WATER-INTAKE AS INFLUENCED BY TILLAGE IN RAIN-FED AREAS OF PUNJAB (PAKISTAN)

Loss of rainwater through surface runoff and soil erosion is a serious problem related to the rainfed agriculture of Pakistan, mainly as a r esult of the lack of vegetation, topographic differences, and poor soi l structural stability. A field study was conducted to evaluate the ef fect of tillage on water intake in a clay loam soil with low organic m atter content. Three tillage implements-namely, direct drilling, narro w tine cultivator, and moldboard plow in combination with disc harrow- were used for tillage practices. After a few rainfall events following tillage, the cumulative intake and intake rates were significantly lo wer under tillage treatments where cultivator and moldboard plow were used. Furthermore, vegetative cover and soil crust conditions affected water intake significantly more than bulk density of surface and subs urface soil. Actually, vegetative cover reduced the incidence of soil crusting.