Radioactive cesium concentration in silage corn (Zea Mays L.) and Italian Ryegrass (Lolium Multiflorum Lam.) cultivated with three different tillage methods after the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant accident

Abstract

Whole-crop silage corn and Italian ryegrass were cultivated during summer and winter in fields contaminated by radionuclide fallout caused by the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant accident, with three different tillage treatments: shallow tillage treatment (tilled with a rotary tiller to a depth of about 10 cm), conventional tillage treatment (plowed with a normal moldboard plow to a depth of about 20 cm and harrowed with a rotary tiller to a depth of about 15 cm), and deep tillage treatment ( plowed with a moldboard plow to a depth of about 35 cm and harrowed with a rotary tiller to a depth of about 15 cm). Vertical distribution of radioactive cesium (Cs) in the soil layers of 0 cm-10 cm, 10 cm-20 cm, and 20 cm-30 cm, and concentrations of radioactive Cs in forage samples were compared among the tillage treatments, as well as the soil chemical properties of those soil layers.