The influence of tillage intensity on the barley productivity and weediness

Leidinio DOI: https://doi.org/10.7220/1822-9913.2020The experiment was carried out in 2019 at VDU Agricultural Academy experiment station. The field experiment consists of 20 fields, four different plants arranged in four replicates. The initial size of the fields – 126 m2 (14´9 m), accounting area – 70 m2 (107 m). Each field is randomized into five variants: conventional ploughing to a depth of 23– 25 cm (CP), shallow ploughing to a depth of 12–14 cm (SP), deep cultivation to a depth of 23–25 cm (DP), shallow cultivation to 12 to 14 cm (SC), direct drilling up to 5 cm (NT). Research carried out in 2019 showed that tillage did not have a significant impact on soil structure. Shallow cultivation (SC) soil has a 2.9% higher soil microstructure than conventional ploughing (CA). The lowest amount of microstructure was found in deep cultivation (DP) soil. Root biomass was significantly lower at a depth of 20–30 cm compared to a depth of 0–10 cm. There were no significant differences in weed numbers and weed mass, but a tendency for short-lived weeds to increase with simplified tillage systems. The reduced tillage had no significant effect on the yield, but the highest yield of spring barley was obtained by direct drilling (NT), and the yield was 3.4% higher than in the control fieldsAgronomijos fakultetasVytauto Didžiojo universiteta