Effect of different tillage methods on soil moisture Dynamics in Maize-bean Cropping Systems in Semi Arid Mwala District, Kenya
Abstract
193 words
Water is an important factor affecting plant growth especially
in semi arid areas. A study to determine the effects of tillage
and cropping systems on soil surface roughness, moisture
storage and maize and bean yields was conducted in semi arid
Mwala District, Kenya. Five tillage systems: mouldboard (MB),
mouldboard and harrowing (MBH), ox-ploughing (OX), hand
hoe and tied-ridges (HTR) and hand hoe only (H) and, three
cropping systems; sole maize, sole bean and maize-bean
intercrop, were investigated in a split-plot design with four
replicates. Soil moisture varied significantly (p<0.05) among
the tillage methods at 2 and 4 weeks after planting (WAP).
Groundcover was significantly different (p<0.05) among the
cropping systems at 4 WAP and both tillage and cropping system
at 6 WAP with the highest being observed in the maize-bean
intercrop. Maize plant height was significantly different (p<0.05)
among the tillage methods, with the highest height (78 -180
cm) in the MBH plots across the different WAPs. Preliminary
results demonstrate that tillage methods influence the level of
soil moisture conservation and crop growth in the semi arid
areas of Kenya where most of the soils are prone to crusting
and formation of hardpans
Subjects
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