Investigating the effect of conservation agriculture methods on soil moisture retention and bean yield

Optimal physical conditions are important for proper germination and improve growth and more crop yeild. In order to investigate the effect of conservation tillage methods on soil moisture retention capacity and yield of white dry bean (Dorsa variety), in rotation with barley, an experiment was carried out at the Markazi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and education Center during 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. The experiment was carried out in randomized block design with 3 replications. Treatments were included: 1- the conventional tillage method (the use of moldboard plow – Disc), 2-Reduced tillage with chisel-packer, 3-No-tillage. The percentage of crop residues in the conventional tillage, reduced tillage and no tillage methods were 20, 50 and 90%, respectively. The results showed that the highest and the lowest yield was obtained in the reduced and no-tillage with 2869 and 2076 Kg/ha, respectively. The highest soil moisture conservation was observed in the no-tillage and reduced tillage. So that the amount of soil moisture moisture in the reduced tillage and no tillage on the fourth day after irrigation, were 1 and 1.8 percent higher than the conventional method, respectively. The results showed that the use of the reduced tillage method compared to the conventional method in drip irrigation method without reducing crop yield leads to more soil moisture retention and thus helps to improve water efficiency in bean production. In general, based on the results, due to the low soil organic matter in the region, using reduced tillage method is a suitable option to conserve soil and water resources and increase water productivity in the bean production.