Effect of Crop Residue Management on Soil Physical and Biological Properties, and Forage Corn and Barely Yield

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of crop residues management on soil physical and biological properties. The impacts of residue management on yield of forage corn and barley and soil micro-organisms population were also studied. The results showed that application of crop residues increased soil organic matter (22.2 %), saturated hydraulic conductivity (51.9 %), porosity (3.7 %), mean weight diameter (MWD) of the aggregates (5.4 %), and field capacity (5.8 %) and decreased bulk density (3.7 %) Whereas crop residues burring decreased soil organic matter (31.8 %), saturated hydraulic conductivity (36.6 %), porosity (0.5 %), mean weight diameter (MWD) of the aggregates (5.1 %), and field capacity (4.1 %) and increased soil bulk density (1 %). Soil water characteristic curves showed that the observed differences in soil water retention of application and burning residues treatments were higher at low matric suctions than those at high water matric suction. The results demonstrated that micro-organisms population significantly (P<0.05) decreased in residues burning treatment compared with the residues application treatment. Therefore, based on the results of this study residue's burning is not recommended in Ardabil.