Reduced frost damage on crops after strategic deep tillage – evidence from field experiments in Western Australia
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2019
Conference Title
Cells to Satellites
Place of Publication
Wagga Wagga
Keywords
Water repellency, Soil amelioration
Disciplines
Agricultural Science | Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring | Fresh Water Studies | Hydrology | Natural Resources Management and Policy | Organic Chemistry | Plant Biology | Soil Science
Abstract
Proceedings of the 19th Australian Agronomy Conference
Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
25-29 August 2019
The Australian Society of Agronomy Inc.
Soil amelioration for the management of water repellent soils (Betti et al. 2018) can potentially reduce crop damage in frost prone areas as suggested by several anecdotal and research reports (Rebbeck et al. 2007). Subsoil clay addition (by clay delving) has been demonstrated to reduce frost damage in wheat (Rebbeck et al. 2007). Some evidence indicates a possible benefit from soil amelioration with deep tillage (Butcher et al. 2017) but was insufficient to prove a direct link between soil amelioration and a reduction in frost severity and duration. By comparing multiple sites in different seasons, this research demonstrates that amelioration with strategic deep tillage (i.e. rotary spading) can reduce frost severity and duration and presents evidence that this reduced crop damage, can contribute to improved productivity.
Recommended Citation
G. Betti, T. Edwards, B. Biddulph, S. Davies, A. Van Burgel, D. Hall and C. Turner. Reduced frost damage on crops after strategic deep tillage – evidence from field experiments in Western Australia. In: Cells to Satellites. J Pratley Ed. Proceedings of the 19th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference, 25-29 August 2019, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia © 2019. (http://www.agronomyaustraliaproceedings.org/).
