Influence of tillage on soil macropore size, shape of top layer and crop development in a sub-humid environment

Biologia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramon Josa ◽  
Gil Gorchs ◽  
Marta Ginovart ◽  
Albert Solé-Benet
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Pore Diameter ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Elongation Ratio ◽  
Dry Land ◽  
Production Values ◽  
Crop Development

AbstractTopsoil macropores of two plots under no-tillage and conventional tillage were analyzed. A leguminous-cereal rotation was applied for six cycles under dry-land farming system (crop residues were removed). The clay-loam soil shows some vertic characteristics. The main goal is to identify the relationship between the top soil macro and meso-pore distribution for the two tillage systems (at the end of sixth cycle of cultivation) with the annual crop production (rainfall in normal growing period and crop production values are included). Unaltered topsoil samples were taken from 0 to 60 mm (row and interrow positions) and from the immediate depth (60 to 110 mm) in both plots (conventional and no-tillage). The morphometric analyses of 66 polished slices were carried out with the aim to identify differences in soil macro and meso-pore organisation.Soil macropores were classified by size (area) and elongation ratio and by form factor and equivalent pore diameter. No appreciable differences were observed. Soil macro and meso-pore distributions of samples were also compared. The main difference observed between topsoil’s treatments was a different macropore size distribution between topsoil positions. The presence of larger macropores was higher in conventional tillage compared to no-tillage. Samples taken from row and deeper positions of conventional tillage show a somewhat higher amount of macropores in the range between 2 to 2.3 mm equivalent pore diameter. Soil macropores contribute to increase soil aeration and soil drying when topsoil is too wet in critical periods of crop development. Conventional tillage (crop residues removed), provides to the topsoil of a larger lateral and vertical variability of macropore distribution than no-tillage topsoil.

scholarly journals Diversification and Management Practices in Selected European Regions. A Data Analysis of Arable Crops Production

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 297
Author(s):  
Rosa Francaviglia ◽  
Jorge Álvaro-Fuentes ◽  
Claudia Di Bene ◽  
Lingtong Gai ◽  
Kristiina Regina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Crop Diversification ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Organic Fertilization

In the European Union, various crop diversification systems such as crop rotation, intercropping and multiple cropping, as well as low-input management practices, have been promoted to sustain crop productivity while maintaining environmental quality and ecosystem services. We conducted a data analysis to identify the benefits of crop associations, alternative agricultural practices and strategies in four selected regions of Europe (Atlantic, Boreal, Mediterranean North and Mediterranean South) in terms of crop production (CP). The dataset was derived from 54 references with a total of 750 comparisons and included site characteristics, crop information (diversification system, crop production, tillage and fertilization management) and soil parameters. We analyzed each effect separately, comparing CP under tillage management (e.g., conventional tillage vs. no tillage), crop diversification (e.g., monoculture vs. rotation), and fertilization management (e.g., mineral fertilization vs. organic fertilization). Compared with conventional tillage (CT), CP was higher by 12% in no tillage (NT), in fine- and medium-textured soils (8–9%) and in arid and semiarid sites located in the Mediterranean Region (24%). Compared to monoculture, diversified cropping systems with longer crop rotations increased CP by 12%, and by 12% in soils with coarse and medium textures. In relation to fertilization, CP was increased with the use of slurry (40%), and when crop residues were incorporated (39%) or mulched (74%). Results showed that conversion to alternative diversified systems through the use of crop rotations, with NT and organic fertilization, results in a better crop performance. However, regional differences related to climate and soil-texture-specific responses should be considered to target local measures to improve soil management.

Comparison of no-tillage and conventional tillage in the development of sustainable farming systems in the semi-arid tropics

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 995 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Thiagalingam ◽  
NP Dalgliesh ◽  
NS Gould ◽  
RL McCown ◽  
AL Cogle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Soil Movement ◽  
Dryland Crops ◽  
Semi Arid

The results of 5 short-term (4-8 years) experiments and farm demonstrations in which no-tillage technology was compared with conventional or reduced tillage in the semi-arid tropics of the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland, during the mid 1980s to mid 1990s, are reviewed. In the Douglas-Daly and Katherine districts of the Northern Territory, dryland crops of maize, sorghum, soybean and mungbean sown using no-tillage with adequate vegetative mulch on the soil surface have produced yields comparable with, or higher than (especially in drier years), those obtained under conventional tillage. The importance of a surface mulch in ameliorating soil temperature, moisture and fertility, and in reducing soil movement and loss in crop production in the semi-arid tropics was confirmed. Management of mulch (pasture, crop residues and weeds) will be crucial in the application of no-tillage technology to the development of mixed dryland crop and livestock enterprises in the semi-arid tropics.

scholarly journals Impact of crop residue management on crop production and soil chemistry after seven years of crop rotation in temperate climate, loamy soils

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Pierre Hiel ◽  
Sophie Barbieux ◽  
Jérôme Pierreux ◽  
Claire Olivier ◽  
Guillaume Lobet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Crop Residue ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
Crop Residue Management ◽  
The Impact

Society is increasingly demanding a more sustainable management of agro-ecosystems in a context of climate change and an ever growing global population. The fate of crop residues is one of the important management aspects under debate, since it represents an unneglectable quantity of organic matter which can be kept in or removed from the agro-ecosystem. The topic of residue management is not new, but the need for global conclusion on the impact of crop residue management on the agro-ecosystem linked to local pedo-climatic conditions has become apparent with an increasing amount of studies showing a diversity of conclusions. This study specifically focusses on temperate climate and loamy soil using a seven-year data set. Between 2008 and 2016, we compared four contrasting residue management strategies differing in the amount of crop residues returned to the soil (incorporation vs. exportation of residues) and in the type of tillage (reduced tillage (10 cm depth) vs. conventional tillage (ploughing at 25 cm depth)) in a field experiment. We assessed the impact of the crop residue management on crop production (three crops—winter wheat, faba bean and maize—cultivated over six cropping seasons), soil organic carbon content, nitrate (${\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) soil content and uptake by the crops. The main differences came primarily from the tillage practice and less from the restitution or removal of residues. All years and crops combined, conventional tillage resulted in a yield advantage of 3.4% as compared to reduced tillage, which can be partly explained by a lower germination rate observed under reduced tillage, especially during drier years. On average, only small differences were observed for total organic carbon (TOC) content of the soil, but reduced tillage resulted in a very clear stratification of TOC and also of P and K content as compared to conventional tillage. We observed no effect of residue management on the ${\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$ content, since the effect of fertilization dominated the effect of residue management. To confirm the results and enhance early tendencies, we believe that the experiment should be followed up in the future to observe whether more consistent changes in the whole agro-ecosystem functioning are present on the long term when managing residues with contrasted strategies.

scholarly journals Effect of tillage system on soil temperature in a rainfed Mediterranean Vertisol

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Muñoz-Romero ◽  
Luis Lopez-Bellido ◽  
Rafael J. Lopez-Bellido
Keyword(s):  
Soil Temperature ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Grain Formation ◽  
Tillage System ◽  
Lower Temperature ◽  
Experimental Treatments ◽  
Sowing Period

Abstract Soil temperature is a factor that influences the rates of physical, chemical, and biological reactions in soils and has a strong influence on plant growth. A field study was conducted during 2006-2007 and 2009-2010 on a typical rainfed Mediterranean Vertisol to determine the effects of the tillage system and the crop on soil temperature. The experimental treatments were the tillage system (no-tillage and conventional tillage) and the crop (wheat and faba bean). Soil temperature was measured at a 20 cm depth at 1 h intervals from December 1st to November 30th of 2006-2007 and 2009-2010. There was a highly significant relationship between air temperature (both maximum and minimum) and soil temperature for the two tillage systems. Soil temperature was similar in the growing season for both crops but was higher in the conventional tillage than in the no-tillage system, with differences between 0.7 and 2.6°C depending on the month of the year. A higher soil temperature with conventional tillage can be beneficial in the cold sowing period (November-December), improving crop establishment. In contrast, in critical periods with water deficits (spring) during which grain formation occurs, the lower temperature corresponding to the no-tillage system would be more favourable.

scholarly journals Water use and onion crop production in no-tillage and conventional cropping systems

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-22
Author(s):  
Waldir Aparecido Marouelli ◽  
Rômulo P Abdalla ◽  
Nuno R Madeira ◽  
Henoque R da Silva ◽  
Aureo S de Oliveira
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Crop Residue ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Water Productivity ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Productivity Index ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Soil Water Tension

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of crop residue covers (0.0; 4.5; 9.0; 13.5 t ha-1 millet dry matter) on water use and production of onion cultivated in no-tillage planting system (NT) as compared to conventional tillage system (CT). The study was carried out at Embrapa Hortaliças, Brazil, under the typical Savanna biome. Irrigations were performed using a sprinkle irrigation system when soil-water tension reached between 25 and 30 kPa. The experimental design was randomized blocks with three replications. Total net water depth applied to NT treatment was 19% smaller than the CT treatment, however, water savings increased to 30% for the first 30 days following seedlings transplant. Crop biomass, bulb size and yield, and rate of rotten bulbs were not significantly affected by treatments. The water productivity index increased linearly with increasing crop residue in NT conditions. Water productivity index of NT treatments with crop residue was on average 30% higher than that in the CT system (8.13 kg m-3).

Being realistic about no-tillage, legume ley farming for the Australian semi-arid tropics

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL McCown
Keyword(s):  
Research And Development ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Summer Rainfall ◽  
Tropical Region ◽  
Field Crop ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Pasture Legumes ◽  
Ley Farming ◽  
Semi Arid

There is a long tradition of expectation that, in time, land use in the better-endowed areas of Australia's semi-arid tropics would intensify from beef production on grassy woodlands to broadacre production of dryland crops. However, successive development attempts have yet to result in a substantial field crop industry. This paper reflects on a recent 20-year research and development episode in which ley farming, so successful in the wheat-sheep zone of southern Australia, was adapted and trialed in the tropical north. The system tested in the tropics was one which featured (i) coarse grain crops in rotation with legume leys and (ii) cattle grazing native pasture in the crop growing season and ley and crop residues in the dry season. It can be concluded that this system is technically successful. But compared with the ley system in southern Australia, the benefits of pasture legumes are less efficiently captured, both in the animal and the crop production enterprises. In addition, in this climate and on these soils, pastures with the high legume composition needed to substantially substitute for nitrogen fertiliser in the crop phase pose a serious threat of soil acidification. In contrast to legume leys, the advantage of no-tillage, mulch farming practices over conventional cultivation is much greater in this semi-arid tropical region than in temperate or Mediterranean areas: by slowing evaporation, mulch is often crucial in reducing high temperature injury or impedance to emerging seedlings as well as reducing the deleterious effects of intensive summer rainfall. But even with this improvement the climatic risks in dryland grain cropping remain a strong deterrent to crop industry development. Today, the findings from past experimentation, accrued farming experience, and new information products combine to provide what seem to be more realistic expectations for agriculture in this region. Even with the 'best' technology, this region suffers comparative disadvantage with respect to dryland field crop production and marketing. However, the region enjoys comparative advantages in the production of several other types of commodities, and a more realistic approach to 'Research and Development' includes a shift of resources toward activities with production and marketing advantages.

scholarly journals Effects of organic fertilizers via quick artificial decomposition on crop growth

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemiao Ma ◽  
Haixiao Li ◽  
Yan Xu ◽  
Cunshou Liu
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Mineral Fertilizer ◽  
Organic Fertilizers ◽  
Organic Matters ◽  
Crop Development ◽  
Biological Wastes

AbstractApplying organic matters into the soil would help to improve soil quality and sustain crop production. In addition, the small molecular organic matters could be active in influencing soil nutrient cycling and crop development. Thus, this study has firstly induced a new technology of quick artificial decomposition to produce fertilizers containing small molecular organic compounds from crop residues and other biological wastes. The fertilizers were produced via the quick artificial decomposition from biological wastes. The small organic species in the fertilizers were identified by the LC–MS. Field experiments of kiwifruit were conducted to test the effects of fertilizers. In total, 341 species of small organic matters have been determined in the produced fertilizers. The results showed that the organic fertilizers could significantly increase the yields of kiwifruit by 15.2% in contrast with mineral fertilizer treatments. Whereas, the organic fertilizers could enhance the contents of nutritive components in kiwifruits. These results proved that the organic fertilizers containing more small organic matter could be more efficient in promoting crop production.

scholarly journals A global dataset for crop production under conventional tillage and no tillage systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Su ◽  
Benoit Gabrielle ◽  
David Makowski
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
High Variability ◽  
Environmental Externalities ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractNo tillage (NT) is often presented as a means to grow crops with positive environmental externalities, such as enhanced carbon sequestration, improved soil quality, reduced soil erosion, and increased biodiversity. However, whether NT systems are as productive as those relying on conventional tillage (CT) is a controversial issue, fraught by a high variability over time and space. Here, we expand existing datasets to include the results of the most recent field experiments, and we produce a global dataset comparing the crop yields obtained under CT and NT systems. In addition to crop yield, our dataset also reports information on crop growing season, management practices, soil characteristics and key climate parameters throughout the experimental year. The final dataset contains 4403 paired yield observations between 1980 and 2017 for eight major staple crops in 50 countries. This dataset can help to gain insight into the main drivers explaining the variability of the productivity of NT and the consequence of its adoption on crop yields.

scholarly journals Weed Seedbank Community Composition in a 35-Year-Old Tillage and Rotation Experiment

HortScience ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 845C-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Marie Sosnoskie* ◽  
John Cardina ◽  
Catherine Papp Herms ◽  
Matthew Kleinhenz
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Species Number ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Tillage Systems ◽  
Minimum Tillage ◽  
Continuous Corn ◽  
Long Term Study

Community composition of the soil seedbank were characterized 35 years after the implementation of a long-term study involving cropping sequences (continuous corn, corn-soybean, corn-oat-hay) and tillage systems (conventional-, minimum- and no-tillage). Germinable seeds within the top 10 cm of soil in early spring were identified and enumerated in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Species diversity, which was characterized by richness (S), evenness (E) and the Shannon-Weiner index (H'), was significantly influenced by crop rotation rather than tillage. Generally, diversity measures were greatest in the corn-oat-hay sequences as compared to the corn-soybean rotations and the corn monoculture. Species richness and H' typically declined with increasing soil disturbance (no-tillage > minimum-tillage > conventional-tillage), whereas E increased with more intense tillage. A synthetic importance value (RI), incorporating both density and frequency measures, was generated for each species in each plot. Multiresponse permutation procedures (MRPP) were used to examine differences in weed community composition with respect to management system for all three years. Results suggest that the weed seed community in a corn-oat-hay rotational system differs substantially, in structure and composition, from communities associated with continuous corn and corn-soybean systems. No tillage systems were significantly different in composition as compared to conventional tillage and minimum tillage treatments. Crop sequence and tillage system are important cultural methods of shifting weed species number and diversity, and therefore, community structure. Manipulation of these factors could help to reduce the negative impact of weeds on crop production.

AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF FLAX GROWN ON CANOLA, BARLEY AND FLAX STUBBLE WITH AND WITHOUT TILLAGE PRIOR TO SEEDING

1989 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. H. GUBBELS ◽  
E. O. KENASCHUK
Keyword(s):  
Linum Usitatissimum ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Hordeum Vulgare L ◽  
Brassica Napus L ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Linum Usitatissimum L

Field experiments were conducted to determine the effect of mature crop residues and volunteer seedling residues of canola (Brassica napus L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) on the growth and yield of subsequent flax crops seeded after conventional tillage. A second set of field experiments was also conducted which included both flax and barley as test crops on canola and barley stubble and included an additional comparison between conventional tillage and no tillage. Flax yields were generally lower on canola and flax stubble than on barley stubble with conventional tillage before seeding. Averaged over 6 yr the reduction was 9% on canola stubble. With no tillage prior to seeding, flax yielded as well on canola as on barley stubble. Spring volunteer seedlings of canola and flax often reduced flax yields but fall volunteer growth had no marked effect. Barley yielded better on canola than on its own stubble, and tended to yield better with tillage prior to seeding than without.Key words: Flax, Linum usitatissimum L., crop residues, phytotoxins, tillage practices

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