TY - JOUR AU - Montesdeoca, Fabián AU - Ávila, María AU - Quishpe, Janeth AU - Borie, Fernando AU - Cornejo, Pablo AU - Aguilera , Paula AU - Alvarado, Soraya AU - Espinosa, José PY - 2020/12/18 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - EARLY CHANGES IN THE TRANSITION FROM CONVENTIONAL TO NO-TILLAGE IN A VOLCANIC SOIL CULTIVATED WITH BEANS (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) JF - Chilean Journal of Agricultural & Animal Sciences JA - chileanjaas VL - 36 IS - 3 SE - DO - UR - https://revistas.udec.cl/index.php/chjaas/article/view/2980 SP - 181-189 AB - <p>Conventional tillage (CT) is a soil management system commonly used by small farmers in<br>the Ecuadorian highlands; they remove the soil during seedbed preparation to eliminate weeds,<br>improve soil aeration, avoid compaction, and develop adequate rooting space. CT causes changes<br>in physical, chemical, and biological soil properties but, in the long run, have negative effects on<br>crop performance. Most of these effects can be avoided by using no-tillage (NT). The objective of<br>this study was to determine the initial effects of NT, different fertilization rates and depth levels of<br>sampling on yield and soil chemical and physical properties after the first crop cycle (prior to crop<br>rotation scheme). A long-term field experiment was established to study the soil changes derived<br>from the transition from CT to NT systems in a volcanic soil of the Ecuadorian highlands cultivated<br>with the following crop rotation schemes: beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)-corn (Zea mays L.)-beans and<br>beans-amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus L.)-beans. The results for the first crop cycle show that bean<br>yield was 42% higher under NT compared to CT, indicating that the soil improvements promoted by<br>NT had effects on crop yield; however, only the changes in pH and water storage capacity presented<br>significant differences, levels of soil organic matter, total N, available P, and bulk density showed a<br>trend towards improvements under NT. This suggests that NT allows for increased crop yield and<br>improved crop rotation performance in the medium and long term.</p> ER -