EFFECTS OF CONVENTIONAL TILLAGE ON BIOCHEMICAL-PROPERTIES OF SOILS

Modification of soil environment by different farming practices can si gnificantly affect crop growth. Tillage causes soil disturbance, alter ing the vertical distribution of soil organic matter and plant nutrien t supplies in the soil surface, and it may affect the enzyme activity and microbial biomass which are responsible for transformation and cyc ling of organic matter and plant nutrients. In this study, the influen ce of three conventional tillage systems (shallow plowing, deep plowin g and scarification) at different depths on the distribution and activ ity of enzymes, microbial biomass and nucleic acids in a cropped soil was investigated. Analysis of variance for depth and tillage showed th e influence of the different tillage practices on the activity of some enzymes and on the nucleic acids. Glucosidase, galactosidase, nitrate reductase and de hydrogenase activity were significantly affected by the three tillage modalities. Activity in the upper layer (0-20 cm) wa s higher in the plots tilled by shallow plowing and scarification than in those tilled by deep plowing. Positive relationships were observed between the soil enzymes themselves, with the exception of urease and pyrophosphatase activity. Moreover, significant correlations were fou nd between DNA and beta-galactosidase, and between RNA and beta-glucos idase, beta-galactosidase, alkaline phosphatase and phosphodiesterase. alpha-Glucosidase, beta-galactosidase, alkaline phosphatase and phosp hodiesterase were highly correlated with biomass C determined by the f umigation-extraction method.