Abstract
Sustainable land management involves preservation of soil properties associated with soil quality and fertility. Conservation or no-tillage farming by retaining crop residues after harvesting can considerably contribute to soil fertility and crop productivity. The objective of this study is to evaluate and compare effects of two agricultural practices, conventional using mouldboard ploughing (CP) and no-tillage (NT), on soil fertility and on root growth of maize. The study is conducted on two adjoined fields on Chernozem in Eastern Austria. Soil samples are taken to assess essential physical and chemical soil parameters. Qualitative and quantitative observations on maize root system are conducted. Rooting patterns and spatial extension of seminal roots are examined on soil profile walls. Soil cores are taken on different positions and split into subsamples. Roots of each subsample are washed out and morphological parameters are measured. Results show differences in soil parameters primarily in the top soil where aggregate stability, bulk density, air-filled porosity, plant-available water, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were higher in NT than in CP. Maize roots in the ploughed field spread widely, while in the no-tillage one the root growth was deeper. Better shoot growth and higher yields are mainly obtained in NT than in CP.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
aggregate stability was higher under no tillage than conventional ploughing in topsoil.
Not reportedTaxonOrgan / stage
Verbatim
e0“Results show differences in soil parameters primarily in the top soil where aggregate stability, bulk density, air-filled porosity, plant-available water, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were higher in NT than in CP.”
Claim · model-written summary
bulk density was higher under no tillage than conventional ploughing in topsoil.
Not reportedTaxonOrgan / stage
Verbatim
e0“Results show differences in soil parameters primarily in the top soil where aggregate stability, bulk density, air-filled porosity, plant-available water, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were higher in NT than in CP.”
Claim · model-written summary
air-filled porosity was higher under no tillage than conventional ploughing in topsoil.
Not reportedTaxonOrgan / stage
Verbatim
e0“Results show differences in soil parameters primarily in the top soil where aggregate stability, bulk density, air-filled porosity, plant-available water, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were higher in NT than in CP.”
Claim · model-written summary
plant-available water was higher under no tillage than conventional ploughing in topsoil.
Not reportedTaxonOrgan / stage
Verbatim
e0“Results show differences in soil parameters primarily in the top soil where aggregate stability, bulk density, air-filled porosity, plant-available water, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were higher in NT than in CP.”
Claim · model-written summary
nitrogen and phosphorus contents was higher under no tillage than conventional ploughing in topsoil.
Not reportedTaxonOrgan / stage
Verbatim
e0“Results show differences in soil parameters primarily in the top soil where aggregate stability, bulk density, air-filled porosity, plant-available water, nitrogen and phosphorus contents were higher in NT than in CP.”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize roots spread widely in the ploughed field.
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Maize roots in the ploughed field spread widely”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize root growth was deeper in the no-tillage field than the ploughed field.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Maize roots in the ploughed field spread widely, while in the no-tillage one the root growth was deeper”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize shoot growth was better under no tillage than conventional ploughing.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Better shoot growth and higher yields are mainly obtained in NT than in CP”
t0“maize”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize yields were higher under no tillage than conventional ploughing.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Better shoot growth and higher yields are mainly obtained in NT than in CP”
t0“maize”
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See all 1,099 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.