Field Crops Research 119 (2010) 260–268 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Field Crops Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fcr Short-term effects of tillage and residue management following cotton on grain yield and quality of wheat S. Gürsoy a,∗ , A. Sessiz b , S.S. Malhi c a South East Anatolia Agricultural Research Institute, 2110 Diyarbakir, Turkey b Department of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agriculture, Dicle University, 21280 Diyarbakir, Turkey c Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 1240, Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada S0E 1A0 article info Article history: Received 6 April 2010 Received in revised form 21 July 2010 Accepted 21 July 2010 Keywords: Tillage Residue management Wheat Grain quality Yield abstract Grain yield and quality of winter wheat (Triticum durum L.) are affected by several factors, and crop management has a very important role among them. A 3-year (from 2003–04 to 2005–06) field exper- iment under irrigation was carried out at Diyabakir in the South East Anatolia Region of Turkey to evaluate immediate effects of tillage and residue management systems after cotton (Gossypium hirsu- tum L.) on grain yield and quality [thousand grain weight (TGW), test weight (TW), protein content (PC) and mini sedimentation (mini SDS)] of durum wheat, and correlations among these parameters. A split plot design with three replications was used, in which two residue management treatments [collecting and removing cotton stalks from plots (S Rem ), and chopping and leaving of cotton stalks in plots (S Lev )] were main plots, and six tillage and/or wheat planting method combination treat- ments [moldboard plough + cultivator + broadcast seeding + cultivator as conventional tillage-I (CT-I), moldboard plough + cultivator + drill as conventional tillage-II (CT-II), chisel plough + cultivator + drill as vertical tillage (VT), two passes of disk harrow + drill as reduced tillage-I (RT-I), rotary tiller + drill as reduced tillage-II (RT-II), and no-till ridge planting (RP)] were sub-plots. The effect of cotton residue man- agement on grain yield, TW, PC, mini SDS was not significant, but S Rem (51.21 g) gave significantly higher TGW than S Lev (50.63 g). Tillage and/or wheat planting method combination treatments had a significant effect on grain yield, TGW and TW, but did not significantly influence PC and mini SDS. Conventional tillage with broadcast seeding (CT-I) treatment produced the lowest wheat grain yield (5.395 Mg ha -1 ), while there were no significant differences in grain yield among the other five tillage treatments (yields ranged from 5.671 to 5.819 Mg ha -1 ). In spite of supplemental irrigations, the variability of weather con- ditions, particularly the amount and distribution of rainfall during the growing season, had a significant influence on wheat grain yield and quality parameters (TGW, TW, PC, mini SDS). Grain yield had a sig- nificant positive correlation with TGW, but it did not show any relationship with other grain quality parameters. In conclusion, the findings suggest that conventional tillage with broadcast seeding would be less effective in producing grain yield of wheat compared to other five tillage treatments with row planting, while management of the previous cotton stalks may not have any effect on yield and quality of wheat except TGW. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In irrigated areas of the South East Anatolia Region of Turkey, cotton and wheat are the main arable crops. Cotton is usually grown in monoculture agriculture or in rotation with wheat. Cotton har- vesting continues every year by November or December depending upon the weather conditions. Seedbed preparation is relatively hard for planting wheat following cotton because autumn rainfall ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 412 3261340; fax: +90 412 3261324. E-mail address: songulgursoy@hotmail.com (S. Gürsoy). results in wet soil conditions. In the region, wheat planting after cotton harvest is characterized by chopping or collecting stalks after cotton harvest, intensive tillage and broadcasting the wheat seed on leveled soil surface and then incorporating it by means of a shal- low tillage operation. But, this system results in soil degradation and erosion, and in addition the production costs are very high and yield is low (Gemtos et al., 1998; Husnjak et al., 2002; Fahong et al., 2004; Hobbs et al., 2008). Besides, lateness of cotton harvesting leaves very limited time for land preparation for ‘on-time’ planting of wheat. Therefore, it is important to develop tillage and residue management technologies that allow more timely planting, and prevent yield reduction and soil degradation in wheat agriculture following cotton. 0378-4290/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2010.07.016