Soil & Water Res., X:X | DOI: 10.17221/56/2025-SWR

Rainfall induced changes in soil moisture: A comparative study of conventional and strip tillageOriginal Paper

Vojtěch Štros1, David Kincl ORCID...1, David Kabelka2, Jan Vopravil1
1 Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation, Prague-Zbraslav, Czech Republic; Department of Land Use and Improvement, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation, Prague-Zbraslav, Czech Republic; Faculty of Agriculture and Technology, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

Strip tillage is a very popular form of conservation tillage that is used in places with a higher risk of soil erosion. It is commonly accepted that strip tillage reduces the effects of water erosion; however, the exact way this effect is produced is very hard to quantify. This study focuses on the way strip tillage influences soil moisture and the way it changes with different intensities of rainfall, in comparison with conventional tillage. This study was conducted near Petrovice, Středočeský kraj, Czechia, over the course of four years (2021–2024). The conditions of all four test sites were comparable, both in terms of slope and soil type present. The soil moisture of strip tillage in a depth of 15 cm was changing differently in comparison with conventional tillage. During lower intensity rainfall events, the soil moisture of the strip tilled plot changed significantly less in comparison with conventional tillage. On the contrary, when more intense precipitation occurred, the soil moisture in the strip-tilled plot responded with significantly higher changes in comparison with conventional tillage. Soil drying after precipitation was also studied, with the speed of drying of strip tillage being higher than that of conventional tillage. These findings help better understand the changes strip tillage introduces into the soil and to the crops it is used with.

Keywords: conservation technologies; maize; soil conservation; soil water content; TMS sensor

Received: May 5, 2025; Revised: June 23, 2025; Accepted: June 23, 2025; Prepublished online: July 4, 2025 

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