Impact of Tillage and Water Management Systems On Grain Sorghum Production.

Water is the most limiting factor for crop production within semi-arid regions of West Texas. Hence, systems which capture precipitation and maximize water use efficiencies will theoretically also maximize nutrient use efficiencies and subsequent grain yields.  The objective of this research is to determine the effect of tillage system and irrigation regime on N uptake, water use efficiency, profile soil moisture, and grain yield.  Three tillage systems (conventional, strip-till, and no-till) and four irrigation regimes (0, 30, 60, and 90% crop ET replacement) were evaluated during 2011 and 2012. Soil moisture was greatest for no-till treatments compared to conventional tillage, indicating that no-till has a greater capability to capture and store precipitation.  However, increased soil moisture did not necessarily lead to increased grain yields, as conventional tillage had consistently greater grain yields compared to no-till.  For each year, irrigating at 60% ET replacement was the optimum irrigation regime.