Contributions of rational soil tillage to compaction stress in main peanut producing areas of China

Abstract Tillage intensities largely affect soil compaction dynamics in agro-ecosystems. However, the contribution of tillage intensities on compaction changes in underground peanut (Arachis hypogaea) fields has not been quantified. We thus aimed to better understand the role of soil tillage intensities in mitigation of compaction stress for peanuts. Using three field tillage experiments in major Chinese peanut producing areas, we quantified the effects of (1) no tillage, (2) shallow (20 cm) plowing, (3) deep (30 cm) plowing and (4) deep (30 cm) loosening on changes in soil bulk density at 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–30 cm depths, roots and pods growth, and nutrient accumulation. Results showed that tillage management effectively mitigated soil compaction stress for peanut growth and production. Greater beneficial improvement for the underground growth of roots and pods, and N accumulation ranked as deep plowing > shallow plowing and deep loosening. Respective increases of 7.5% and 4.6% in root biomass productions and peanut yields were obtained when soil bulk density was decreased by 0.1 g cm−3. Our results suggest that the mitigation of soil compaction stress by deep plowing could be a key tillage strategy for increasing peanut yields in the field.