• Gusti Ayu Mas Sri Agung
• I Wayan Diara
• Ni Made Trigunasih

In this experiment the soil fertility and maize yields under conventional and two conservation (1 and 2) systems were evaluated in dry farming area in Bali Province of Indonesia in May 2021. A split-plot design was arranged with the location as the main plot and the system (conventional and conservation) as the sub-plot, with four replications. In conventional system, intensive tillage, application of urea fertilizers was involved, but neither embedding plant residues nor rice straw mulches were used. In conservation 1 system, no tillage-no rice straw mulches were done but legume cover crop residues (Pueraria javanica) were embedded into the soil. In conservation 2, no tillage-but rice straw mulches were applied and legume cover crop residues were embedded into the soil. The legumes were planted between holes of maize and the base of the stems were cut a week before planting maize. The rice straw mulches were applied on the soil surface and maize of variety BISI 18 was used. Results indicated that conservation system could improve soil fertility of dryland farming through increasing the soil organic-C, available-P and K and microbe respiration at the two locations compared to the conventional one. The conservation system gave maize yields of 6.27 tones clean cobs/hectares harvested at 75 days after sowing although it was still 38.58% lower than that resulted from the conventional one.

Conservation tillage, legume cover crops, maize yields, dryland farming

"Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Fertility and Increases Maize Yields in Dryland Farming ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 1, page no.g400-g406, January-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2401648.pdf

"Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Fertility and Increases Maize Yields in Dryland Farming ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 1, page no. ppg400-g406, January-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2401648.pdf