THE EFFECTS DIFFERENT TILLAGE TREATMENTS ON SOIL SURFACE CONDITIONS AND DUST CONCENTRATION IN SEMI-ARID CENTRAL ANATOLIA

The traditional method of agriculture is generally harmful to the environment as it involves procedures such as burning wastes and deep soil tillage for weed control. Tillage results in the release of particulate matter (PM) from soil. Improper soil tillage methods and techniques can increase soil erosion, and ultimately cause degradation of soil. In this study, we measured dust concentration (PM10) generated by alternative soil tillage implementations and examined its relationships with mean weighted diameter, stability index, and surface roughness. Considering alternative soil tillage treatments, mean weighted diameter, shearing stress, stability index, and surface roughness values were found to be in the range of 5.25-11.57 mm, 0.34-0.618 N cm(-2), 2.24-3.80, and 8.2%-29.0%, respectively. Dust concentration generated by different soil tillage treatments were determined to be between 49.19 and 143.45 mg m(-3). The effects of tillage treatments on dust concentration were found to be significant (P < 0.01). A 22.6% increase in soil moisture resulted in 40.8% decrease in dust concentration. The correlation coefficients indicating the relationships of dust concentration with mean weighted diameter, shearing stress, and stability index were calculated as 0.94, 0.81, and 0.94, respectively.