P. Pathak et al. / Agricultural Sciences 2 (2011) 435-442
Copyright © 2011 SciRes. Openly accessible at http://www.scirp.org/journal/AS/
442
tillage operations on SAT Vertisols under both dry and
wet soil conditions. The timely tillage is one of the ma-
jor constraints for improved management of Vertisols
particularly during the rainy season. The implications of
traditional with no crops during rainy season (or mon-
soon fallow) are serious both in terms of the overall crop
productivity and with regard to soil degradation through
high runoff and soil loss.
Significantly higher porosity and air-filled porosity
recorded under the improved management system indi-
cate the effectiveness of this system in improving the
waterlogging problem in SAT Vertisols. The favorable
changes in soil physical, hydrological properties and
cracking pattern under improved management system
must have contributed in increasing and sustaining the
crop productivity, which recorded about 5 times higher
compared to traditional management system.
5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper is based on the long-term experiments at Heritage water-
sheds ICRISAT Center, Patancheru, India, financial support provided
by S. M. Sehgal Foundation for Heritage watersheds is gratefully ac-
knowledged. We acknowledge the help and contribution of all the
scientists and staff who have been associated with these experiments.
The authors are highly thankful to Dr. Peter Craufurd for his comments
and suggestions in improving the manuscript.
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