| Researcher(s) | N/A |
|---|---|
| Contact email | charlie.aves@irrigatedcroppingcouncil.com.au |
| Contact phone | +61416400979 |
| Year(s) | 2020 |
| Contributor | Irrigated Cropping Council |
| Trial location(s) |
Corowa, NSW
|
To investigate the impact of deep ripping and soil amelioration on sodic subsoils
At this stage, the risk of poor establishment in the crop, in this case maize, after the sub-soil manuring is a major barrier to farmers adopting this practice. Farmers require more certainty on how to implement the practice change to ensure no negative impact on the first crop following the amelioration. More information is required about the benefits in subsequent years.
It would be beneficial to have a soil specialist advising on the soils that would benefit from amelioration, as well as the timing and implementation of the practice. In this focus paddock, the low lying nature of the site has made it prone to waterlogging, so drainage may need to be addressed as well.
Measurements were taken mid tillering (24/07/2020) and mid flowering (22/10/2020). The germination of the site was affected by waterlogging and treatments 1 and 2 had 50% of the plot lying under water and insufficient plants to be worthwhile counting. The control and treatment 5 also had poor germination on the northern end of the plots.
Head counts at mid flowering (22/10/2020) showed that the waterlogging also affected crop tillering and caused plant death, with head numbers per metre squared lower than plant counts (Table 1). The wheat heads were also stunted, about 50% of the size of a normal wheat head.
After consultation with the farmer and agronomist, it was decided that the very poor head counts indicated that the waterlogging had affected germination to the extent that the numbers would not show any difference between treatments. It was decided that it would not be worth while taking any more measurements from the site in 2020.
There was poor plant establishment in and adjacent to the rip lines in the three ripped treatments (treatments 2, 3 and 5). In these areas, due to the rough nature of the ripped soil, the plant population was about one quarter of the optimum number. Plant counts taken by the farmer showed that outside the rip lines, plant numbers were adequate at around 90,000 plants/ha. The site was hand harvested on 28 April 2020. From each treatment 4 rows were selected that had even plant establishment. Note: the results of this work do not take into account the negative yield effect of poor establishment. For each row, a 13m length was measured and the cob was removed from every fifth maize plant: the total area sampled was 10m2 (based on a row width of 0.769m). All samples were weighed and one representative sample from each treatment was taken. Total kernal number was estimated by counting the number of kernals along the length of the cob and multiplying that number by the number of kernels around the circumference of the cob. The grain yield of each sample was estimated by multiplying the total kernel number by average kernel weight (taken from a representative 1000 grain weight sample). The grain estimates, on average were 87% of the total cob weight. The 87% grain weight conversion was applied to all samples to calculate average grain weight per treatment. Grain moisture was measured at 19.4% and as such, all yield measurements were converted to the industry standard of 14%.
The two sub-soil with poultry treatments (treatment 3 and 5) yielding 16t/ha and 17t/ha respectively, higher yielding then the control (13.3t/ha), deep rip only (14.6t/ha), poultry manure surface (13.5t/ha) and gypsum surface (13.7t/ha). Note: these results are based on sub-samples from the treatment that were not affected by poor germination and do not reflect the overall yield from the treatments. Yield measurements from the farm header showed little difference between treatments (yielding approximately 13t/ha), suggesting that the benefit of higher yields in the sub-soil manuring treatments, were lost by the poor establishment of the maize around the rip lines.
| Lead research organisation |
Irrigated Cropping Council |
|---|---|
| Host research organisation |
Riverine Plains |
| Trial funding source | GRDC ICF1906-002RTX |
| Related program | N/A |
| Acknowledgments |
Riverine Plains & the ICC would like to acknowledge the following local support for this project. Soil samples were analysed by Ehsan Tavakkoli, NSW DPI. IK Caldwell staff assisted with providing treatments, site selection and paddock monitoring. The subsoil amelioration work was done using a machine that had been used for demonstrations by Murray Local Land Services thanks to funding from Catchment Action NSW. John Fowler (Murray LLS) and Don Griffin (NSW DPI) assisted with the demonstration. The Dye family provided equipment, soil ameliorants, land labour and implemented the soil amelioration treatments. |
| Other trial partners | Murray LLS, NSW DPI, IK Caldwell |
| Crop types | Cereal (Grain): Wheat Cereal (Grain): Maize |
|---|---|
| Treatment type(s) |
|
| Trial type | Demonstration |
| Trial design | Unreplicated |
| Sow date | 12 June 2020 |
|---|---|
| Harvest date | Not specified |
| Plot size | Not specified |
| Plot replication | Not specified |
| Soil amelioration |
Continued monitoring of treatments applied in 2019 prior to Maize establishment |
| Sow date | 6 November 2019 |
|---|---|
| Harvest date | 28 April 2020 |
| Plot size | Not specified |
| Plot replication | Not specified |
| Soil amelioration |
The subsoil amelioration work was done on the 15 October 2019 using a purpose-built machine. Treatment 1: Poultry Manure 20t/ha surface applied, treatment 2 Dip rip only, treatment 3 Sub soil poultry manure 20t/ha, t reatment 4: gypsum surface applied (5t/ha), treatment 5 Subsoil mixture of poultry manure (15t/ha) and gypsum (3t/ha). |
SILO weather estimates sourced from https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/
Jeffrey, S.J., Carter, J.O., Moodie, K.B. and Beswick, A.R. (2001). Using spatial interpolation to construct a comprehensive archive of Australian climate data , Environmental Modelling and Software, Vol 16/4, pp 309-330. DOI: 10.1016/S1364-8152(01)00008-1.
| Event | Date | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Poor establishment maize established poorly in ripped treatments |
30-11-2019 | Uneven establishment | 50% |
|
Waterlogging The germination of the site was affected by waterlogging and treatments 1 and 2 had 50% of the plot lying under water and insufficient plants to be worthwhile counting. The control and treatment 5 also had poor germination on the northern end of the plots. |
22-10-2020 | Waterlogging | N/A |
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