TABLE 3.

Soil aggregation parameters and indices as affected by conservation agriculture in different soil layers after 10 years of adoption

Treatment	Aggregation parameter/index
	MacA	MicA	WSA	AR	MWD	GMD	FD
	%				(mm)
0–7.5‐cm soil layer
TA	58.0 c	27.3 a	85.2 b	2.13 c	0.77 d	0.80 c	3.20 a
pCA1	67.2 ab	18.8 b	86.0 ab	3.59 ab	1.29 c	0.96 b	3.18 a
fCA	73.4 a	18.8 b	92.2 a	3.91 a	1.68 a	1.05 a	3.20 a
pCA2	65.9 b	20.2 b	86.1 ab	3.27 b	1.45 b	0.99 b	3.18 a
7.5–15‐cm soil layer
TA	63.5 a	25.3 a	88.8 a	2.53 b	0.73 c	0.76 c	3.21 a
pCA1	67.2 a	21.0 ab	88.2 a	3.22 ab	1.11 ab	0.91 a	3.20 ab
fCA	71.2 a	18.3 b	89.5 a	3.93 a	1.25 a	0.94 a	3.20 ab
pCA2	69.5 a	20.3 ab	89.8 a	3.45 ab	0.95 b	0.85 b	3.19 b
15–30‐cm soil layer
TA	62.0 a	25.5 a	87.4 a	2.44 a	0.95 a	0.86 a	3.21 a
pCA1	69.5 a	24.4 a	93.9 a	2.86 a	0.93 a	0.83 a	3.21 a
fCA	71.5 a	20.1 a	91.6 a	3.67 a	0.92 a	0.85 a	3.20 a
pCA2	62.7 a	25.0 a	87.7 a	2.53 a	0.84 a	0.81 a	3.18 a
30–45‐cm soil layer
TA	65.2 a	20.3 a	85.5 a	3.26 a	0.79 a	0.83 a	3.19 a
pCA1	69.4 a	22.3 a	91.7 a	3.24 a	0.88 a	0.83 a	3.20 a
fCA	65.2 a	21.7 a	86.9 a	3.16 a	0.88 a	0.86 a	3.19 a
pCA2	63.5 a	20.5 a	84.0 a	3.13 a	0.82 a	0.84 a	3.19 a
45–60‐cm soil layer
TA	61.3 a	23.2 a	84.5 a	2.71 a	0.80 a	0.83 a	3.19 a
pCA1	62.4 a	25.3 a	87.7 a	2.48 a	0.85 a	0.81 a	3.18 a
fCA	66.5 a	21.9 a	88.4 a	3.08 a	0.89 a	0.84 a	3.19 a
pCA2	66.2 a	23.6 a	89.7 a	2.86 a	0.81 a	0.81 a	3.20 a

Note: Means with at least one common small letter are not statistically significant using Tukey's honest significant difference (HSD) at p < 0.05.

Abbreviations: AR, aggregate ratio; fCA, full conservation agriculture; FD, fractal dimension; GMD, geometric mean diameter of aggregate; MacA, macroaggregate; MicA, microaggregate; MWD, mean weight diameter of aggregate; pCA1, partial conservation agriculture 1; pCA2, partial conservation agriculture 2; TA: traditional agriculture; WSA: water stable aggregate.