A LONG-TERM COMPARISON OF PLOWING, TINE CULTIVATION AND DIRECT DRILLING ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF WINTER CEREALS AND OILSEED RAPE ON CLAYEY AND SILTY SOILS

The effects of mouldboard ploughing, shallow tined cultivation and direct drilling on yields of winter wheat, barley, oats and oilseed rape were compared over 10 years. Three field experiments were conducted on two non-calcareous clays (stagnogleys) and a weakly structured silty soil (argillic brown earth). Two spring N levels were applied to the winter wheat plots on the clay soil in three years and to the winter barley plots on the silty soil in one year. This paper reports the soil bulk density and water content at sowing and the crop growth, yield components and yields obtained during the later years of the study: 1979-1984 on the clayey soils and 1981-1984 on the silty soil. In the years when cereals were grown, differences in yield between cultivation treatments were small and inconsistent. Oilseed rape yielded significantly more after direct drilling than ploughing because of better establishment and uniformity of growth. The success of continuous reduced tillage depended on both burning crop residues and good weed control. © 1990.