Soil moisture under no-tillage and tillage systems in maize long-term experiment

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of conventional till (CT) and no-till (NT) cultivation systems in long term experiment with maize on soil water dynamics using continuous soil moisture (SM) measurements in the 2014, 2015, 2016 vegetation seasons. The ability of HERMES model to simulate SM was also evaluated in Polish conditions. The long term experiment with maize is located in the Grabow Experimental Farm of Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute in Masovian Voivodeship – Central Poland (51˚21´18´´N, 21˚40´09´´E). The HERMES model was calibrated by modification of temperature sums in crop parameters file and capacity parameters (field capacity and wilting point) of the experimental site. The results show that NT system has a positive impact on soil water content. However, this improvement is dependent on a year, phenological phase and soil layer. The results showed also that calibrated (until now) model HERMES is able to simulate SM in a wet year. For simulation of SM in a dry year there is still need for future improvement of calibration parameters.