On-farm assessment of tillage impact on the vertical distribution of soil organic carbon and structural soil properties in a semiarid region in Tunisia

In semiarid areas, low and erratic rainfall, together with the intensive agricultural use of soils, has depleted soil organic carbon and degraded the soil's chemical, biological and physical fertility. To develop efficient soil-management practices for the rapid restoration of severely degraded soils, no-till, mulch-based cropping systems have been adopted. Thus, a study was conducted on a farm to evaluate the effect of a no-tillage system (NT) versus conventional tillage (CT) on the vertical (0-50 cm) distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC), bulk density (BD), total porosity (TP), structural instability (SI), stable aggregates and infiltration coefficient (Ks) in a clay loam soil under rain-fed conditions in a semiarid region of northwestern Tunisia. CT consisting of moldboard plowing to a depth of 20 cm was used for continuous wheat production. NT by direct drilling under residue was used for 3 (NT3) and 7 (NT7) years in wheat/fava bean and wheat/sulla crop rotations, respectively. SOC was more significantly increased (p < 0.05) by NT3 and NT7 than by CT at respective depths of 0-10 and 0-20 cm, but a greater increase in the uppermost 10 cm of soil was observed in the NT7 field. NT3 management decreased BD and consequently increased TP at a depth of 0-10 cm. The same trend was observed for the NT7 treatment at a depth of 0-30 cm. Ks was not affected by the NT3 treatment but was improved at a depth of 0-30 cm by the NT7 treatment. Changes in BD, TP and Ks in the NT7 plot were significant only in the first 10 cm of the soil. Both NT3 and NT7 considerably reduced SI (p < 0.1) and enhanced stable aggregates (p < 0.05) across the soil profile. These differences were most pronounced under NT7 at a depth of 0-10 cm. The stratification ratio (SR) of the selected soil properties, except that of SI, showed significant differences between the CT and NT trials, indicating an improvement in soil quality. NT management in the farming systems of north-western Tunisia was demonstrated in this study to improve soil quality, especially in the surface layers, by increasing storage of organic carbon and enhancing the physical properties of the soil. These effects were most pronounced in the long term. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.