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RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Impact of cotton picker traffic on vertosol soil and yield in individual rows

Mohammed A. M. Al-Shatib A B C , John McL. Bennett https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0591-9396 A D , Guangnan Chen https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8460-9224 A D and Troy A. Jensen A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, Australia.

B Ministry of Agriculture, Baghdad, Iraq.

C University of Baghdad, PO Box 17635, Jadiriya, Baghdad, Iraq.

D Corresponding authors. Email: Guangnan.Chen@usq.edu.au; John.Bennett@usq.edu.au

Crop and Pasture Science 72(7) 514-527 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP20360
Submitted: 20 September 2020  Accepted: 29 April 2021   Published: 29 July 2021

Journal Compilation © CSIRO 2021 Open Access CC BY

Abstract

This study investigated the impact of soil compaction owing to cotton picker traffic, and the impact of this compaction on cotton yield on a row-by-row basis across the field under both random traffic farming (RTF) and controlled traffic farming (CTF) systems. Measurements of soil water content, dry bulk density and soil penetration resistance were taken and compared with a depth of 80 cm both before and after traffic. It was found that the traffic of JD7760 round-bale cotton picker caused significant compaction in cotton rows and furrows located between, adjacent to, and in wheel tracks under both RTF and CTF systems, particularly for the top 30-cm depth. Because of the soil compaction, the yield was more significantly reduced (7~10% by the machine-pick method) in the rows between the dual-wheel than in those adjacent to the wheel track. Adopting CTF reduces the area of soil compaction and ensures the maintenance of soil characteristics of the cultivated portions of the farm, hence enhancing cotton yield.

Keywords: cotton picker, soil compaction, controlled traffic farming, yield.


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