Effect of land management practices on soil moisture storage characteristics

A field study was conducted to evaluate moisture storage in soil profile under four tillage-residue management practices namely conventional tillage, no-tillage without residue, no-tillage with residue and deep tillage along with three irrigation regime based on IW/PAN-E ratio 1.2, 0.9 and 0.6 in maize with three replications in split plot design. Significant differences were observed in steady state infiltration rate and cumulative infiltration among different land management practices with maximum value in deep tillage (4.9 cm hr-1 and 33.1 cm) followed by no tillage with residue (4.1cm hr-1 and 28.6 cm), no tillage without residue (4.0 cm hr-1 and 23.0 cm) and conventional tillage (2.8 cm hr-1 and 19.4 cm), respectively. The highest mean weight diameter and water stable aggregates were found under no tillage with residue (0.64 mm and 49.7%) and lowest under deep tillage (0.3 mm and 21.8%), respectively. Higher volumetric soil water content and soil profile moisture storage were recorded under no tillage with residue at different days after sowing. Among different tillage-residue management practices, maximum leaf area index and relative leaf water content were observed in no-tillage with residue. Under moisture stress conditions, no-tillage with residue retention was suitable land management option for reducing evaporation losses and enhancing moisture storage in the soil profile