The relation between soil structure and solute transport under raised bed cropping and conventional cultivation in south-western Victoria

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between soil structure and solute transport in a texture contrast soil under 2 different tillage treatments-raised beds and conventional cultivation-in south-western Victoria. Undisturbed soil samples were collected for resin-impregnation and image analysis. This enabled several descriptive parameters of macropore structure to be calculated. Large, undisturbed soil samples were also collected for a solute transport experiment using a KCl solution. A convective log-normal transfer function was used to model Cl- movement. The assessment of soil structure showed that the raised beds contained a better connected pore network than the conventionally cultivated..