Soil management effect on soil properties in traditional and mechanized vineyards under a semiarid Mediterranean environment

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of short-term tillage on soil bulk density (BD), penetration resistance (PR), soil temperature (ST), electrical conductivity (EC), pH and oxygen diffusion rate (ODR) in both the topsoil and subsoil of vineyards in an area with the same soil type in Bozcaada. Mechanized tillage practices consisting of using tractor-driven rotary tiller (TDR) and field cultivator (TDC) were tested against hand driven rotary tiller (HDR) in two vineyards (wired-wide row spacing) for two growing periods. These practices involved mechanical weeding by frequent tilling and cultivating in late winter and early spring, and rotary-tilling in early summer in rainfed vineyard soils. The BD was sampled six times in two years of growing period for each tillage at 20 cm intervals between 0-60 cm in two row positions (between and in-row) while PR, ST and ODR were at the same depths of BD in the second growing period. BD in both TDR and HDR showed similarity in terms of soil depths and row positions in two growing periods, but it is lower in TDC. The highest values of the PR (1.65-2.61 MPa) were found below the depth of tilling (20 cm) regardless of tillage systems. PR was higher under HDR at subsoil in between-row than in in-row compared to TDR and TDC. However, TDC had the lowest PR in both between and in-row, especially at the subsoil, compared to HDR and TDR. The differences in BD and PR with respect to row position and soil depth were more pronounced in both TDR and HDR than in TDC. ODR was higher at topsoil than subsoil in both row positions for three tillage systems, but the highest ODR was in TDC throughout the soil profile.