Short-Term Effects of Tillage Systems, Fertilization, and Cropping Patterns on Soil Chemical Properties and Maize Yields in a Loamy Sand Soil in Southern Mozambique

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Materials and methods need to be improved. Please explain more about the intercropping system, sowing rate, row distance, Irrigation, pesticides or ... Did you inoculate the seeds before planting? Any other treatments on seeds?

Why did you take the soil samples just from 0 to 5 cm?

You need to present the initial soil properties data for the reference.

Results should be presented widely. Authors just ignored the interactions.

Units in Table 2 should be separated.

Table 2, if the effects are not significant, remove the letters.

Please explain why after application of fertilizers, still there is no difference between two treatments in terms of N and K.

Interactions are interpreted poorly, please improve them. They are most important results in your study.

Line 627-629, very vague sentence! Please revise it.

Conclusion is written poorly. Please be more specific and don’t repeat the results.

Author Response

See attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Authors,

in my opinion, the presented manuscript is disorganized and not fully thought through by you.

- In what years did the study take place? Once you state that 2016-2018 (then I understand we have a 3-year period), the second time 2017-2018. I think that making meaningful conclusions based on a two-year study in agriculture is not fully possible. it takes 3 different growing seasons to fully answer the research problem posed. 

In my opinion, part of the discussion contains significant elements of the results-type part. I suggest moving the research results to the results section, and focusing the discussion solely on comparing the results of your own research with other authors.

Please paste a map with the location of the research.

 

 

Author Response

See attached file.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx