Influence of Tillage Systems in a Long-term Experiment on Track Depths and Crop Yields Under Pannonian Climate

Abstract

Based on a long-term experiment under Pannonian climate, the tillage effects on track depth, soil moisture content and grain yield of winter wheat in the vegetation period 2016/2017 are shown. The physical soil properties were measured in March 2017 indirectly: soil strength was measured through the track depth caused by a wheel load ballasted tractor with a rear wheel load of 13.7 kN. Soil moisture content was measured with a soil moisture meter at the depth of 5 cm after track depth measurement. No tillage resulted in the lowest track depth. Water content was highest in the conservation tillage systems, which had also a higher grain yield of winter wheat than the mouldboard-plough-system.