The effects of tillage and intra-row compaction on seedbed properties and red lentil emergence under dry land conditions

A two year-field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of three tillage treatments and three intra-row compaction levels on physical properties of seedbed and red lentil emergence in dry soil condition. The tillage treatments were: (1) conventional tillage (moldboard plow + disk harrow + float - CT); (2) reduced tillage 1 (horizontal axis rotary tiller - RT1); (3) reduced tillage 2 (vertical axis rotary tiller with roller - RT2). Intra-row compaction levels were: (1) no compaction (C0), (2) 60 kPa compaction (C1) and (3) 90 kPa compaction (C2). e systems and intra-row compaction levels had significant effects on seedbed properties and seed emergence. In both years, while the maximum aggregate size observed using the RT1 system was between 1 and 8 mm, the CT system caused the highest MWD. The RT1 tillage system and C2 compaction level had a tendency of giving higher water holding capacity and water availability. RT2 and C2 treatments caused higher cone indexes and bulk density values than RT1 and CT. CT and C0 levels tend to decrease the cone index and bulk density at the top layer of soil. The only factor affected by soil tillage systems in both years was the mean emergence time (MET). For both growing seasons, the highest MET was found in CT and the lowest in RT2 and RT1 tillage systems. However, soil tillage systems and intra-row compaction levels both affected the percentage of seedling emergence (PE). While plots tilled with RT2 produced the maximum PE, the CT tillage system illustrated the minimum. Intra row compaction clearly enhanced PE values.