Traffic and tillage effects on runoff and soil loss on the Loess Plateau of northern China

Content:Controlled traffic zero and minimum tillage management with residue cover has been proposed as a solution toerosion and other soil degradation challenges to the sustainability of dryland farming on the Loess Plateau of China. Thiswas assessed between 1998 and 2007 in afield experiment involving a conventional tillage treatment, and 2 controlled traffic treatments, no tillage and shallow tillage, with full straw cover in both cases. This paper reports the soil physicalproperties after 9 years of dryland wheat production under these treatments, and the substantial improvements seen in soilsunder controlled traffic. Compared with conventional tillage, controlled traffic significantly reduced soil bulk density in the0–0.15m soil layer, and increased total porosity in the 0–0.60m soil layer, where macroporosity (>60mm) andmesoporosity (0.2–60mm) increased at the expense of microporosity (<0.2mm). Readily available water content andsaturated hydraulic conductivity were greater in controlled traffic treatments. Controlled traffic farming appears to be animprovement on current farming systems on the Loess Plateau, and valuable for the sustainable development agriculture inthis region