International Scholarly Research Notices

Research Article

Tillage Effects on Selected Soil Physical Properties in a Maize-Bean Intercropping System in Mwala District, Kenya

Table 5

Effect of tillage practices and cropping systems on soil bulk density, porosity, and saturated hydraulic conductivity ().
 Bulk density (Mg/m3)Porosity (%) (cm/h)
Time/season   
 LR 2012b1.4346.190.65
 SR 2012a1.2751.951.79
 SR 2012b1.3449.321.01
 LR 2013a1.4246.410.27
 SR 2013a1.5541.390.36
 SR 2013b1.3549.150.54
Tillage   
 Hand hoeing only (H)1.4047.260.69
  Hand hoeing with tied ridges (HTR)1.3947.750.98
  Disc ploughing (DP)1.3748.460.71
  Disc ploughing + harrowing (DPH)1.4146.710.77
  Ox-ploughing (OX)1.3947.420.82
 Subsoiling-ripping (SSR)1.4146.940.66
 Mean1.4047.420.77
Cropping system   
 Sole bean1.3847.770.83
 Sole maize0.3947.450.74
 Intercrop 1.4047.090.76
Significance levels   
 Time <0.001<0.001<0.001
 Tillage0.3120.3120.408
 Cropping system0.5020.5020.744
 CV%9.1510.1425.52
Beginning of season; bat harvest.