Table 2.

Soil moisture content (%) as affected by tillage, cropping systems, and depth (n = 4 seasons).

	Soil moisture (%)
	LR 2012	SR 2012	LR 2013	SR 2013	Mean
Tillage
Hand hoeing only (H)	14.57	13.74	9.63	15.39	13.33
Hand hoeing with tied ridges (HTR)	15.61	13.80	8.42	15.26	13.27
Disc ploughing (DP)	13.68	13.94	8.82	15.89	13.08
Disc ploughing + harrowing (DPH)	15.09	13.66	8.66	16.18	13.40
Ox-ploughing (OX)	14.55	15.33	9.98	16.55	14.10
Subsoiling-ripping (SSR)	—	14.35	9.96	15.98	13.43
Mean	14.70	14.14	9.25	15.87	13.44
Cropping system
Sole bean	14.74	14.19	9.48	15.94	13.59
Sole maize	14.71	14.21	9.05	15.96	13.48
Intercrop	14.65	14.02	9.20	15.72	13.40
Depth
0–20 cm	13.85	13.09	8.04	15.15	12.53
20–40 cm	15.55	15.18	10.44	16.59	14.44
Significance levels
Time (weeks after planting)	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001
Tillage	0.019	0.158	0.003	<0.001	<0.001
Cropping systems	0.891	0.684	0.547	0.895	0.899
Depth	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	0.003	<0.001

(—): not measured in that season.