Ploughing/zero‐tillage rotation regulates soil physicochemical properties and improves productivity of erodible soil in a residue return farming system

Abstract In residue return farming, ploughing and zero‐tillage (syn. no‐till or minimal tillage) rotation may regulate soil physicochemical properties and help reduce erosion and improve productivity; however, the soil physicochemical properties and soil productivity response to ploughing and zero‐tillage rotation remain unclear. This present study evaluates the effects of ploughing and zero‐tillage rotation on soil physicochemical properties and crop productivity based on an 11‐year experiment (2007–2018) on a typical erodible area of the Loess Plateau. Three tillage methods were included: ploughing and zero‐tillage rotation with 1‐year ploughing tillage and 1‐year zero tillage (PZT), ploughing tillage with moldboard plough (PT), and zero tillage (ZT); crop residue was returned in all treatments. After 11 years' we tested, the PZT method showed significantly lower soil water storage in key maize growth stages, less soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N) storage (0–10 cm), and poorer soil structure stability (0–10 cm) when compared with ZT. However, PZT showed significantly higher SOC and N storage (4.5%, 6.5% and 16.3%, 8.6%, respectively) in the 10–20 cm and 20–40 cm soil layers, compared with ZT. In addition, when compared with ZT and PT, PZT significantly decreased soil penetration resistance in 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–40 cm soil depths and significantly increased yield of maize by 10.9 and 7.8%, respectively, and of wheat by 11.2 and 9.8%, respectively. This study highlights that combining ploughing and zero tillage with return of crop residue changed soil physicochemical properties and can provide an effective method to improve soil productivity in an erodible field.