Long-term effects of balanced fertilization on grass forage yield, quality and nutrient uptake, soil organic C and N, and some soil quality characteristics

2009 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Malhi ◽  
M. Nyborg ◽  
Y. K. Soon
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Quality Characteristics ◽  
Forage Yield ◽  
Soil Organic C ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Yield Quality ◽  
C And N

Management of sugarcane harvest residues: consequences for soil carbon and nitrogen

Soil Research ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona A. Robertson ◽  
Peter J. Thorburn
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Microbial Activity ◽  
Soil N ◽  
Soil Organic C ◽  
Total N ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
C And N

The Australian sugar industry is moving away from the practice of burning the crop before harvest to a system of green cane trash blanketing (GCTB). Since the residues that would have been lost in the fire are returned to the soil, nutrients and organic matter may be accumulating under trash blanketing. There is a need to know if this is the case, to better manage fertiliser inputs and maintain soil fertility. The objective of this work was to determine whether conversion from a burning to a GCTB trash management system is likely to affect soil fertility in terms of C and N. Indicators of short- and long-term soil C and N cycling were measured in 5 field experiments in contrasting climatic conditions. The effects of GCTB varied among experiments. Experiments that had been running for 1–2 years (Harwood) showed no significant trash management effects. In experiments that had been running for 3–6 years (Mackay and Tully), soil organic C and total N were up to 21% greater under trash blanketing than under burning, to 0.10 or 0.25 m depth (most of this effect being in the top 50 mm). Soil microbial activity (CO2 production) and soil microbial biomass also increased under GCTB, presumably as a consequence of the improved C availability. Most of the trash C was respired by the microbial biomass and lost from the system as CO2. The stimulation of microbial activity in these relatively short-term GCTB systems was not accompanied by increased net mineralisation of soil N, probably because of the greatly increased net immobilisation of N. It was calculated that, with standard fertiliser applications, the entire trash blanket could be decomposed without compromising the supply of N to the crop. Calculations of possible long-term effects of converting from a burnt to a GCTB production system suggested that, at the sites studied, soil organic C could increase by 8–15%, total soil N could increase by 9–24%, and inorganic soil N could increase by 37 kg/ha.year, and that it would take 20–30 years for the soils to approach this new equilibrium. The results suggest that fertiliser N application should not be reduced in the first 6 years after adoption of GCTB, but small reductions may be possible in the longer term (>15 years).

Long-term effects of tillage, stubble, and nitrogen management on properties of a red-brown earth

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 923 ◽  
Author(s):  
NA Fettell ◽  
HS Gill
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Organic C ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Total N ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Stubble Retention ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Direct Drilling ◽  
N Management

Differences in soil organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N), and pH resulting from 14 and 15 years of different tillage, stubble, and fertiliser N management practices were measured for a red-brown earth at Condobolin in western New South Wales. The 5 main treatments comprised stubble burning or retention in factorial combination with cultivation and direct drilling, and stubble incorporation combined with cultivation. Two rates of N fertiliser (0 and 40 or 50 kg/ha) were applied annually, and wheat was grown each year. There were no significant differences between tillage and stubble treatments for soil organic C, total N, or pH. Fertiliser N application caused small but significant increases in organic C and total N but decreased the pH of the surface 2.5 cm of soil by 0.4-0.5 units compared with the nil fertiliser rate. The study indicates that direct drilling and stubble retention with continuous wheat have had little long-term effect on soil organic C and total N in this low rainfall environment.

scholarly journals Long-term tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality, organic carbon, and total nitrogen

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura L. Van Eerd ◽  
Katelyn A. Congreves ◽  
Adam Hayes ◽  
Anne Verhallen ◽  
David C. Hooker
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Total Nitrogen ◽  
Total N ◽  
Organic C ◽  
C And N ◽  
Production Practices

Van Eerd, L. L., Congreves, K. A., Hayes, A., Verhallen, A. and Hooker, D. C. 2014. Long-term tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality, organic carbon, and total nitrogen. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 303–315. Long-term studies allow for quantification of the effects of crop production practices, such as tillage and crop rotation, on soil quality and soil C and N stores. In two experiments at Ridgetown, ON, we evaluated the long-term (11 and 15 yr) effect of tillage system and crop rotation on soil quality via the Cornell Soil Health Assessment (CSHA) at 0–15 cm and soil organic C (SOC) and total N at 5-, 10-, and 20-cm increments to 120 cm depth. The CSHA soil quality score and SOC and total N were higher with no-till (NT) than fall moldboard plough with spring cultivation (conventional tillage, CT) and rotations with winter wheat [soybean–winter wheat (S-W) and soybean–winter wheat–corn (S-W-C)] compared with rotations without winter wheat. In both long-term trials, NT had ca. 21 Mg ha−1more or 14% higher SOC than CT in the 0- to 100-cm soil profile, a trend which contrasts previous research in eastern Canada. Thus, the two long-term trial results at Ridgetown suggest that to improve soil quality and storage of C and N, growers on clay loam soil in southwestern Ontario should consider adopting NT production practices and including winter wheat in the rotation.

scholarly journals Effect of cotton residues incorporation on soil properties, organic nitrogen fractions, and nitrogen-mineralizing enzyme activity under long-term continuous cotton cropping

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11053
Author(s):  
Fangxia Ma ◽  
Yiyun Wang ◽  
Peng Yan ◽  
Fei Wei ◽  
Zhiping Duan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Organic Nitrogen ◽  
Organic N ◽  
Cotton Field ◽  
Continuous Cropping ◽  
Soil Organic C ◽  
Organic C ◽  
C And N

The objective of this experiment was to study the effect of cotton residues incorporation on soil properties, soil organic nitrogen (N) fractions, and N-mineralizing enzyme (protease, and urease) activity in the 0–40 cm soil layer in the long-term continuous cotton field. In this experiment, seven treatments, including cotton residues incorporation for 5, 10, 15 and 20 years (marked as 5a, 10a, 15a, and 20a) and continuous cropping for 5, 10 and 20 years (marked as CK5, CK10 and CK20) were conducted. The results showed that the soil organic carbon (C) and N increased gradually with the increase in the duration of continuous cropping with cotton residues incorporation. Compared with CK20, the 20a treatments reduced the content of amino acid N (AAN), ammonium N (AN), amino sugar N (ASN), hydrolysable unidentified N (HUN), and acid insoluble N (AIN) significantly by 48.6, 32.2, 96.9, 48.3, and 38.7%, respectively (p < 0.05). The activity of protease and urease in 20a treatments significantly increased by 53.4 and 53.1% respectively as compared to CK20 (p < 0.05). Soil organic C and N-mineralizing enzyme activity decreased with the increase in cropping duration in the absence of cotton residues incorporation, while the organic N increased slightly. In conclusion, cotton residues returning can increase the storage of soil organic C and N in long-term continuous cropping cotton field, and improve the soil quality and soil fertility of continuous cropping cotton field.

Short-term and long-term effects of tillage and crop rotation on soil physical properties, organic C and N in a Black Chernozem in northeastern Saskatchewan

2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
S S Malhi ◽  
A P Moulin ◽  
A M Johnston ◽  
H R Kutcher
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Light Fraction ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Fine Aggregates ◽  
C And N

A field experiment was conducted for 8 yr (from 1994 to 2001) in a Black Chernozem (Udic Haploboroll) high in organic C (5.5%) at Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada, to assess the environmental impact of tillage and crop rotation. Short-term effects on residue cover, soil temperature, moisture, aggregation, bulk density and hydraulic conductivity were measured, and long-term effects on total organic C (TOC) and N (TON), and light fraction organic C (LFOC) and N (LFON) were determined. There were two tillage systems [no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT)] and three 4-yr annual crop rotations (canola-wheat-barley-barley,canola-barley-pea-wheat,and canola-pea-flax-barley). Straw was returned to soil every year in all treatments with the exception of flax residue. Soil samples were taken for analysis of organic C and N after the harvest of canola at the end of second 4-yr rotation cycle. Residue cover on soil was higher under NT than CT. Soil temperature was lower and soil moisture was higher in spring, under NT than CT. The proportion of fine aggregates (< 1.3 mm) in soil was lower and that of medium (2.0–12.7 mm) and large aggregates (> 12.7 mm) was generally higher under NT compared with CT. The mean weight diameter (MWD) of aggregates was also larger under NT compared with CT in most cases. The proportion of fine aggregates was higher after canola compared with pea in some cases, but the proportion of medium and large aggregates was higher after pea compared with canola, and in rotations with 50% than 75% broadleaf crops in 2yr. Soil hydraulic conductivity and bulk density were lower under NT than CT in some instances. Compared with CT, NT had greater mass of TOC, TON, LFOC and LFON in soil. However, the differences were significant only for LFOC and LFON, in dicating that light fraction organic C and N was more responsive to NT than CT compared with total organic C and N. In conclusion, the findings suggest that there is no interaction between tillage and rotation, and that light fraction C and N accumulate when tillage is eliminated despite high levels of soil organic C in the soil. Key words: Aggregation, bulk density, crop rotation, hydraulic conductivity, organic C and N, moisture, residue cover soil, temperature, tillage

Soil organic C and N pools under long-term pasture management in the Southern Piedmont USA

2000 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J Franzluebbers ◽  
J.A Stuedemann ◽  
H.H Schomberg ◽  
S.R Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Soil Organic C ◽  
Pasture Management ◽  
Organic C ◽  
C And N ◽  
C And N Pools

scholarly journals Effects of long-term tillage, terminating no-till and cropping system on organic C and N, and available nutrients in a Gleysolic soil in Québec, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 156 (4) ◽  
pp. 472-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. S. Malhi ◽  
A. Légère ◽  
A. Vanasse ◽  
G. Parent
Keyword(s):  
Cropping System ◽  
Light Fraction ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Soil Organic C ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Available Nutrients ◽  
Nitrate N ◽  
No Till ◽  
C And N

AbstractSome biological and chemical properties of a Gleysol were examined after 24 years of soil tillage (chisel plough – CP, mouldboard plough – MP, no-till – NT) and that of ploughing the 24-yr NT (P-NT) once, in two cropping systems (conventional – CONV, organic – ORG) applied over 4 years (2007–2010) of a long-term experiment (autumn 1987–autumn 2011) at La Pocatière, Québec, Canada. The 0–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm soil depths were sampled in autumn 2011 after a maize trial. Tillage affected light fraction organic carbon (LFOC), light fraction organic nitrogen (LFON) and mineralizable N (Nmin) in soil, with the lowest LFOC, LFON and Nminvalues in the MP treatment. No-till had lower soil pH than the other tillage systems in the 10–20 and 20–30 cm soil depths. Tillage affected the amounts of nitrate-N in 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil depths, with the lowest amounts for MP (4.3 kg nitrate-N/ha) compared with NT (7.2 or 8.5 kg nitrate-N/ha) or CP (7.7 kg nitrate-N/ha). The P-NT had no negative impact on organic C and N, or available nutrients in soil. Cropping system had no effect on soil organic C and N, available nutrients or pH. Findings suggest that long-term NT or CP may result in greater storage of organic C and N in soil and improve available nutrients compared with MP. Ploughing 25-year-old NT plots redistributed available nutrients in the profile but had no negative effect on soil organic C or N.

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