Effect of Tillage Methods on Productivity of Winter Wheat in the Aral Sea Basin of Uzbekistan
摘要
Since achieving independence, Uzbekistan has made efforts towards developing its own market economy and put a major emphasis on agricultural growth. During this transition, large and inefficient shirkat (cooperative) farms were dismantled and much smaller private farms were established. For development of this new type of farms, there are constraints associated with limited potential and abilities in crop, tillage methods, soil fertility improvement and on-farm water management. There is an urgent need to pilot changes in agricultural practices in the region in order to improve winter wheat productivity in the salt and drought-affected region of Aral Sea Basin of Uzbekistan. A four-year experiment was conducted, to identify best options of different tillage methods in winter wheat cultivation, at farmers’ field in Chimbay district, of Uzbekistan (N 42°57.091’, E 059°45.798’, 69 m above sea level). Data analysis was performed using GenStat program. The highest yield was recorded in 2007 and yield ranged between 2.23-2.87 t ha. It should be mentioned here that weather conditions in 2007 were favorable for winter wheat growth and development. The absolute highest yield was recorded in the no till treatment (2.87 t ha) in farmer 2 and 2.81 t ha in farmer 1. Statistical analysis shows that winter wheat yield was significantly affected by years (<0.001). The conventional tillage could be replaced by no-tillage systems that increase yield and will likely improve soil properties in the long term.