Smash ridge tillage strongly influence soil functionality, physiology and rice yield

Jing Zhang; Faqiao Li; Peizuo Liao; Aziz Khan; Izhar Hussain; Anas Iqbal; Izhar Ali; Benhui Wei; Ligeng Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.11.054

Smash ridge tillage strongly influence soil functionality, physiology and rice yield

Saudi J Biol Sci. 2021 Feb;28(2):1297-1307. doi: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2020.11.054. Epub 2020 Nov 24.

Authors

Jing Zhang¹, Faqiao Li¹, Peizuo Liao¹, Aziz Khan¹, Izhar Hussain², Anas Iqbal¹, Izhar Ali¹, Benhui Wei³, Ligeng Jiang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation and Farming System College of Agriculture, Guangxi University, Nanning, China.
² Rice Research Institute, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong, China.
³ Commercial Crop Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, China.

Abstract

The practice of smash-ridging on dry land crop cultivation has shown much promise. However, the mechanism how does soil functionality and root traits can affect rice yield under smash ridge tillage with reduced nitrogen fertilization have not yet been explored. To fill this knowledge gap, we used three tillage methods-smash-ridging 40 cm (S40), smash-ridging 20 cm (S20), and traditional turn-over plowing 20 cm (T)-and two rice varieties (hybrid rice and conventional rice) and measured soil quality, root traits, rice yield and their correlation analysis at different growth stages. Soil physical and chemical properties were significantly improved by smash-ridging, including improvements in root morphological and physiological traits during three growth stages compared with T. S40 had the highest leaf area index (LAI), plant height (PH), and biomass accumulation (BA). Increment in biomass and panicle number (PN) resulted in higher grain yield (GY) of 6.9-9.4% compared with T. Correlation analysis revealed that root total absorption area (RTAA), root active absorption area (RAA), and root area ratio (RAR) were strongly correlated with soil quality. Root injury flow (RIF) and root biomass accumulation (RBA) were strongly correlated with LAI and above-ground plant biomass accumulation (AGBA). Conclusively, S40 is a promising option for improving soil quality, root traits, and consequently GY.

Keywords: AGBA, ground plant biomass accumulation; AK, available potassium; AN, available nitrogen; AP, available phosphorus; BA, biomass accumulation; BD, bulk density; GY, grain yield; Grain yield; LAI, leaf area index; NA, nitrogen accumulation nitrogen; NDP, dry matter productivity; NGP, nitrogen grain productivity; NHI, nitrogen harvest index; NTE, nitrogen transport efficiency; P, porosity; PD, particle density; PH, plant height; PN, panicle number; RAA, root active absorption area; RAA, roots active absorption area; RAR, root area ratio; RAR, roots area ratio; RBA, root biomass accumulation; RIF, Root injury flow; RSA, roots surface area; RTAA, root total absorption area; RTAA, roots total absorption area; RV, roots volume; RVL, maximum roots length per volume; Rice (Oryza sativa); Roots traits; Rα-NO, roots α-naphthylamine oxidation; S20, smash-ridging 20 cm; S40, smash-ridging 40 cm; SOC, soil organic carbon; Smash-ridging tillage; Soil quality; T, traditional turn-over plowing 20 cm.