The Effect of Tillage Methods on Energy Consumption and Grain Yield of Irrigated Wheat in Arak Province

Application of minimum and no- tillage operation not only increase soil organic mater and soil fertility, but also decreases the production cost and energy consumption in wheat production. In order to evaluate the effect of tillage methods on amount of input and output energy as well energy indices and grain yield in wheat-corn rotation, a randomize complete block designe experiment (RCBD) with three replications comprising of four tratments was conducted during 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 at Research Farm of Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Training Center of Markazi Province. Treatments were: Moldboard plow and disk as prevailing tillage method, Minimum tillage by chisel plow, Minimum tillage by combined plow and No-tillage. During course of investigation fuel consumption, consumed energy for all inputs, output energy as well as energy indices were measured. Results showed that the effect of tillage methods was not significant on yield (p<0.05). Fuel consumption in first, second, thirs and fourth treatments were 80.46, 31.46, 33 and 14/5 L/ha respectively. The highest and the lowest energy pruductivity was that of no-tillage and conventional metod with 0.075 and 0.062 Mega joule per kilogram of crop harvested. Energy consumption in conventional, chisel plow, Combined Plow and No-tillage treatments were 57670, 50849, 50949 and 47609 Mj respectively. Considering the energy indices, best treatment, was related to no-tillage method.