Conventional and organic cropping systems at Suitia III: Microbial activity in soils

From 1983 to 1988 the microbial activity of soil was measured by determining its nitrification potential, dehydrogenase activity, cellulolytic activity and respiration. The samples were Suitia silty clay soils under various types of conventional and organic cropping systems. The soil microbial activity was the highest in both organic cattle farm plots in the ley phase and conventional cattle farm plots in the ley phase. The difference between these two ley soils was not clear, partly because of the considerable statistical variance, but the microbial activity of organic cattle farm plots in clover leys tended to be higher than in conventionally cultivated grass leys. This favourable effect on dehydrogenase activity was not detected after poor overwintering in organic cattle farm plots in annual clover in 1984 and Persian clover in 1985, but some effect on nitrification was found in 1984. In many cases, soil microbial activity was still increased two to three years after the leys. The soil nitrification activities were often higher in organic plant production plots than in conventional plant production plots, but the dehydrogenase activities and cellulose decompositions of organic plant production plots were similar to those in conventional diverse plant production or barley monoculture plots.

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Effect of organics, biofertilizers and crop residue application on soil microbial activity in rice – wheat and rice-wheat mungbean cropping systems in the Indo-Gangetic plains

Cogent Geoscience ◽

10.1080/23312041.2015.1085296 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 1085296 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Geeta Singh ◽

D. Kumar ◽

Pankaj Sharma ◽

Nir Krakauer

Keyword(s):

Microbial Activity ◽

Crop Residue ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Soil Microbial Activity ◽

Gangetic Plains ◽

Soil Microbial

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Effect of cropping systems and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on soil microbial activity and root nodule nitrogenase

Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences ◽

10.1016/j.jssas.2011.04.003 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 109-120 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mohammad Javad Zarea ◽

Nasrin Karimi ◽

Ebrahim Mohammadi Goltapeh ◽

Amir Ghalavand

Keyword(s):

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽

Microbial Activity ◽

Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽

Root Nodule ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽

Soil Microbial Activity ◽

Soil Microbial

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Influence of soil texture on survival and saprophytic activity of Rhizoctonia solani in soils

Canadian Journal of Microbiology ◽

10.1139/m79-207 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 25 (11) ◽

pp. 1310-1314 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

J. A. Lewis

Keyword(s):

Rhizoctonia Solani ◽

Microbial Activity ◽

Soil Texture ◽

Sandy Loam ◽

Soil Microbial Activity ◽

Silty Clay ◽

Silty Clay Loam ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

High K ◽

Chemical Factors

Survival of Rhizoctonia solani in precolonized tablebeet seed was greater in a light-textured sandy loam (SL 1) than in a heavy-textured silty clay loam (SiCL). Reduction in survival as well as competitive saprophytic activity of the pathogen resulted when clays (kaolinite and montmorillonite) were added to SL to prepare soils of heavier texture. Survival and activity R. solani, however, were not increased when sand was added to SiCL (suppressive to R. solani survival) to make this soil lighter in texture. In natural soils of different textures, activity of R. solani was maintained longer in two light-textured sandy loam soils than in a light-textured loamy sand or loam. During investigation of soil chemical and biological influences on R. solani survival, high K2O content in soil was significantly correlated with low saprophytic activity of the pathogen. In all instances where soil microbial activity as determined by a dehydrogenase assay was high, low saprophytic activity was found. Since high microbial activity or K2O content in soil were not associated with any particular soil type, biological or chemical factors may be more important than soil texture in influencing survival and activity of R. solani in soil.

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Dehydrogenase Activity in a Litter Manipulation Experiment in Temperate Forest Soil

Acta Silvatica et Lignaria Hungarica ◽

10.2478/aslh-2013-0002 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 25-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Zsuzsa Veres ◽

Zsolt Kotroczó ◽

Kornél Magyaros ◽

János Attila Tóth ◽

Béla Tóthmérész

Keyword(s):

Enzyme Activity ◽

Microbial Activity ◽

Dehydrogenase Activity ◽

Enzyme Activities ◽

Soil Microbial Activity ◽

Litter Production ◽

Labile Carbon ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Litter Manipulation ◽

Soil Dehydrogenase Activity

Abstract Soil enzyme activities are “sensors” of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition since they integrate information about microbial status and physico-chemical condition of soils. We measured dehydrogenase enzyme activity in a deciduous temperate oak forest in Hungary under litter manipulation treatments. The Síkfőkút Detritus Input and Removal Treatments (DIRT) Project includes treatments with doubling of leaf litter and woody debris inputs as well as removal of leaf litter and trenching to prevent root inputs. We hypothesized that increased detrital inputs increase labile carbon substrates to soils and would increase enzyme activities particularly that of dehydrogenase, which has been used as an indicator of soil microbial activity. We also hypothesized that enzyme activities would decrease with detritus removal plots and decrease labile carbon inputs to soil. After ten years of treatments, litter removal had a stronger effect on soil dehydrogenase activity than did litter additions. These results showed that in this forest ecosystem the changed litter production affected soil microbial activity: reduced litter production decreased the soil dehydrogenase activity; increased litter production had no significant effect on the enzyme activity.

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Conventional and organic cropping systems at Suitia II: Crop growth and yield

Agricultural and Food Science ◽

10.23986/afsci.72905 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 62 (4) ◽

pp. 309-319 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. Korva ◽

E. Varis

Keyword(s):

Crop Yields ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Plant Production ◽

Growth And Yield ◽

Silty Clay ◽

Cattle Farm ◽

Organic System ◽

Organic Systems ◽

Yield Level

Crop yields between 1982 and 1988 are reported here as a part of a cropping system experiment carried out at Suitia, Southern Finland. The soil was silty clay. There were four conventional and four organic systems: conventional cropping systems for barley monoculture, cereal production, diverse plant production, or a cattle farm, and organic cropping systems either for plant production with or without composting, or for cattle farms with or without composting. The crop sequences were fixed by six-year rotations, carried out in two phases. There were great differences in yields between the years, and the organic cropping systems were more negatively affected by poor growing conditions than the conventional ones. In the organic systems, the barley yields in 1985 and in 1988 were 25 % of the yields obtained from conventional stands, when the latter yielded about 3 t/ha. In better years, barley in the organic plant production yielded 50 % of the yield obtained in conventional barley monoculture (6 t/ha). It was not possible to differentiate between the effects of two different causes the preceeding crop and annual variation. The yields obtained with ’organic’ winter wheat and oats (+ Vicia faba) were 40 % of those from the respective conventional pure stands. The clover-grass leys of the organic systems yielded as much as the conventional grass leys until they were destroyed by water and the resulting ice cover during winter. Compared to those of ‘conventional’ system, the ‘organic’ system gave annual mean yields of potato varying from 37 % of the 16 t/ha obtained conventionally to 48% of the 21 t/ha obtained conventionally. Barley variety was found to interact with cropping system in 1988, a year characterised by draught stress. In 1989, in a separate trial carried out on the same field, an interaction between soil wetness (location) and cropping system was observed. Wetness of soil in winter seemed to interfere more severely in the organic system than in the conventional one. Because the uncontrolled variation of the field itself as to topography and drainage makes the comparisons between the organic and the conventional systems somewhat biased and unreliable, these results should not be generalised to cover the overall question of yield level in organic cropping.

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