Abstract:
Tillage operation is the mechanical manipulation of soil to develop a desirable
soil structure for a seed bed and to establish specific surface configuration for planting,
irrigation, drainage, harvesting operations etc. Knowledge of variability of soil physical
properties with tillage can assist in defining the best strategies for soil management and crop
production. This leads to an increasing interest in the effect of different tillage treatments on
soil hydraulic properties such as moisture content, bulk density, porosity, hydraulic
conductivity and infiltration rate. Treatments include No Tillage (NT), Primary Tillage (PT),
Secondary Tillage (ST) and Mulch after Tillage (MT). Moisture content of the mulched soil
is comparatively higher than that of the other treatments. Increased tillage intensity
decrease soil bulk density while increases the porosity. The porosity increase is in the
order NT<PT<ST≈MT. The average infiltration rate of the soil also changes with the
treatments in the order NT<PT<MT≈ST
