EFFECT OF TILLAGE-INDUCED PHYSICAL EDAPHIC PROPERTIES IN RELATION TO CROPS AFTER PUDDLED RICE (ORYZA-SATIVA)

A field experiment was conducted on a sandy soil to study the effect o f tillage methods and irrigated crops on physical properties of soil a fter wet-season puddled rice (Oryza sativa L.) during 1990 and 1991. T he upland crops grown in sequence with rice were blackgram (Phaseolus mungo L.), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.), castor (Ricinus communius L.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), Land preparation with tracto r-drawn mouldboard plough once followed by rotovator twice, and plough ing once with tractor-drawn mouldboard plough + disc harrowing recorde d lower bulk density (1.31,1.33 g/cc), higher porosity, infiltration r ate and hydraulic conductivity (7.3 cm/hr). Groundnut recorded lower b ulk density, higher hydraulic conductivity and infiltration rate compa red with other crops.