Evaluation of tillage systems for energy efficiency in silage corn grown as second crop in Tokat province

For sustainability, it is important to compare soil tillage systems in terms of soil properties, plant characteristics and economics as well as energy use efficiency. The aim of this study was to compare the applicability of soil tillage systems in second crop silage corn cultivation in Tokat province in terms of energy use efficiency and to determine the most suitable soil tillage method. In this study, three different maize varieties (Girona, Borja and Mataro) and five different tillage systems ((Y1) Irrigation + mouldboard plough + disc harrow, (Y2) Mouldboard plough + rotovator, (Y3) Rotovator, (Y4) Chisel + disc harrow and (Y5) Direct sowing) were applied. Energy ratio, specific energy, energy productivity, net energy yield and energy profitability parameters were calculated to determine the energy use efficiency for each variety and soil tillage system. The highest energy ratio value was obtained in Y3 system for all three varieties. The highest specific energy value was obtained in cv. Girona and Y3 system. The energy efficiency was lowest in cv. Mataro (1.41 kg/MJ) and the tillage systems were ranked as Y3>Y1> Y2=Y4>Y5. Energy profitability was lowest (5.47) in cv. Mataro and soil tillage systems were listed as Y3>Y4>Y2>Y1>Y5. The average net energy value was highest in cv. Girona (207 403.14 MJ/ha). The highest net energy value was obtained with Y3 method (254 561.31 MJ/ha), while the lowest value was obtained with Y5 method (175 309.00 MJ/ha) for cv. Girona. The results showed that the most suitable variety for the region in terms of energy efficiency was cv. Girona with the highest silage yield. In addition, it was found that the most suitable tillage method for the region in terms of energy use efficiency was Y3 which uses only rotovator.