Effects of crop and pasture rotations and surface cover on rainfall infiltration on a Kandosol in south-west Queensland

Soil Research ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 203 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Thomas ◽  
D. N. Orange ◽  
A. J. King
Keyword(s):  
Soil Profile ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Rainfall Infiltration ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Rainfall Simulator ◽  
Fallow Period ◽  
Surface Cover ◽  
South West

An experiment was conducted on a Kandosol in south-west Queensland from 2001 to 2005 to determine the effects of fallow management practices and crop and pasture rotations on soil properties and crop production. In April 2004, infiltration measurements were made using a rainfall simulator at the end of a 6-month fallow period following harvest of crop phases (wheat under reduced tillage and zero tillage, chickpea under zero tillage) and following termination of pasture phases (2-year legume and grass + legume leys) with herbicide application and zero tillage during the fallow period. Measurements were made at 3 surface cover levels in each treatment: (i) where crop or pasture dry matter was cut at ground level and removed to approximate 0% cover, (ii) at existing cover percentage, and (iii) where wheat straw was added to give 100% cover. In a separate study to monitor water infiltration, the movement of bromide applied to the soil surface in November 2003 was monitored in the soil profile to 1.5 m soil depth in April 2004 and February 2005. Mean cumulative infiltration after 100 mm rainfall over 1 h was 35, 42, and 69 mm (l.s.d. P = 0.05, 6) with 0%, existing, and 100% cover, respectively, and was greater following wheat (52 mm) than following chickpea (39 mm) under zero tillage (l.s.d. P = 0.05, 13). Short-term pasture leys did not appear to improve infiltration characteristics of the soil under the conditions of this study. In the rainfall simulator study, mean drainage of water below 1.5 m soil depth was 8.5% of applied rainfall. In the bromide tracer study, only ~12% of the applied bromide could be accounted for in the 0–1.5 m soil depth 15 months after application. Rainfall received during this period was similar to the long-term mean amount. Results demonstrate the importance of surface cover in increasing rainfall infiltration on this soil, thereby potentially improving soil water storage for crop and pasture production and reducing the risk of runoff and soil erosion. However, the relatively rapid movement of water and solutes through the soil profile has implications for possible adverse effects of drainage to lower parts of the landscape and for nutrient leaching below the root-zone, decreasing the availability of soil and applied nutrients to crops and pastures.

Patterns of change in soil organic matter, physical properties and crop productivity under tillage practices and cropping systems in Bangladesh

2016 ◽  
Vol 155 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
MD. KHAIRUL ALAM ◽  
N. SALAHIN ◽  
S. ISLAM ◽  
R. A. BEGUM ◽  
M. HASANUZZAMAN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
Tillage Practices

SUMMARYConservation agriculture (CA) is inadequately developed for rice-based cropping systems widely practiced in Bangladesh. The current drawback is the implementation of CA for all crops including rice (Oryza sativaL., ecotype ‘transplanted aman’ [T. aman]) to increase rice–wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) rotation productivity. It is important to identify the best combination of tillage types and cropping systems to achieve a high yield of component crops and improve soil health. Three tillage practices, assigned to main experimental plots [namely, zero tillage (ZT), conventional tillage using a rotary tiller (CT) and deep tillage using a chisel plough (DT)] and three different cropping systems, assigned to sub-plots [namely, WFT: wheat–fallow–T. aman, WMT: wheat–mungbean (Vigna radiataL. Wilczek)–T. aman and WDT: wheat–dhaincha (Sesbania rostrata)–T. aman], were tested. After 4 years, ZT under WDT and WMT significantly increased soil organic matter (SOM) at 0–150 mm depth, and these replicates also held the highest levels of total organic carbon. Soil organic carbon (C) increased at a rate of 1.17 and 1.14 t/ha/y in ZT under WDT and WMT, respectively, while CT and DT under WFT were almost unchanged. After 4 years, SOM build-up by the three-crop system (WDT and WMT) under ZT helped conserve soil moisture and improve other soil properties, such as reduction in soil strength and bulk density and increase plant available water content, thus maintaining an optimum soil water infiltration rate. Zero tillage under WMT and WDT showed significant improvements in root mass density of rice and wheat at increased soil depth. The WDT and WMT plots under DT consistently gave the highest yield followed by WDT and WMT under CT, in contrast with ZT under WMT or WDT, which showed the highest improvement in crop yields over the years. In summary, minimum soil disturbance together with incorporation of a legume/green manure crop into the rice–wheat system as well as the retention of their residues increased soil C status, improved soil properties and maximized grain yields.

scholarly journals Effect of period of sugarcane cultivation on the abundance and distribution of weed seeds in the soil profile

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-513
Author(s):  
R.O. Adereti ◽  
F.O Takim ◽  
Y.A. Abayomi
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Seed Banks ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Fallow Period ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Weed Seeds ◽  
Seed Distribution ◽  
Screen House

An experiment was laid down in a screen house to determine the distribution of weed seeds at different soil depths and periods of cultivation of sugarcane in Ilorin, Nigeria. Soil samples from different depth levels (0-10 cm, 11-20 cm and 21-30 cm) were collected after harvesting of canes from three different land use fields (continuous sugarcane cultivation for > 20 years, continuous sugarcane cultivation for < 10 years after long fallow period and continuous sugarcane cultivation for < 5 years after long fallow period) in November, 2012. One kilogram of the sieved composite soil samples was arranged in the screen house and watered at alternate days. Germinating weed seedlings were identified, counted and then pulled out for the period of 8 months. Land use and soil depth had a highly significant (p £ 0.05) effect on the total number of weeds that emerged from the soil samples. The 010 cm of the soil depth had the highest weed seedlings that emerged. There was an equal weed seed distribution at the 11-20 cm and 21-30 cm depths of the soil. Sugarcane fields which have been continuously cultivated for a long period of time with highly disturbing soil tillage practices tend to have larger seed banks in deeper soil layers (11-20 cm and 21-30 cm) while recently opened fields had significantly larger seed banks at the 0-10 cm soil sampling depth.

Fallow management, soil water, plant-available soil nitrogen and grain sorghum production in south west Queensland

1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Gibson ◽  
BJ Radford ◽  
RGH Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Soil Water ◽  
Nitrate Nitrogen ◽  
Soil Nitrate ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
Fallow Management ◽  
South West ◽  
Primary Tillage ◽  
Grain Nitrogen ◽  
Texture Contrast ◽  
Gypsum Application

The effects of tillage frequency (conventional, reduced and zero), primary tillage implement (disc, blade and chisel plough), stubble management (retention and removal), gypsum application, and paraplowing were examined with respect to soil water storage, soil nitrate accumulation, crop establishment, crop growth, grain yield and grain nitrogen content for 4 successive sorghum crops on a sodic, texture-contrast soil in south west Queensland. Retention of sorghum stubble (v. removal) produced an increase in mean yield of sorghum grain of 393 kg/ha, due to increased soil water extraction and increased water use efficiency by the following crop. The highest mean yield occurred after reduced blade tillage with stubble retained. Zero tillage with stubble removed gave the lowest mean grain yield. Zero tillage always had the lowest quantity of soil nitrate-nitrogen at sowing. In one fallow, increased aggressiveness of primary tillage (disc v. blade plough) increased the quantity of nitrate-nitrogen in the top 60 cm of soil at sowing. These effects on available soil nitrogen did not result in corresponding differences in grain nitrogen content. Results indicate that for optimum fallow management on this texture-contrast soil in south west Queensland, sorghum residues should be retained, tillage frequency should be reduced, but not to zero, blade ploughing should be preferred to discing, and gypsum application should not be practised.

Pasture production under a series of Pinus radiata-pasture agroforestry systems in South-West Victoria, Australia

1995 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1285 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Kellas ◽  
PR Bird ◽  
KN Cumming ◽  
GA Kearney ◽  
AK Ashton
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Radiata ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Tree Line ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
South West ◽  
Tree Edge ◽  
Belt System ◽  
Over Time

Net pasture production has been monitored over time on an on-going Pinus radiata-pasture agroforestry experiment located at Carngham, Victoria. Established in 1983 by thinning a 2-year-old plantation, the study contains five treatments (systems): open pasture (no trees), 60 trees/ha, 200 trees/ha wide-spaced, 200 trees/ha 5-row belt and 1360 trees/ha. Net pasture production was only weakly affected by the proximity of trees in the 60 trees/ha and 200 trees/ha wide-spaced systems. However, in the 200 trees/ha 5-row belt system, pasture production was often significantly less within the tree zone and at 1.5 m from the tree edge compared with production at 10.5 m from the tree edge. While there was a trend for greater pasture production at 10.5 m and 18 m from the tree line than occurred in the open pasture system, the width of pasture adjacent to the 5-row belts was too narrow (36 m) to demonstrate any shelter benefit on pasture production. From 1990 to 1992, pasture production (kg ha-1) for each system was similar, although production tended to decrease with increasing tree stocking. Following the cessation of pruning (1992), pasture production was significantly reduced by increased tree stocking, such that pasture production in the 200 trees/ha wide-spaced and 200 trees/ha 5-row belt systems was 60% and 69% and 23% and 67% of open pasture in 1993 and 1994 respectively.

scholarly journals Variation in Salinity through the Soil Profile in South Coastal Region of Bangladesh

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23
Author(s):  
Mohammad Asadul Haque
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Salt Stress ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Ph Value ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Salt Accumulation ◽  
Top Soil ◽  
Academy Of Sciences

The spatial variability of salt accumulation through the soil profile was studied at Latachapali union of Kalapara upazila, Patuakhali district, Bangladesh. The soil samples were collected from 30 locations covering six villages of the union: Kuakata, Malapara, Fashipara, Khajura, Mothaopara and Tajepara. Five locations were randomly selected from each village. From each location soil samples were collected from three soil depths at 0-2 cm, 2.1-4 cm and 4.1-6 cm. Electrical conductivity of top 0-2 cm soil depth was 20.49 dS/m, in 2.1-4 cm soil depth was 7.14 dS/m and in 4.1-6 cm soil depth 4.15 dS/m. The study soils were strongly acidic having pH value 4.73, 4.99 and 5.20 in 0-2, 2.1-4 and 4.1-6 cm soil depth, respectively. The highest of 8.8 Na:K ratio was found in 0-2 cm soil depth. The Na:K ratio gradually decreased with the increase of soil depth, having 6.59 in 2.1-4 cm and 5.42. in 4.1-6 cm soil depth. The results clearly reveal that the top soil is very much sensitive to salt stress. Based on the electrical conductivity and Na:K ratio the Fashipara, Kuakata and Tajepara village were found seriously affected by salinity.Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 42, No. 1, 11-23, 2018

Paddy Soil Profile Distribution of δ13C Subjected to Rice Straw Amendment and Burning

2019 ◽  
Vol 886 ◽  
pp. 3-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wutthikrai Kulsawat ◽  
Boonsom Porntepkasemsan ◽  
Phatchada Nochit
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Paddy Soil ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
Straw Amendment ◽  
Stubble Burning

Paddy residues are the most generous agricultural biomass from the paddy cultivation, Paddy residues practices include crop residue amendment and in-situ burning. It indicated that residue amendment increased the organic carbon and nutrient contents in soil, However, an open residue burning is still a common practice in Thailand despite of strict law enforcements and proper education to farmers about its implications on soil, human and animal health The present study determined how residues management practices: residue amendment and stubble burning, influence the soil organic carbon by determining δ13C in paddy soil profile. The 30 cm depth soil samples from the naturally straw amendment and stubble burning paddy fields were collected in Chiang Khwan district, Roi-et province during 2017. The δ13C values with soil depth showed that residue management practices produce statistical differences in both soils. The δ13C values of soil samples from amendment and burning sites ranged from-23.19‰ to-17.98‰ and-24.79‰ to-19.28‰, respectively. Carbon isotopes differentiate clearly between amendment site (more positive values) and burning site (more negative values). The results from this study were in accordance with literatures which reported that the δ13C distribution in the soil profile can be applied to study in SOC dynamics as a result of different paddy residue management practices (amendment or burning). Further research is needed to confirm the validity of the stable carbon isotope technique in this type of studies.

scholarly journals Sustaining productivity of a Vertosol at Warra, Queensland, with fertilisers, no-tillage or legumes. 9. Production and nitrogen benefits from mixed grass and legume pastures in rotation with wheat

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 375 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Strong ◽  
R. C. Dalal ◽  
E. J. Weston ◽  
K. J. Lehane ◽  
J. E. Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Depth ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Grain Protein ◽  
Total Rainfall ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Rhodes Grass ◽  
Grain Yields ◽  
N Yield ◽  
Mixed Grass

Reduced supplies of nitrogen (N) in many soils of southern Queensland that were cropped exhaustively with cereals over many decades have been the focus of much research to avoid declines in profitability and sustainability of farming systems. A 45-month period of mixed grass (purple pigeon grass, Setaria incrassata Stapf; Rhodes grass, Chloris gayana Kunth.) and legume (lucerne, Medicago sativa L.; annual medics, M. scutellata L. Mill. and M. truncatula Gaertn.) pasture was one of several options that were compared at a fertility-depleted Vertosol at Warra, southern Queensland, to improve grain yields or increase grain protein concentration of subsequent wheat crops. Objectives of the study were to measure the productivity of a mixed grass and legume pasture grown over 45 months (cut and removed over 36 months) and its effects on yield and protein concentrations of the following wheat crops. Pasture production (DM t/ha) and aboveground plant N yield (kg/ha) for grass, legume (including a small amount of weeds) and total components of pasture responded linearly to total rainfall over the duration of each of 3 pastures sown in 1986, 1987 and 1988. Averaged over the 3 pastures, each 100 mm of rainfall resulted in 0.52 t/ha of grass, 0.44 t/ha of legume and 0.97 t/ha of total pasture DM, there being little variation between the 3 pastures. Aboveground plant N yield of the 3 pastures ranged from 17.2 to 20.5 kg/ha per 100 mm rainfall. Aboveground legume N in response to total rainfall was similar (10.6–13.2 kg/ha per 100 mm rainfall) across the 3 pastures in spite of very different populations of legumes and grasses at establishment. Aboveground grass N yield was 5.2–7.0 kg/ha per 100 mm rainfall. In most wheat crops following pasture, wheat yields were similar to that of unfertilised wheat except in 1990 and 1994, when grain yields were significantly higher but similar to that for continuous wheat fertilised with 75 kg N/ha. In contrast, grain protein concentrations of most wheat crops following pasture responded positively, being substantially higher than unfertilised wheat but similar to that of wheat fertilised with 75 kg N/ha. Grain protein averaged over all years of assay was increased by 25–40% compared with that of unfertilised wheat. Stored water supplies after pasture were <134 mm (<55% of plant available water capacity); for most assay crops water storages were 67–110 mm, an equivalent wet soil depth of only 0.3–0.45 m. Thus, the crop assays of pasture benefits were limited by low water supply to wheat crops. Moreover, the severity of common root rot in wheat crop was not reduced by pasture–wheat rotation.

The relationship between animal foraging and nutrient patchiness in south-west Australian woodland soils

Soil Research ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. Garkaklis ◽  
J. S. Bradley ◽  
R. D. Wooller
Keyword(s):  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Surface Soil ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
European Settlement ◽  
South West ◽  
Bettongia Penicillata ◽  
Australian Continent ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Preferential Water

The woylie (Bettongia penicillata) was once common and abundant over the southern third of the Australian continent. Since European settlement the range of this rat-kangaroo has become reduced by more than 97%, and until the early 1990s, only 3 small natural populations remained, all in south-western Australia. These medium-sized (c. 1 kg) marsupials create a large number of diggings as they forage for the hypogeous fruiting bodies of ectomycorrhizal fungi upon which they feed. The effect of such foraging activity on the availability of plant nutrients in the vicinity of such diggings was evaluated in simulated digging experiments. Available nitrate, ammonium, and sulfur decreased significantly 3 years after diggings were constructed and had filled in, whereas phosphorus, potassium, iron, and organic carbon remained unchanged. The results suggest that preferential water infiltration via woylie diggings leads to a decrease in those soil nutrients that are susceptible to leaching and indicates that digging vertebrates may influence the distribution of surface soil nutrients.

Traffic and tillage effects on wheat production on the Loess Plateau of China: 1. Crop yield and SOM

Soil Research ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 645 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Chen ◽  
Yuhua Bai ◽  
Qingjie Wang ◽  
Fu Chen ◽  
Hongwen Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Soil Profile ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Controlled Traffic

Challenges for dryland farming on the Loess Plateau of China are continuous nutrient loss, low soil organic matter and crop yield, and soil degradation. Controlled traffic, combined with zero or minimum tillage and residue cover, has been proposed to improve soil structure and crop yield. From 1998 to 2006, we conducted a field experiment comparing soil organic matter and wheat productivity between controlled traffic and conventional tillage farming systems. The field experiment was conducted using 2 controlled traffic treatments (zero tillage with residue cover and no compaction, shallow tillage with residue cover and no compaction) and a conventional tillage treatment. Results showed that controlled traffic treatments significantly increased soil organic matter and microbial biomass in the 0–0.30 m soil profile. Controlled traffic with zero tillage significantly increased total N in the 0–0.05 m soil profile. The mean yield over 8 years of controlled traffic treatments was >10% greater than that of conventional tillage. Controlled traffic farming appears to be a solution to the cropping problems faced on the Loess Plateau of China.

scholarly journals Soil Functional Responses to Natural Ecosystem Restoration of a Pine Forest Peucedano-Pinetum after a Fire

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edyta Hewelke ◽  
Ewa Beata Górska ◽  
Dariusz Gozdowski ◽  
Marian Korc ◽  
Izabella Olejniczak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Water Drop ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Internal Transcribed Spacers ◽  
Water Infiltration ◽  
Species Structure ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Soil System

Progressing climate change increases the frequency of droughts and the risk of the occurrence of forest fires with an increasing range and a dramatic course. The availability of water and its movement within an ecosystem is a fundamental control of biological activity and physical properties, influencing many climatic processes, whereas soil water repellency (SWR) is a key phenomenon affecting water infiltration into the soil system. Focusing on wide-spectrum effects of fire on the soil system, the research was conducted on a pine stand (Peucedano-Pinetum W. Mat. (1962) 1973) in Kampinos National Park located in central Poland, affected by severe and weak fires, as well as control plots. The main aim of the study was to examine the regeneration of the ecosystem 28 months after the occurrence of a fire. The effect of SWR and soil moisture content, total organic carbon, nitrogen and pH, and gain an understanding of the environmental conditions and processes that shaped the evolution of the species structure of soil microorganism communities (fungal vs. bacterial) have been examined. The Water Drop Penetration Time (WDPT) test was used to assess spatial variability of SWR in 28 plots. Soil bacterial and fungal communities were analysed by Illumina’MISeq using 16S rRNA and Internal Transcribed Spacers 1 (ITS1) regions in six selected plots. After a relatively wet summer, elevated hydrophobicity occurred in areas affected by a weak fire as much as 20 cm into the soil depth. The severe fire and subsequent increase in the richness of the succession of non-forest species contributed to the elimination of hydrophobicity. SWR was more closely linked to the structure and diversity of soil microbial communities than soil physicochemical properties that took place in response to the fire. A statistically significant relationship between the relative occurrence of microorganisms (≥ 1.0% in at least one of the samples) and SWR was established for the following fungi and bacteria species: Archaeorhizomyces sp., Leotiomycetes sp., Byssonectria fusispora, Russula vesca, Geminibasidium sp., family Isosphaeraceae and Cyanobacteria (class 4C0d-2, order MLE1-12). Insight into the functional roles of the individual identified microbial taxa that may be responsible for the occurrence of hydrophobicity was also presented.

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