with moldboard plow, rotary hoe and moldboard plow followed by rotary hoe on the soil characteristics, weeds diversity and crop yield of certain vegetable crops namely: potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), carrot (Daucus carota subspecies sativus L.) and radish (Raphanus sativus L.) grown in the northern great plain of River Ganga in India were investigated. The results showed that summer tillage using moldboard plow, rotary hoe and moldboard plow followed by rotary hoe significantly (P<0.05/P<0.01) affected the soil moisture content, bulk density (BD), water holding capacity (WHC), hydraulic conductivity and microbial biomass of the soil used for the cultivation of S. tuberosum, D. carota subspecies sativus and R. sativus. A total of 65 species of weeds were recorded before summer tillage. Summer tillage using moldboard plow significantly (P<0.05) reduced the number of weeds species compared to the summer tillage using rotary hoe. Additionally, summer tillage with moldboard plow followed by rotary hoe was observed to be more significant (P<0.01) in decreasing the weeds population and weeds diversity. Moreover, plant height, dry weight, chlorophyll content, leaf area index (LAI) and crop yield of S. tuberosum, D. carota subspecies sativus and R. sativus were also recorded to be significantly (P<0.05) different with summer tillage using moldboard plow followed by rotary hoe in comparison to moldboard plow and rotary hoe when applied separately. Therefore, summer tillage with moldboard plow and followed by rotary hoe must be applied to decrease the weeds population and enhance the agronomical attributes of S. tuberosum, D. carota subspecies sativus and R. sativus.

Key words: Conventional tillage, crop yield, mouldboard plough, rotary hoe, summer tillage, weeds diversity.