Abstract
We examined whether rotary tilling and ridge-making implement, developed to reduce wet injury in soybean, could be adapted to six-rowed barley. The growth and yield of barley in rotary tilling and ridge-making implement plot (ridge-making plot) were compared with those in the broadcasting plot. The seeding rate was 8 gm-2 in the ridge-making plot and 12 gm-2 in the broadcasting plot. In the ridge-making plot the yield was superior to that in the broadcasting plot, and the crop showed a higher percentage of ripening and less reduction in stem number after overwintering. The relative growth rate was higher in the ridge-making plot than in the broadcasting plot from 170 days after seeding, due to maintenance of high the net assimilation rate. The total dry matter weight was heavier in the ridge-making plot than in the broadcasting plot from 200 days after seeding. Furthermore, the distance from the groundwater level to the surface of ridges was on the average 4.8 cm greater in the ridge-making plot than in the broadcasting plot; thus, the upper soil in the ridge-making plot had a large macropore volume after snow, and the soil condition was aerobic during snow melting. These results suggest that the superior growth and yield in the ridge-making plot contributed to reducing wet injury after snow.
