Estimating biomass production and carbon sequestration of poplar-based agroforestry systems in India

Author(s):  
S. B. Chavan ◽  
R. S. Dhillon ◽  
Ajit ◽  
R. H. Rizvi ◽  
Chhavi Sirohi ◽  
...  
Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 233
Author(s):  
Alberto Mantino ◽  
Cristiano Tozzini ◽  
Enrico Bonari ◽  
Marcello Mele ◽  
Giorgio Ragaglini

Cropping among trees with perennial legumes is one option for increasing agro-ecosystem services, such as improving the nitrogen supply and increasing soil protection by herbaceous vegetation. Moreover, cropping under the canopy of olive trees should diversify the farm production, compared to the traditional fallow management. Among perennial legumes, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) produces abundant biomass under Mediterranean rainfed condition. Based on this, a two-year field experiment was implemented in southern Tuscany in a rainfed olive orchard to test the competition for light effects on alfalfa biomass production and nutritive value. Light availability under the tree canopy was measured by hemispherical photos. In both years, the alfalfa yield of under-canopy varied according to the tree presence. A significant relationship between biomass production and light availability was recorded. The nutritive value of under-canopy alfalfa was similar to that of the open-grown alfalfa. However, same significant differences did however occur, between shaded and sole crop. When differences were found, under-canopy herbage was characterised by a higher content of crude protein and a lower content of fibre with respect to open-grown. In a hilly silvoarable olive orchard, alfalfa biomass accumulation was reduced mainly due to scarce light availability, therefore tree management such as pruning and plantation layout can enhance the herbage productivity. Studying shade tolerant forage legumes in order to enhance the yield and nutritive value of herbage production in rainfed agroforestry systems is essential.


2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (5) ◽  
pp. 1781-1792
Author(s):  
Danielle Celentano ◽  
Guillaume Xavier Rousseau ◽  
Larissa Santos Paixão ◽  
Francisneide Lourenço ◽  
Ernesto Gómez Cardozo ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
alessia perego ◽  
marco acutis ◽  
calogero schillaci

<p>Conservative Agriculture (CA) practices are recognized to enhance soil organic carbon stock and in turn to mitigate the effect of climate change. One of the CA principles is to integrate cover crops (CC) into the cropping systems. The termination of CC before the cash crop sowing and the weeds control are the most critical aspects to manage in the CA. The technique currently adopted by farmers for the termination of CC implies the use of Glyphosate. However, the European Commission is currently discussing the possibility of banning the use of this herbicide due to the negative effects on human health and the agro-environment. The disk harrow (DH) or the roller-crimper (RC) can be adopted in CA as an alternative to the use of Glyphosate for the devitalization of CC, their incorporation into the soil (in the case of the disk harrow), and the reduction of weed pressure on the subsequent cash crop.</p><p>From November 2017 to October 2019, soil organic carbon (SOC, g kg<sup>-1</sup>) and crop biomass production were observed in a 2-year field experiment located in Lodi (northern Italy), in which minimum tillage (MT) has been applied for the last 5 years. The soil was loamy and SOC was 16.2 g kg<sup>-1</sup> at the beginning of the experiment. The winter CC was barley (from November to May) and the cash crop was soybean (from June to October). The experiment consisted in three treatments replied for two consecutive years in a randomized block design: Glyphosate spray + DH + sowing + hoeing (MT-GLY); DH + sowing + hoeing (MT-ORG); RC + sod seeding (NT-ORG).</p><p>At the end of 2019, SOC resulted in a higher increase in MT-GLY (+15%) and in MT-ORG (+14%) than in NT-ORG (+6%; p<0.01). This was due to the fact that CC litter in NT-ORG was not in direct contact with soil particles and the process of immobilization was lower than in the other treatments.</p><p>Moreover, the increase in SOC resulted positively correlated to the CC biomass (2018+2019), which was significantly lower in NT-ORG. In particular, no differences of soybean and CC between the three treatments were observed at the end of 2018, but MT-GLY resulted in significantly higher CC and soybean biomass at the end of the second year (+32%, p<0.01). MT-GLY allows to stock more carbon via photosynthesis that in turn results in higher SOC content.</p><p>However, if we consider the tractor fuel consumption (for Glyphosate spray, DH, RC, hoeing), along with the biomass production, the carbon sequestration did not vary between the three treatments.</p><p>Further studies are needed for the definition of optimized field management practices to reduce the passage of machinery while increasing crop production and SOC.</p>


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