Tillage Methods to Determine Soil Infiltration Rates: A Case Study in Uyo, Nigeria
Ime Etim
Department of Agricultural and Food engineering University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
I.I. Ahuchaogu
Department of Agricultural and Food engineering University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
A. I. Etuk
Department of Agricultural and Food engineering University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Keywords: Tillage, Soil, Infiltration, Pulverize, Bulk density.
Abstract
This study evaluated the effect of tillage methods on the infiltration rate of a sandy loam soil in Uyo. Nigeria. Tillage treatments adopted include zero –tillage, crude tillage, plough alone and plough harrow tillage. The result of the study revealed that the basic infiltration rates under zero crude, plough and plough harrow tillage in a sandy loam soil in Uyo were 18mm/hr, 20mm/hr, 21mm/hr and 24mm/hr respectively. Soil moisture content was averaged at 8.32% with a mean deviation of 0.372.The bulk density of the soil ranges from 0.611kg/m3 to 0.613kg/m3. The mean percentages of Sand, Silt and Clay from the analyzed Soil Sample were 74.43%, 13.64% and 16.69% respectively. A 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the significance difference between the average infiltration rates under the different tillage treatments. The result showed that there is a significant effect of tillage method on soil infiltration rate and soil infiltration rate under different tillage treatment followed the order plough + harrow > Plough alone > Crude tillage > Zero tillage. The study recommends that farmers in Uyo should endeavour to till their farm before planting at least with crude tillage implement as it will help to pulverize the soil surface and make it easier for irrigation and root penetration as well as root development.