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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Seeding next to previous year’s crop row (near-row sowing) can increase grain yields on water repellent soils

M. M. Roper https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7065-2210 A * , P. R. Ward https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1748-1133 A , G. Betti https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7759-0497 B E , S. L. Davies https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9117-3123 B , N. Wilhelm C , R. Kerr https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0918-9623 A , S. F. Micin A and T. Blacker D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Private Bag No. 5, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia.

B Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, PO Box 110, Geraldton, WA 6531, Australia.

C South Australian Research and Development Institute – Primary Industries and Regions, South Australia, Waite Research Precinct, Hartley Grove, Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia.

D South Australian Research and Development Institute, 119 Verran Terrace, Port Lincoln, SA 5606, Australia.

E Present address: CSIRO Agriculture and Food, PMB No. 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.

* Correspondence to: Margaret.Roper@csiro.au

Handling Editor: Richard Harper

Soil Research 60(4) 360-372 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR21142
Submitted: 27 May 2021  Accepted: 8 November 2021   Published: 6 December 2021

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context: The combination of no-till and stubble retention has been shown to preserve old crop roots, which behave as pathways for water infiltration into water repellent soil, by-passing repellent surface soil layers.

Aim: To evaluate the benefits to soil properties and crop performance of seeding close to the previous season’s crop rows (near-row sowing) compared with inter-row sowing on water repellent soils.

Methods: At four field sites, near Moora, Pingrup and Calingiri in Western Australia and Wanilla in South Australia, measurements were made of: (1) crop performance of near- and inter-row sown crops (Moora and Wanilla); and (2) differences in soil properties between the crop row and inter-row at Wanilla, Calingiri and Pingrup.

Key results: Biomass accumulation (Moora) and grain yields (Moora and Wanilla) were significantly improved by near-row sowing compared with inter-row sowing, particularly under no-till and stubble retention, but these differences were reduced after cultivation, which either buried repellent surface soils or disrupted root pathways. At Calingiri and Pingrup, where near-row sowing had been practised for ≥4 years, and at Wanilla, soil water contents were higher in the crop row than the inter-row by up to 4% v/v, and this was associated with significantly reduced repellency (Calingiri and Pingrup) and larger communities of wax-degrading bacteria (Pingrup).

Conclusions: Near-row sowing may enhance crop production directly through improved water infiltration down root pathways, and indirectly by reduced soil water repellency in the row.

Implications: Near-row sowing is potentially a low-cost management for enhanced crop production on water repellent soils.

Keywords: crop establishment, crop row placement, non-wetting soils, on-row sowing, preferential water infiltration, siliceous sand, soil water repellency, soil water repellence, strategic tillage, wax-degrading bacteria.


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