Author
Endale, Dinku | |
RADCLIFFE, D - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA | |
Steiner, Jean | |
CABRERA, M - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA | |
MCCRACKEN, D - CONSULTANT, BREMAN GA | |
VENCILLE, B - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA | |
LHOR, L - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA | |
Harper, Lowry |
Submitted to: Georgia Water Resources Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings Publication Acceptance Date: 3/20/1999 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Reduced tillage as a production option is drawing increased attention nationwide. It promises to save producers money in the short term and provide long-term benefits for their land and the environment. In three years of research on a Cecil soil of Southern Piedmont near Watkinsville, GA no-till cotton production out-yielded a conventional tillage system by approximately 30 percent. Differences were even larger (almost 50%) between a combination of no-till and poultry litter treatment and that of conventional-tillage-conventional fertilizer. Rye was used as cover crop in all management systems. The Piedmont, despite its abundant precipitation, often suffers short-term droughts with detrimental effect on crop yield. Cotton is a major crop in Georgia but most is grown under conventional tillage and conventional fertilizer. Our research indicates that no-till systems are better users of available moisture and can provide added insurance against crop failure during drought-prone periods. More efficient water use also leads to better yield in normal years. A combination of no-till and poultry litter management system appears an even more efficient user of soil water. Poultry is a multi billion dollar industry in Georgia but with huge waste management problems. Poultry waste can efficiently be used to enhance cotton yield. Technical Abstract: Reduced tillage as a production option is drawing increased attention nationwide. It promises to save producers money in the short term and provide long-term benefits for their land and the environment. In three years of research on a Cecil soil of Southern Piedmont near Watkinsville, GA no-till cotton production out-yielded a conventional tillage system by approximately 30 percent. Differences were even larger (almost 50%) between a combination of no-till and poultry litter treatment and that of conventional-tillage-conventional fertilizer. Rye was used as cover crop in all management systems. The Piedmont, despite its abundant precipitation, often suffers short-term droughts with detrimental effect on crop yield. Cotton is a major crop in Georgia but most is grown under conventional tillage and conventional fertilizer. Our research indicates that no-till systems are better users of available moisture and can provide added insurance against crop failure during drought-prone periods. More efficient water use also leads to better yield in normal years. A combination of no-till and poultry litter management system appears an even more efficient user of soil water. Poultry is a multi billion dollar industry in Georgia but with huge waste management problems. Poultry waste can efficiently be used to enhance cotton yield. |