dr roper

In this instalment of the Ground Cover matchmaker series highlighting advances made through grower-researcher collaboration, we look at how zero-till systems have been used to combat water repellence in sandy soils.. "Generally speaking, if you've got a sandy soil with a lot of organic matter in it, it will be quite highly repellent," says Dr Roper, who by then had been researching microbial degradation of waxes to improve water infiltration for a decade. ".. You would expect that the burnt-cultivated soil would have taken up much more water because it was less repellent, but when we measured water in the field the zero-till unburnt treatment had more water in the soil - and the least water was in the cultivated-burnt," Dr Roper says. "..

In this instalment of the Ground Cover matchmaker series highlighting advances made through grower-researcher collaboration, we look at how zero-till systems have been used to combat water repellence in sandy soils.. "Generally speaking, if you've got a sandy soil with a lot of organic matter in it, it will be quite highly repellent," says Dr Roper, who by then had been researching microbial degradation of waxes to improve water infiltration for a decade. ".. You would expect that the burnt-cultivated soil would have taken up much more water because it was less repellent, but when we measured water in the field the zero-till unburnt treatment had more water in the soil - and the least water was in the cultivated-burnt," Dr Roper says. "..

Photo of blue dye seeping into soil.. Dr Roper says the trials indicate that the yield gains zero-tillage and stubble retention provid in canola, barley and wheat result from improved water infiltration in the soil... "In our experiments, crops were seeded with discs on the previous year's inter-row, which resulted in no disturbance of remnant root systems from the previous year," Dr Roper says, adding that using this approach with knife points is also unlikely to disturb remnant root systems...