Influence of controlled traffic no-till system on soil chemical properties and crop yield in annual double-cropping area of the North China Plain

Abstract

A controlled traffic no-till system is a cropping system that has a significant potential to improve soil health, sustainability and crop yield. A pilot experiment was conducted to compare soil chemical properties and crop yields between controlled traffic no-till and random traffic in an annual double-cropping area of the North China Plain from 2005 to 2010. The experiment was performed using three treatments: (1) controlled traffic no-till (NTCT); (2) random traffic no-till (NTRT); and (3) conventional tillage (CT). The NTCT treatment significantly improved soil organic matter and total N compared with both NTRT and CT treatments and remarkably increased available P compared with CT treatment in the surface soil layer (0–10 cm), but no significant differences were found in soil pH compared with both NTRT and CT treatments. However, in the 10–20- and 20–30-cm soil profiles, soil organic matter, total N and available P were reduced after NTCT treatment when compared with those obtained after CT treatment. At 0–10 cm soil depths, soil bulk density under NTCT and NTRT was higher than in CT, whereas the opposite was true at soil depths of 10–30 cm. Overall, it was found that the 6-year mean maize yield of NTCT and NTRT treatments was 10.9% and 1.1% higher respectively than the CT treatment, whereas the winter wheat yield was 1.1% and 3.0% higher respectively compared with the CT treatment. NTCT appears to be an improvement over current farming systems in an annual double-cropping area of the North China Plain