Smash ridge tillage strongly influence soil functionality, physiology and rice yield

In this study, we aimed to improve rice farmers’ productivity and profitability in rainfed lowlands through appropriate crop and nutrient management by closing the rice yield gap during the dry season in the rainfed lowlands of Indonesia. The Integrated Crop Management package, involving recommended practices (RP) from the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD), were compared to the farmers’ current practices at ten farmer-participatory demonstration plots across ten provinces of Indonesia in 2019. The farmers’ practices (FP) usually involved using old varieties in their remaining land and following their existing fertilizer management methods. The results indicate that improved varieties and nutrient best management practices in rice production, along with water reservoir infrastructure and information access, contribute to increasing the productivity and profitability of rice farming. The mean rice yield increased significantly with RP compared with FP by 1.9 t ha–1 (ranges between 1.476 to 2.344 t ha–1), and net returns increased, after deducting the cost of fertilizers and machinery used for irrigation supplements, by USD 656 ha–1 (ranges between USD 266.1 to 867.9 ha–1) per crop cycle. This represents an exploitable yield gap of 37%. Disaggregated by the wet climate of western Indonesia and eastern Indonesia’s dry climate, the RP increased rice productivity by 1.8 and 2.0 t ha–1, with an additional net return gain per cycle of USD 600 and 712 ha–1, respectively. These results suggest that there is considerable potential to increase the rice production output from lowland rainfed rice systems by increasing cropping intensity and productivity. Here, we lay out the potential for site-specific variety and nutrient management with appropriate crop and supplemental irrigation as an ICM package, reducing the yield gap and increasing farmers’ yield and income during the dry season in Indonesia’s rainfed-prone areas.

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Effects of Ridge Tillage and Straw Mulching on Cultivation the Fresh Faba Beans

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11061054 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1054

Author(s):

Bo Li ◽

Xinyu Chen ◽

Xiaoxu Shi ◽

Jian Liu ◽

Yafeng Wei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rice Straw ◽

Precision Agriculture ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Root Length Density ◽

Root Surface ◽

High Yield ◽

Root Surface Area ◽

Straw Mulching ◽

Faba Beans ◽

Ridge Tillage

Ridge tillage is an effective agronomic practice and a miniature precision agriculture; however, its effects on the growth of faba beans (Vicia faba L.) are poorly understood. This study aimed to determine the effect of ridge tillage and straw mulching on the root growth, nutrient accumulation and yield of faba beans. Field experiments were conducted during 2016 and 2017 cropping seasons and comprised four treatments: ridge tillage without any mulching (RT), flat tillage without any mulch (FT), flat tillage with rice straw mulched on the ridge tillage (FTRSM) and ridge tillage with rice straw mulched on the ridge tillage (RTRSM). The RT and RTRSM increased soil temperature and decreased soil humidity and improved soil total nitrogen, total phosphorus, available potassium and organic matter. RT and RTRSM increased the root length density, root surface area, root diameter and root activity of faba beans at flowering and harvest periods. The RT and RTRSM also increased the nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium absorption and the yield of faba beans. These results indicated that ridge tillage and straw mulching affect faba bean growth by improving soil moisture conditions and providing good air permeability and effective soil nutrition supply. This study provides a theoretical basis for the high yield cultivation improvement of faba beans.

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Empirical Analyses on Rice Yield Determinants of Smart Farming in Japan

10.1007/978-981-33-6256-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Rice Yield ◽

Smart Farming ◽

Yield Determinants ◽

Empirical Analyses

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Effect of Digestate and Straw Combined Application on Maintaining Rice Production and Paddy Environment

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18115714 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (11) ◽

pp. 5714

Author(s):

Xue Hu ◽

Hongyi Liu ◽

Chengyu Xu ◽

Xiaomin Huang ◽

Min Jiang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Surface Water ◽

Soil Organic Matter ◽

Paddy Soil ◽

Rice Yield ◽

Soil Surface ◽

Rice Production ◽

Straw Decomposition ◽

Rice Grains ◽

Combined Application

Few studies have focused on the combined application of digestate and straw and its feasibility in rice production. Therefore, we conducted a two-year field experiment, including six treatments: without nutrients and straw (Control), digestate (D), digestate + fertilizer (DF), digestate + straw (DS), digestate + fertilizer + straw (DFS) and conventional fertilizer + straw (CS), to clarify the responses of rice growth and paddy soil nutrients to different straw and fertilizer combinations. Our results showed that digestate and straw combined application (i.e., treatment DFS) increased rice yield by 2.71 t ha−1 compared with the Control, and digestate combined with straw addition could distribute more nitrogen (N) to rice grains. Our results also showed that the straw decomposition rate at 0 cm depth under DS was 5% to 102% higher than that under CS. Activities of catalase, urease, sucrase and phosphatase at maturity under DS were all higher than that under both Control and CS. In addition, soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN) under DS and DFS were 20~26% and 11~12% higher than that under B and DF respectively, suggesting straw addition could benefit paddy soil quality. Moreover, coupling straw and digestate would contribute to decrease the N content in soil surface water. Overall, our results demonstrated that digestate and straw combined application could maintain rice production and have potential positive paddy environmental effects.

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Nutrient and Stoichiometric Characteristics of Aggregates in a Sloping Farmland Area under Different Tillage Practices

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13020890 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 890

Author(s):

Jie Zhang ◽

Yaojun Liu ◽

Taihui Zheng ◽

Xiaomin Zhao ◽

Hongguang Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Size Distribution ◽

Soil Aggregates ◽

Soil Aggregate ◽

Elemental Content ◽

Stoichiometric Ratio ◽

Longitudinal Ridge ◽

Stoichiometric Ratios ◽

Sloping Farmland ◽

Ridge Tillage

Sloping farmland is prevalent in hilly red soil areas of South China. Improper tillage patterns induce decreased soil organic matter, soil aggregate breakdown, and nutrient imbalance, thereby restricting crop production. However, the stoichiometric characteristics could reflect the nutrient availability which was mostly studied on bulk soil. The stoichiometric characteristics of soil aggregates with multiple functions in farmlands has rarely been studied. The study was to reveal the impact of tillage patterns on the size distribution, nutrient levels, and stoichiometric ratios of soil aggregates after 20 years’ cultivation. Soil samples of 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm from five tillage patterns, bare-land control (BL), longitudinal-ridge tillage (LR), conventional tillage + straw mulching (CS), cross-ridge tillage (CR), and longitudinal-ridge tillage + hedgerows (LH) were collected. The elemental content (C, N and P) and soil aggregate size distribution were determined, and the stoichiometric ratios were subsequently calculated. Through our analysis and study, it was found that the nutrient content of >2 mm soil aggregates in all plots was the highest. In the hedgerow plots, >2 mm water-stable soil aggregate content was increased. Therefore, LH plots have the highest content of organic matter and nutrients. After 20 years of cultivation, stoichiometric ratio of each plot showed different changes on soil aggregates at different levels. the C:N, C:P, and N:P ratios are lower than the national average of cultivated land. Among of them, the stoichiometric ratio in the LH plot is closer to the mean and showed better water-stable aggregate enhancement. Therefore, longitudinal-ridge tillage + hedgerows can be recommended as a cultivation measure. This study provides a reference for determining appropriate tillage measures, balancing nutrient ratios, and implementing rational fertilization.

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