Long-Term Effects of Mechanized Cultivation on Some Soil Physical Properties in Some Khozestan Sugarcane Agro-Industries

The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term effects of mechanized sugarcan cultivation on some soil physical properties in several lands of Khozestan Sugarcane Agro-Industries. According to this، the experiment was carried out statistically as a randomized complete block design at 38 points in each of Deabal-Khazaei، Amir-Kabir، Karoon and Haft-Tapeh Agro-Industries with 5، 15، 40 and 50 years service. Measured soil variables included soil texture، electrical conductivity، sodium adsorption ratio، organic matter، equivalent calcium carbonate، acidity، bulk density (BD)، resistance of soil penetration (PR) at 16. 82-17. 96 moisture interval at two depths 0-40 and 40-80 cm and mean weight diameter (MWD) at soil surface and 40 cm depth. The results showed that BD and PR increased with numbers of years service and also، MWD increased caused by improvement soil organic matter content. The PR values increased with depth، which achieved to the greatest value at 55 to 80 depth interval. Also، results showned that the significant effect of number of years service on BD، PR and MWD، so that BD، PR and MWD with increasing the number of years service from 5 to 50 years were increased from 1. 57 to 1. 7 gr/cm3، 0. 98 to 1. 16 MPa and 0. 98 to 1. 76 mm at first depth and 1. 58 to 1. 79 gr/cm3 and 1. 29 to 2. 15 MPa at second depth، respectively. Whereas، non-significant change was found in MWD related to increase the number of years service at first depth.