Movement of the soil particles during tillage operation is the
result of the application of force by the tillage tools. The soil
crushed due to the action of the applied force, and soil particles
move in various directions. The extent of unnecessary soil
movement by tillage tools during tillage practices will affect the
rate of soil erosion. Moreover, there is a lack of experimental data
concerning soil movement with currently used tillage tools and
particularly the effect of repeated tillage over decades of time
(Sharifat and Kushwaha, 1997). Under this study, a factorial
experiment (2x3x3x3) with random design was used. The tool
operating parameters were share shape, plowing speed and
constant level of share depth. On the other hand, the soil
parameters were soil moisture content and soil compaction. Soil
movement was determined using the tracer method introduced by
Turkelboom et al. (1996). Results of statistical analysis showed
that there are highly significant differences were obtained for the
soil movements in three directions with all factors and with the
interaction between factors at P 0.01. It could be concluded that
the use of shovel share instead of sweep share for the same job
will reduce soil movement and consequently reduce the rate of
soil erosion. |
