Tillage and residue management effects on irrigated maize performance and water cycling in a semiarid cropping system of
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Tillage and residue management effects on irrigated maize performance and water cycling in a semiarid cropping system of Eastern Colorado Joel Schneekloth1 · Francisco Calderón2 · David Nielsen2 · Steven J. Fonte3 Received: 17 September 2019 / Accepted: 24 September 2020 / Published online: 20 October 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Residue removal from maize (Zea mays) fields offers an opportunity to increase farmer profits, but potential tradeoffs for water dynamics and crop performance merit further evaluation. This study, established in 2014, compared the effects of two tillage practices (no-till and conventional) and two residue management practices (harvested vs. kept in place) on maize grain yields, water infiltration, evapotranspiration, and soil physical attributes. On average, maize grain yields under limited irrigation increased with residue retention by 1.1 Mg ha−1 year−1 between 2016 and 2018, but tillage had no significant effect. Total infiltration (over 30 min) was higher with residue retention. Neither tillage nor residue management had a significant impact on evapotranspiration during the vegetative growth stage. However, there was a significant residue by tillage interaction where vegetative evapotranspiration was reduced by no-till and residue retention. Conversely, penetrometer resistance was significantly reduced by both tillage and residue retention. Volumetric water content in the soil profile at planting was higher with residue retention. These results suggest that plots with residue removal would on average require 60 mm year −1 of additional irrigation to attain the same yields as fields with residue retention. In summary, our findings suggest that high rates of crop residue removal under limited irrigation in a semiarid environment can negatively affect water conservation and yields, and that tradeoffs surrounding residue export need to be fully considered in land management and policy decisions.
Introduction The local economy of the western High Plains of North America is conducive to the removal and export of maize residues from farms due to the abundance of confined beef operations. However, high residue removal in combination with limited water availability may reduce grain yields and degrade the soil by preventing the return of residue nutrients and carbon to the soil as well as leaving the soil surface exposed and prone to surface crusting, erosion, and compaction (Wilhelm et al. 2004). Based on these conflicting Communicated by Samuel Ortega-Farias . * Joel Schneekloth [email protected] 1
Colorado State University Water Resources Institute and Extension, Akron, CO, USA
2
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Akron, CO, USA
3
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
incentives, there is a need to improve our understanding of the tradeoffs associated with residue harvest, specifically with regards to the long-term implications for soil quality and wate
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