Potential Soil Quality Impact of Harvesting Crop Residues for Biofuels

Field experiments were conducted to correlate decomposition of red clover (Trifolium pratense) green manure (GM), field pea (Pisum sativum), canola (Brassica rapa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) residues, and soil organic C (SOC), under zero tillage and conventional tillage, with soil microbial biomass C (MBC), bacterial functional diversity and microbial activity (CO2 evolution). A greenhouse experiment was also conducted to relate crop residue quality to soil microbial characteristics. Zero tillage increas ed MBC only in the 0- to 5-cm soil layer. Soil MBC decreased more with soil depth than either microbial diversity or total SOC. Legume GM residues induced greater initial CO2 evolution than the other residues. This means that results that do not include the initial flush of microbial activity, e.g., by sampling only in the season(s) following residue placement, probably underestimate gas evolution from legume crop residues. Residue N, P and K contents were positively correlated with microbial functional diversity and activity, which were positively correlated with crop residue decomposition. Therefore, microbial functional diversity and activity were good indicators of microbial decomposition processes. Residue C/N and C/P ratios (i.e., high C content) were positively correlated with MBC, which was positively correlated with SOC. Therefore, soil MBC was a good indicator of soil quality (soil organic matter content). Key words: Biological soil quality, crop residues, crop rotation, microbial activity, microbial biomass, microbial diversity

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A framework for refining soil microbial indices as bioindicators during decomposition of various organic residues in a sandy loam soil

Journal of Applied and Natural Science ◽

10.31018/jans.v7i2.669 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 700-708 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Sandeep Sharma ◽

Jatinder Kaur ◽

H. S. Thind ◽

Yadvinder Singh ◽

Neha Sharma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Microbial Biomass ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Biochemical Composition ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Sandy Loam ◽

Sandy Loam Soil ◽

Soil Microbial ◽

Loam Soil ◽

Microbial Indices ◽

Amended Soil

Assessment of soil quality is an invaluable tool in determining the sustainability and environmental impact of agricultural ecosystems. Soil microbial indices like microbial biomass and microbial activity are important criteria for the determination of soil quality. Laboratory incubation study was undertaken to examine the influence of eight crop residues widely varying in biochemical composition on the periodic changes in important soil microbial indices {(microbial (Cmic: Corg), metabolic (qCO2), carbon mineralization (qC) and microbial biomass change rate (qM) quotients)} at 28 days and 63 days after incubation (DAI) in a sandy loam soil. A. sativa amended soil showed maximum soil respiration rate (14.23 mg CO2-C g-1 soil day-1) whereas T. aestivum amended soil showed maximum microbial biomass C (790 µg/g). The metabolic quotient among different crop residues ranged from 11.1 to 19.8 μg CO2-C μg-biomass-C-1 h-1 at 63 DAI. The results indicate that incorporation of different crop residues has positive effect on microbial flora and their activity. Microbial quotient (Cmic:Corg) was significantly positively correlated with microbial biomass carbon (MBC), qC and qM. The study suggests that the biochemical composition of different crop residues seems to be of better option for long term sustainable crop production with maintenance of soil quality in a sandy loam soil.

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Crop Residues and Management Practices: Effects on Soil Quality, Soil Nitrogen Dynamics, Crop Yield, and Nitrogen Recovery

Advances in Agronomy ◽

10.1016/s0065-2113(08)60846-9 ◽

1999 ◽

pp. 197-319 ◽

Cited By ~ 336

Author(s):

K. Kumar ◽

K.M. Goh

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Crop Yield ◽

Soil Nitrogen ◽

Management Practices ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Nitrogen Dynamics ◽

Nitrogen Recovery ◽

Soil Nitrogen Dynamics

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Innovative Pro-Smallholder Farmers’ Permanent Mulch for Better Soil Quality and Food Security Under Conservation Agriculture

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10040605 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 605

Author(s):

Sibongiseni Mgolozeli ◽

Adornis D. Nciizah ◽

Isaiah I. C. Wakindiki ◽

Fhatuwani N. Mudau

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Soil Erosion ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Soil Cover ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Conservation Agriculture ◽

Crop Productivity ◽

Smallholder Farming ◽

Security Challenge

Soil degradation is the greatest threat to agricultural production globally. The practice of applying or retaining crop residues in the field as mulch is imperative to prevent soil erosion, maintain soil quality and improve crop productivity. However, smallholder farmers resort to maximizing profit by removing crop residues after harvest to sell or use them as feed for livestock. Agrimats are innovative pro-smallholder farming mulching materials that are manufactured using cheap or freely available organic waste materials. These materials include forestry waste, grasses, etc., therefore allowing smallholder farmers to make more profit through improved crop productivity for better food security. The most notable attributes of agrimats include their ability to prevent soil erosion, increase and sustain soil organic matter, suppress weeds, and conserve soil moisture. Food security challenge can be addressed by adopting agrimat technology as a sustainable permanent soil cover to improve soil quality and crop productivity. Agrimat incorporation in conservation agriculture practice could produce more food from less input resources (chemical fertilizers, water, etc.) with minimal or no adverse effect on the environment. This study aims to advocate permanent soil cover using agrimat as an innovative pro-smallholder farmer technology to improve soil quality for better food security.

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Soil quality—The key to a sustainable agriculture

American Journal of Alternative Agriculture ◽

10.1017/s0889189300004343 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 7 (1-2) ◽

pp. 2-3 ◽

Cited By ~ 72

Author(s):

Robert I. Papendick ◽

James F. Parr

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Cover Crops ◽

Crop Residues ◽

The United States ◽

Reduced Tillage ◽

Farming Practices ◽

Natural Processes ◽

Vital Component ◽

The Impact ◽

Wind And Water Erosion

Soil is the world's most vital component for food and fiber production: preservation of this critical natural resource is paramount for protecting the environment, and ensuring that current and future populations are healthy and well-fed. In many countries of the world, including the United States, soils are being degraded at an alarming rate by wind and water erosion, desertification, and salinization resulting from misuse and improper farming practices. Often the topsoil is lost at a rate that far exceeds the capacity of natural processes to regenerate it. With soil degradation, there is a concomitant decline in soil quality, i.e., the soil's capacity to produce healthy and nutritious crops, resist erosion, and reduce the impact of environmental stresses on plants. Many decades of research have consistently shown that the best means of improving and restoring soil quality and productivity is by proper and regular additions of organic materials mainly through the use of crop rotations, cover crops, crop residues, animal manures, composts, and reduced tillage.

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Preliminary Effects of Crop Residue Management on Soil Quality and Crop Production under Different Soil Management Regimes in Corn-Wheat Rotation Systems

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy11020302 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 302

Author(s):

Morad Mirzaei ◽

Manouchehr Gorji Anari ◽

Ehsan Razavy-Toosi ◽

Hossein Asadi ◽

Ebrahim Moghiseh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Crop Residue ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Soil Depth ◽

Wheat Yield ◽

Water Infiltration ◽

Residue Management ◽

Ct System

Strategic management of crop residues is essential to enhance soil quality for sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the specific amounts of crop residues needed to improve soil quality characteristics which are key to develop economic plans. In this study, we investigated the effects of applying crop residue at five rates, including 100% (R100), 75% (R75), 50% (R50), 25% (R25), and 0% (R0), on wheat yield and soil properties. Field experiments were conducted for two cropping seasons in a wheat-corn rotation under conventional (CT) and no-till (NT) systems to observe the first results obtained during short-term periods (one-year application). During the study, the wheat and corn fields were irrigated. Application of plant residue resulted in increased soil organic carbon (SOC) and available nutrients and improved soil physical properties, i.e., aggregates mean weight diameter in wet (MWDw) and dry (MWDd) conditions, water-stable aggregates (WSA), dry-stable aggregates, (DSA), soil water infiltration (SWI), soil available water (SAW), and yield of wheat and corn. The effects were stronger at higher residue application rates. In the CT system, compared to R0, R100 resulted in the highest increase equal to 38, 29, 23, 34, 35, 41, and 11% for SOC, MWDw, MWDd, WSA, DSA, SAW, and wheat grain yield, respectively. This was equivalent to 28, 19.5, 19, 37, 44, 52, and 6% for the NT system, respectively. Generally, the NT system resulted in a stratification of the soil properties within 0–10 cm compared to 10–20 cm soil depth, but a uniform distribution for both depths under CT system. Overall, these results show that crop residue application can improve soil quality and yield in cereal production systems under semi-arid conditions during the first year of application. It will be key to monitor these changes in along-term field studies.

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Introduction: Evaluating Long-Term Impacts of Harvesting Crop Residues on Soil Quality

Agronomy Journal ◽

10.2134/agronj2010.0382s ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 230-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

David R. Huggins ◽

Russell S. Karow ◽

Harold P. Collins ◽

Joel K. Ransom

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Crop Residues

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Improved soil quality and barley yields with fababeans, manure, forages and crop rotation on a Gray Luvisol

Canadian Journal of Soil Science ◽

10.4141/cjss94-010 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 74 (1) ◽

pp. 75-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

S. P. Wani ◽

W. B. McGill ◽

K. L. Haugen-Kozyra ◽

J. A. Robertson ◽

J. J. Thurston

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Sole Source ◽

Low Fertility ◽

Biological Fixation ◽

Available N ◽

Soil Resource ◽

Key Words Barley ◽

Gray Luvisol

There exists a need (i) to test, whether equal or better cereal yields could be obtained using cropping systems which rely on renewable resources rather than on fertilizer nitrogen; and (ii) to discover the condition of the soil resource under these systems.The long-term cropping systems on a Gray Luvisol at Breton were studied. They included: (i) an agro-ecological 8-yr rotation (AER), established in 1981, which involved addition of both fababean green manure and manure from livestock fed with forages and fababeans grown in the rotation: (ii) a continuous grain (barley) system (CG), with fertilizer N at 90 kg ha−1 y−1, established in 1981; (iii) a classical Breton 5-yr rotation (CBR) involving forages and cereals, with no return of crop residues or manure, established in 1930. Mean barley yields were 16–19% higher in the AER (P ≤ 0.05) than in the CG system, and yield on either was about double that of the CBR. Within 9 yr, there was evidence of increased total C, N, and P; available N, P and K, CEC; microbial biomass, microbial respiration; and counts of bacteria, fungi, and mycorrhizae in the AER compared with the CG system.We conclude that biological fixation of N by legumes can be used as the sole source of N for barley production on Luvisolic soils of low fertility such as the Breton loam, without sacrificing yield or soil quality. Barley yields in the AER (38% of the rotation time) exceeded those of barley grown under continuous cereal cropping. The soil resource was maintained or improved during a 10-yr period under AER compared to the CG or CBR systems. Further research is needed to discover the mechanisms involved in regulating biological activity and availability of plant nutrients other than N in the AER system. Key words: Barley, Breton loam, cropping systems, Gray Luvisol, soil quality, fababeans

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