The benefits of the no-till system on soil health and crop yields in dryland cropping systems

Linking agricultural management tactics to quantifiable changes in soil health-related properties is a key objective for increasing adoption of the most favorable management practices. We used two long-term, no-till cropping studies to illustrate the variable patterns of response of soil structure indices and microbial activity to additional management tactics, including crop rotational diversity, residue management and cover cropping. We found that observable effects of management tactics on soil properties were often dependent on the current crop phase sampled, even though the treatments were well-established. In some cases, a single additional management tactic produced a response, two tactics each produced a response and sometimes there were interactions between tactics. However, importantly, we never observed a negative effect for any of the response variables when stacking soil health building practices in no-till cropping systems. The collective results from the two field studies illustrate that soil health improvements with stacking management tactics are not always simply additive and are affected by temporal relationships inherent to the treatments. We conclude that the implementation of multiple positive management tactics increases the likelihood that improvements in soil properties can be documented with one or more of the proxy measures for soil health.

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Cover Crop as Living Mulch: Effects on Energy Flows in Mediterranean Organic Cropping Systems

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10050667 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 667

Author(s):

Francesco Montemurro ◽

Alessandro Persiani ◽

Mariangela Diacono

Keyword(s):

Energy Balance ◽

Total Energy ◽

Cover Crop ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Energy Output ◽

Living Mulch ◽

No Till ◽

Energy Inputs

Sustainability of agricultural practices is one of the most important issues in organic agriculture and its assessment is crucial. To this aim, evaluating the balance between the energy inputs and outputs in crop rotations could be a valuable tool. Therefore, we compared different management strategies in a four-year organic cropping system, by estimating the energy balance of crop production. Two different living mulches with no-till (B1) and green manure (B2) were compared with a cropping system without cover crop (B3), performing both energy analysis and energy balance. Energy parameters were also evaluated. The energy input of fertilizers and water was more than 55% of the total energy required by the cropping systems, suggesting that these agronomic practices should be tailored by farmers to decrease total energy inputs. The potential energy output was significantly higher in the B1 than the B2 and B3 cropping systems (20% and 54%, respectively). Results indicated that B1 and B2 could enhance the energy outputs without negatively affecting the energy consumption, since these cropping systems also showed higher energy efficiency. The introduction of the cover crop as living mulch combined with no-till could be a powerful tool to enhance systems sustainability, without compromising the crop yields.

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Single- versus Double-Species Cover Crop Effects on Soil Health and Yield in Mississippi Soybean Fields

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11112334 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 2334

Author(s):

Heather L. Tyler

Keyword(s):

Cover Crops ◽

Cover Crop ◽

Management Practices ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Soil Health ◽

Trifolium Incarnatum ◽

Crimson Clover ◽

No Till ◽

Secale Cereale L ◽

Species Cover

Conservation management practices can improve soil health while minimizing deleterious effects of agriculture on the environment. However, adoption of these practices, particularly cover crops, is not widespread, as they often reduce crop yields compared to traditional management practices. The purpose of the current study was to determine if a two-species cover crop treatment of rye (Secale cereale L.) and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) could increase soil health parameters and maximize soybean (Glycine max L.) yield greater than rye only in tilled and no-till Mississippi field soils. Enhanced microbial biomass and organic matter input from cover crops increased the activities of β-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis, N-acetylglucosaminidase, and phosphatase in surface soils. Rye plus clover tended to elicit higher activities than rye only in no-till plots. Both cover crop treatments inhibited soybean yield in tilled plots by 11–25%. These results indicate that tillage exacerbates yield inhibition by cover crops in soybean and that double-species cover crop treatments were more consistent in increasing activities linked to nutrient cycling. Further study examining different combinations of cover crops in no-till systems is necessary to gain a better understanding of how they can be implemented to enhance soil health while maximizing crop yield.

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Chemical weed control options for zero-tillage spring barley

Canadian Journal of Plant Science ◽

10.4141/cjps96-068 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 383-386 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Nathalie Samson ◽

Anne Légère ◽

Romain Rioux

Keyword(s):

Weed Control ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Conservation Tillage ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Spring Barley ◽

Zero Tillage ◽

No Till ◽

Herbicide Treatments ◽

Control Options ◽

Postemergence Herbicides

The need for yearly applications of non-selective and postemergence herbicides was evaluated in zero-tillage barley cropping systems in eastern Québec. The effects of six glyphosate treatments, fall-applied, at several rates and frequencies, and four postemergence herbicide treatments, on weed populations and crop yields, were measured over 2 yr in a zero-tillage spring barley monoculture. Yearly fall applications of glyphosate at rates at or above 0.5 kg a.i. ha−1 combined with postemergence herbicide treatments controlled most weed groups and provided optimum barley yields. Key words: Zero-tillage, no-till, conservation tillage, weed control, barley

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Advancing Intercropping Research and Practices in Industrialized Agricultural Landscapes

Agriculture ◽

10.3390/agriculture8060080 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 80 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

K. Bybee-Finley ◽

Matthew Ryan

Keyword(s):

Cover Crops ◽

Crop Production ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Soil Health ◽

Red Clover ◽

Agricultural Landscapes ◽

Perennial Grasses ◽

Governmental Organizations ◽

Relay Intercropping

Sustainable intensification calls for agroecological and adaptive management of the agrifood system. Here, we focus on intercropping and how this agroecological practice can be used to increase the sustainability of crop production. Strip, mixed, and relay intercropping can be used to increase crop yields through resource partitioning and facilitation. In addition to achieving greater productivity, diversifying cropping systems through the use of strategic intercrops can increase yield stability, reduce pests, and improve soil health. Several intercropping systems are already implemented in industrialized agricultural landscapes, including mixed intercropping with perennial grasses and legumes as forage and relay intercropping with winter wheat and red clover. Because intercropping can provide numerous benefits, researchers should be clear about their objectives and use appropriate methods so as to not draw spurious conclusions when studying intercrops. In order to advance the practice, experiments that test the effects of intercropping should use standardized methodology, and researchers should report a set of common criteria to facilitate cross-study comparisons. Intercropping with two or more crops appears to be less common with annuals than perennials, which is likely due to differences in the mechanisms responsible for complementarity. One area where intercropping with annuals in industrialized agricultural landscapes has advanced is with cover crops, where private, public, and governmental organizations have harmonized efforts to increase the adoption of cover crop mixtures.

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Belowground Dynamics Influence Nitrogen Cycling and Crop Productivity in Diversified Corn Systems

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ◽

10.3389/fsufs.2021.705577 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Tvisha Martin ◽

Christine D. Sprunger

Keyword(s):

Nutrient Management ◽

Fine Root ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Soil Health ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Organic N ◽

Root Production ◽

No Till ◽

Perennial Legumes ◽

Soil Protein

Ecological nutrient management is a strategy that can help create resilient cropping systems and reduce the negative impact that agricultural systems have on the environment. Ecological nutrient management enhances plant-soil-microbial interactions and optimizes crop production while providing key ecosystem services. Incorporating perennial legumes into crop rotations and implementing no-till to enhance organic nitrogen (N) soil pools could reduce the need for inorganic N fertilizer inputs and lead to improved soil health. Plant and soil N pools need to be further quantified to understand how to enhance soil health across a range of agroecosystems. This paper aims to quantify plant and soil N pools in systems contrasting in crop perenniality (corn–corn, corn–soy, and corn–forage–forage) and tillage intensity (chisel till vs. no-till). Key plant, soil, and organismal metrics of N cycling were measured including fine root production, N-Acetyl-B-Gulcosaminidase (NAG) enzyme activity, and soil protein, nematode enrichment opportunist (fungal and bacterial feeding nematodes) and the nematode Enrichment Index. Fine root production was determined using in-growth mesh cores. Findings reveal that monoculture cropping systems with reduced tillage intensity and rotations with perennial legumes had significantly greater fine root N (FRN), soil protein and NAG enzyme activity (p < 0.05) relative to corn-soy. Additionally, nematode bacterivore enrichment opportunists (b1) were significantly reduced in corn-corn systems when compared to all other crop rotation systems. Correlation analyses indicated positive and significant relationships between FRN and soil protein (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that lengthening crop rotations with perennial legumes and incorporating no-till management can increase organic N inputs, N mineralization rates, and organic N storage. Such ecological approaches to management have the potential to reduce the need for inorganic N inputs, while increasing long-term soil health and crop productivity.

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PHOSPHORUS FRACTIONS AND AVAILABILITY IN A HAPLIC PLINTHOSOL UNDER NO-TILLAGE SYSTEM IN THE BRAZILIAN CERRADO

Ciência e Agrotecnologia ◽

10.1590/s1413-70542015000300002 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 39 (3) ◽

pp. 216-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Leonardo Ricardo Rotta ◽

Helder Barbosa Paulino ◽

Ibanor Anghinoni ◽

Edicarlos Damacena de Souza ◽

Guilherme Lopes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Yields ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

P Availability ◽

No Tillage ◽

No Till ◽

P Accumulation ◽

P Content ◽

Tillage System ◽

Anthropic Influence ◽

Labile P

Soil use and fertilizer management as well as cropping systems influence phosphorus (P) availability in the soil. This study evaluated P fractions and availability in a chronosequence of anthropic influence in a Haplic Plinthosol, in sites under no-till for different time periods: seven (NT7), eleven (NT11), and sixteen (NT16) years. Labile P concentrations in the soil accounted for 10%, 8%, and 9% of the total P for treatments NT7, NT11, and NT16, respectively. The labile P values ranged between 99 and 122 mg dm-3andindicatied no time in no-tillage influence on labile P under in the studied Plinthosol. However, moderately labile P contents increased with time: NT7 < NT11 < NT16 (237, 341, and 375 mg dm-3, respectively). This increased followed the elevation in iron oxide contents, indicating a relationship between mineralogy and P accumulation. Regardless of no-tillage period, P contents extracted by Mehlich-1 were lower, underestimating the available P content, when compared with the extraction using a P selective resin. The stocks of labile P were sufficient to maintain high crop yields, according to the recommendations for the Cerrado region. Even if labile P contents are reduced, when adopting no-till system, the contents and stocks of P in the soil after several years were high enough to provide for adequate crop yields.

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Response of Conservation Agriculture on System Productivity and Carbon Sequestration in Rice-Based Cropping Systems

International Journal of Environment and Climate Change ◽

10.9734/ijecc/2020/v10i1030244 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 24-34

Author(s):

T. Pandiaraj ◽

Sumit Chaturvedi ◽

A. K. Bhardwaj

Keyword(s):

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Soil Health ◽

Resource Conservation ◽

Reduced Tillage ◽

System Productivity ◽

Sequestration Rate ◽

Carbon Sequestration Rate

Low crop yields due to constant monocropping systems and deteriorating soil health in a smallholder farmers’ field of Indo-Gangetic plains of India have led to a quest for sustainable production practices with greater resource use efficiencies. The aim of the study was to elucidate the short term effects of conservation agricultural systems on productivity, soil health and carbon sequestration rate of soils in three different diversified cropping systems. The treatments consisted of two different tillage systems (conventional and reduced tillage), two mulch levels (no and straw mulch) and two levels of fertility (100 and 75% RDF) were compared in three rice-based cropping systems (rice-wheat; rice-vegetable pea-greengram; and rice-potato-maize sequences) for two years on an experimental field (clay loam) located at Norman E Borlaug Crop Research Center, Pantnagar, India. The resource conservation technologies (RCT) i.e. reduced tillage, mulch, and 100% RDF had recorded 2.5 and 3.0% higher system productivity and relative production efficiency in rice-vegetablepea-greengram and rice-potato-maize sequences, respectively in two consecutive years. Conservation tillage had sequestered three times higher carbon than conventional tillage while mulching acted four times higher than non-mulched condition in agricultural soils. Even though cropping system not significant significantly influenced on carbon sequestration, rice-vegetablepea-greengram sequence had recorded higher carbon sequestration rate and higher soil organic carbon stock noted in surface plough sole layer than any other cropping systems. Therefore, our results suggested that Indo-Gangetic farmers should consider adopting resource conservation practices together in indogangetic area because of benefits to soil health, carbon sequestration and system productivity.

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Black Plastic Tarps Advance Organic Reduced Tillage II: Impact on Weeds and Beet Yield

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci14793-19 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 (6) ◽

pp. 826-831

Author(s):

Haley Rylander ◽

Anusuya Rangarajan ◽

Ryan M. Maher ◽

Mark G. Hutton ◽

Nicholas W. Rowley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Yields ◽

Soil Health ◽

Soil Surface ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Reduced Tillage ◽

Vegetable Production ◽

Planting Dates ◽

Weed Biomass ◽

No Till ◽

Organic Vegetable Production

Organic vegetable farmers rely on intensive tillage to control weeds, incorporate amendments and residues, and prepare seedbeds. Intensive tillage, however, can lead to a decrease in long-term soil health. Placing opaque plastic tarps on the soil surface weeks or months before planting can reduce weed pressure and may facilitate organic reduced tillage strategies, but few studies have documented tarp effects on crop productivity. The effect of tarp duration and tillage intensity on weeds and beet crop yields (cultivar Boro) was evaluated at three locations (Freeville, NY; Riverhead, NY; and Monmouth, ME), for two planting dates and over 2 years (2017 and 2018), resulting in a total of 10 experiments. Tarps were applied for three durations before projected planting dates: 1) 10+ weeks (long), 2) 6 to 8 weeks (mid), and 3) 3 to 5 weeks (short), then compared with an untarped control (none). Three levels of tillage intensity were applied after tarp removal: 1) 10 to 20 cm (conventional till), 2) 3 to 8 cm (reduced till), and 3) left undisturbed (no till), to understand interactions between tillage intensity and tarping. Tarp use of three or more weeks lowered weed biomass for several weeks after beet planting and at-harvest across most locations and years, but tarp duration beyond 3 weeks did not result in further reductions. Tarp use lowered at-harvest weed biomass and increased crop yield for reduced- and no-till systems with results similar to conventional-till. Tarping for 3 weeks could improve the viability of reduced- and no-till approaches for organic vegetable production.

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