Experimental study on soil erosion by wind under conservation tillage

A field experiment was conducted on farmland in the North Hebei Province to measure the soil loss by wind erosion under different tillage treatments. BSNE sandy samplers were used to collect the soil particles during the soil erosion by wind event. The result showed that the majority of the eroded material moved near the surface. The relationship between the mass of the particles suspended in the air and the height was fitted as a power function. With increasing height, the percent of sand decreased, while the percent of silt and clay increased. Compared to conventional moldboard plough practice (CK), no-tillage with residue cover (NTC), no-tillage with residue cover and harrow (NTCH) and no-tillage without residue cover (NTN), could reduce the soil loss by 73.75%, 75.31% and 14.17%, respectively. Conservation tillage, which features more residue cover and less soil disturbance, could remarkably reduce soil loss; since residue cover was found to be more efficient for soil conservation. Compared with the residue cover, the effect of surface tillage on soil erosion by wind was not so obvious. In addition, conservation tillage could reduce the nutrient loss of the soil.