Soil compaction and cotton growth on a vertisol

Abstract

Differences in growth, yield and root systems of two adjoining cotton crops on a Vertisol near Dalby, Queensland, were explained in terms of soil profile morphology and soil shrinkage indices. The soil beneath the strongly inferior crop had platy structure in the 0.05-0.28 m layer and significantly less air-filled specific pore volume in the 0.2-0.4 m layer. This soil structure degradation was caused by seedbed preparation of wet soil, prior to sowing the cotton crop.