2.4. Statistical analysis
Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to assess the effects of cropping pattern and rainfall duration on the measured parameters in photographed vertical soil sections perpendicular and parallel to maize lines. The two-way ANOVA was also applied to assess the effects of cropping pattern and rainfall duration on the soil water content in the colored regions. Significant differences between means were detected using the least significant difference (LSD) at P < 0.05. All statistical procedures were performed in SPSS 15.0.