A study was conducted to determine the effect of tillage, namely, no-tillage (NT), slashing (SH), ploughing (PHO), ploughing plus harrowing (PHA), ploughing plus harrowing plus bedding (PHB), on soil physical properties, growth and shoot yield of large-green leafy amaranth (
Amaranth
sp.). Soil moisture retention and infiltration rates were also measured in two cropping seasons. Soil moisture retention did not reflect any significant differences in the first and second season at 0-10 cm depth. However, at 10-20 cm depth, PHA treatment gave the highest values at all the suction points (P<0.5) (56.6, 56.5, 54.8, 53.3, 52.4, 51.4 and 50.3%) except at 15,000 cm. Infiltration rate was highest in PHB (5.79 cm hr
-1) during the first season, while SH recorded the highest mean value in the second season (3.22 cm hr
-1). Leaf area and stem girth performed significantly (P<.05) better under PHO (76.0 cm
2) and PHB treatments (5.7 cm), respectively. In the first season harvest, PHO was better than other treatments (1.33 t ha
-1), while in the second season, PHB was superior to other treatments and was closely followed by PHO. However, in view of energy input, fuel consumption profile, costs outlay and soil nutrient dynamics, PHO is preferred as optimum tillage method for the cultivation of amaranths sp.