scholarly journals Influence of Cover Crop, Tillage, and Crop Rotation Management on Soil Nutrients

Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel I. Haruna ◽  
Nsalambi V. Nkongolo
Keyword(s):  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
N Availability ◽  
P Availability ◽  
Long Term Effects

Cover cropping, tillage and crop rotation management can influence soil nutrient availability and crop yield through changes in soil physical, chemical and biological processes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of three years of cover crop, tillage, and crop rotation on selected soil nutrients. Twenty-four plots each of corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max) were established on a 4.05 ha field and arranged in a three-factor factorial design. The three factors (treatments) were two methods of tillage (no-tillage (NT) vs. moldboard plow [conventional] tillage (CT)), two types of cover crop (no cover crop (NC) vs. cover crop (CC)) and four typess of rotation (continuous corn, continuous soybean, corn/soybean and soybean/corn). Soil samples were taken each year at four different depths in each plot; 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, 20–40 cm and 40–60 cm, and analyzed for soil nutrients: calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (NO3 and NH4), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), sulfur (S), sodium (Na), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu). The results in the first year showed that CT increased NO3-N availability by 40% compared with NT. In the second year, NH4-N was 8% lower under CC compared with NC management. In the third year, P was 12% greater under CC management compared with NC management. Thus, CC can enhance crop production systems by increasing P availability and scavenging excess NH4-N from the soil, but longer-term studies are needed to evaluate long-term effects.

scholarly journals Impact of Cover Crops on the Soil Microbiome of Tree Crops

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Castellano-Hinojosa ◽  
Sarah L. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crops ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Soil Microbiome ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Tree Crops

Increased concerns associated with interactions between herbicides, inorganic fertilizers, soil nutrient availability, and plant phytotoxicity in perennial tree crop production systems have renewed interest in the use of cover crops in the inter-row middles or between trees as an alternative sustainable management strategy for these systems. Although interactions between the soil microbiome and cover crops have been examined for annual cropping systems, there are critical differences in management and growth in perennial cropping systems that can influence the soil microbiome and, therefore, the response to cover crops. Here, we discuss the importance of cover crops in tree cropping systems using multispecies cover crop mixtures and minimum tillage and no-tillage to not only enhance the soil microbiome but also carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycling compared to monocropping, conventional tillage, and inorganic fertilization. We also identify potentially important taxa and research gaps that need to be addressed to facilitate assessments of the relationships between cover crops, soil microbes, and the health of tree crops. Additional evaluations of the interactions between the soil microbiome, cover crops, nutrient cycling, and tree performance will allow for more effective and sustainable management of perennial cropping systems.

Effect of Drought and Recovery on Grazing Animal, Microbial, and Fungal Response in a Diverse Multi-Crop Rotation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Landblom ◽  
Songul Senturklu
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Beef Cattle ◽  
Microbial Activity ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Microbial Respiration ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Animal Grazing

<p>Beef cattle grazing, soil microbial respiration, and Rhizobia spp. populations serve important roles in soil nutrient cycling and during periods of drought, when abnormal precipitation declines, forage production for animal grazing and performance are negatively impacted. Soil nutrient availability is essential for adequate crop production and extended drought reduces soil microbial activity and therefore nutrient cycling. During the 2017 growing season between April and October in the northern Great Plains region of the USA, effective precipitation for crop production and animal grazing was severely reduced due an exceptional drought as classified by the US Drought Monitor. At the NDSU – Dickinson Research Extension Center, Dickinson, North Dakota, USA, a long-term integrated system that includes yearling steer grazing within a diverse multi-crop rotation (spring wheat, cover crop, corn, pea-barley intercrop, and sunflower). Within the rotation of cash and forage crops, beef cattle graze the pea-barley, corn, and cover crop (13-specie) within the rotation and is being utilized to monitor the effects of animal, microbial and fungal activity over time and space in the crop and animal production system. Nitrogen fertilizer has been replaced in the system by soil microbial and fungal activity (Potential Mineralizable Nitrogen: 8.4 mg N/kg) such that for each 1% increase in SOM there is a corresponding increase of 18.8 kg of potential nitrogen mineralized per ha. Animal grazing days are severely reduced when precipitation is inadequate for soil microbial respiration to occur. What is even more concerning, when relying on microbial activity to supply plant nutrients, is recovery time for microbial activity to fully recover from exceptional drought as was the case in this research project. Compared to the 2016 crop production year that preceded the 2017 drought, cover crop (13-specie), pea-barley, and corn yields were reduced 86, 33, and 64% during the 2017 drought. This decline in crop production reduced the number of days of grazing by an average 50% and average daily gains were also reduced. Steer average daily gains were 1.05 0.95, and 0.83 kg/steer/day in 2017 when grazing pea-barley, corn, and cover crop, respectively. For this research that relies on soil derived plant nutrients soil analysis for microbial and Rhizobia spp. biomass began recovery in 2018 and continued into 2019 as evidenced by large percentage increases in organism biomass; however, complete production recovery did not occur by the end of the 2019 grazing season in which days of grazing were reduced compared to the 2016 grazing season. Biological animal, crop, microbial, fungal, and nutrient replacement recovery will be presented in the poster.</p>

scholarly journals Productivity and Profitability of Four Crop Rotations under Limited Irrigation

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Alan J Schlegel ◽  
Yared Assefa ◽  
Daniel O’Brien
Keyword(s):  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Grain Sorghum ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Corn Yield ◽  
Supplementary Irrigation ◽  
Corn Grain

Abstract. Selection of optimal crops and cropping systems for most efficient water use specific for local environments can improve global water security. Limited irrigation with ground water is one alternative to alleviate crops from low amount or unevenly distributed water in the growing seasons in semi-arid regions. The main objectives of this research were to quantify yield-water use relationships of three limited irrigated crops, determine effect of crop selection on profitability with limited irrigation, and identify profitable and alternative crop production systems. A field study was conducted at the Kansas State University Southwest Research-Extension Center near Tribune, Kansas, from 2012 through 2017. There were four treatments in the study, two 1-yr systems of continuous corn ( L.) (C-C) and continuous grain sorghum (L.) (GS-GS) and two 2-yr rotations of corn-grain sorghum (C-GS) and corn-winter wheat ( L.) (C-W). Overall corn yield after wheat (C-W) was about 1.4 Mg (ha)-1 greater than C-C. Corn and sorghum yields were similar grown as monoculture or in rotation with each other. Available soil water at corn planting and during the growing season were 20 to 40 mm (240 cm profile-1) less in the C-GS rotation compared with C-C and C-W rotations. Corn yield increased as water use (yield-water use) increased in C-W rotation but yield-water use relationships tended to be negative in C-C and C-GS rotations. Grain sorghum yield increased with water use in both rotations but at a greater rate in GS-GS compared with C-GS. Despite greater corn grain yield in C-W, our economic analysis showed that wheat was the least profitable of the three crops causing the C-W rotation to be least profitable. In this study, the most profitable limited irrigation crop rotation was corn-grain sorghum (C-GS). Keywords: Corn-sorghum-wheat, Crop rotation, Limited irrigation, Profitability, Supplementary irrigation, Sustainability.

The Effect of Rotation and In-Crop Weed Management on the Germinable Weed Seedbank after 10 Years

Weed Science ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Gulden ◽  
Derek W. Lewis ◽  
Jane C. Froese ◽  
Rene C. Van Acker ◽  
Gary B. Martens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Yield Response ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Community Size ◽  
Herbicide Resistant ◽  
Alternate Control

Agricultural production systems that reduce the use of in-crop herbicides could greatly reduce risks of environmental damage and the development of herbicide-resistant weeds. Few studies have investigated the long-term effects of in-crop herbicide omissions on weed seedbank community size and structure. A crop-rotation study was sampled 10 yr after a strictly annual rotation and an annual/perennial rotation were exposed to different in-crop herbicide omission treatments. In-crop herbicides were applied either in all annual crops (control), omitted from oats only, or omitted from both flax and oats. Seedbank densities were greatest when in-crop herbicides were omitted from flax and oats, and this treatment also reduced crop yield. Shannon-Wiener diversity differed among crops in the annual crop rotation and among herbicide omission treatments in the perennial rotation. Herbicide omissions changed the weed-community structure in flax and in wheat and canola crops in the annual rotation enough to warrant alternate control methods in some treatments. The magnitude of the effects on the seedbank parameters depended largely on the competitive ability of the crop in which herbicides were omitted. No yield response to omitting herbicides in oats indicated that standard weed management practices have reduced weed populations below yield-loss thresholds.

scholarly journals Nutrient Availability under Lettuce Grown in Rye Mulch in Histosols

Nitrogen ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-150
Author(s):  
Jacynthe Dessureault-Rompré ◽  
Alexis Gloutney ◽  
Jean Caron
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Availability ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Organic N ◽  
N Availability ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Vegetable Crop ◽  
Conservation Practice ◽  
Lettuce Growth ◽  
The Impact

Vegetable crop production, which is expanding worldwide, is managed extremely intensively and is therefore raising concerns about soil degradation. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of using rye mulch as a conservation practice on nutrient availability for lettuce grown in histosols. The rye cover crop was established in the fall of 2018 at two cultivated peatland sites. The following summer, lettuce crops were planted at both sites on the rye mulch cover and on control plots. Lysimeters were used to extract the soil solution once a week during lettuce growth. Various soil properties were analyzed in the soil sampled at the end of the lettuce growing season. The rye yield was higher at site 1 than at site 2 and the lettuce growth was reduced at site 1 under the rye mulch treatment. The rye mulch reduced mineral N and dissolved organic N availability at both sites. The N dynamics in histosols might be fast enough to supply the lettuce needs; however, the implantation difficulties must first be overcome to confirm that hypothesis. At the end of the lettuce growth period, soil total and active C pools and soluble organic soil N in the rye mulch treatment sample were significantly higher at site 1 than at site 2. The presence of rye mulch improved the carbon pool over a single growing season. The use of rye mulch as a soil conservation practice for vegetable crop production appears promising for histosols; however, more work is needed to gain a better understanding on the long-term effects of decomposing rye mulch and roots on soil nutrient availability, soil health and C sequestration, and on the nitrogen uptake pathways and growth of cash crops. Future works which would include consecutive years of study at multiple sites are also needed to be able to confirm and generalize the observations found in the present work.

Effect of Drought and Recovery on Microbial, Fungal, and Crop Response in a Diverse Multi-Crop Rotation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songul Senturklu ◽  
Douglas Landblom ◽  
Joshua Steffan
Keyword(s):  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Spring Wheat ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Substantial Impact ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Fungal Activity ◽  
The Usa

<p>Soil nutrient availability is essential for adequate crop production and drought conditions that result in abnormally low amounts of precipitation for extended periods of time have a substantial impact on soil microbial activity and therefore nutrient cycling. The northern Great Plains region of the USA suffered an extended period of time in which effective precipitation for crop production was severely reduced and based on the USA Drought Monitor the drought during the growing season from April through October 2017 was classified as exceptional drought. At the NDSU – Dickinson Research Extension Center, a long-term integrated system that includes a diverse multi-crop rotation (spring wheat, cover crop, corn, pea-barley intercrop, and sunflower), beef cattle grazing of the pea-barley, corn, and a 13-specie cover crop within the rotation, is being utilized to monitor the effects soil microbial and fungal activity have on production over time and space in this crop and animal production system. Moreover, the overall effects of increased soil health indices on production are being monitored. Research results have previously been reported showing that soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization has resulted in reduced nitrogen fertilizer application. Regression analysis of SOM and potential nitrogen mineralization suggests that 8.4 mg N/kg are mineralized for each 1% increase in SOM. However, during periods of restricted precipitation on rain-fed crops, soil microbial respiration and fungal activity are negatively impacted, and crop production and animal grazing days are sharply reduced. Soil microbial biomass was correlated to overall production with the exception of spring wheat in rotation which may be due to increased water use by the previous crop (sunflower). Further analysis indicated that most soil microbial organisms recovered two years post drought with the exception of Rhizobia spp. populations which did not recover two years post drought. However, compared to the pre-drought 2016 production year, overall crop production yields had not fully recovered by 2019. Compared to the 2016 crop production, overall crop production in the rotation was reduced 64% in 2017, recovered to 54% of 2016 in 2018, and recovered to 66% of 2016 by the 2019 crop year. Whether crop yields are on par with 2016 by the end of the 2020 crop year is still to be determined. These yield observations point to the amount of time needed to fully recover from the long-term effects of exceptional drought on crop production.</p>

scholarly journals Influence of cover crop mixtures on soil health in southeastern crop production systems

age ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Johnson ◽  
Audrey V. Gamble ◽  
Kipling S. Balkcom ◽  
Noah R. Hull
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crop ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Soil Health

Use of covariance structures for temporal errors in the analysis of a three-course wheat rotation and tillage trial

2004 ◽  
Vol 142 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. SINGH ◽  
M. PALA
Keyword(s):  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Covariance Structure ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Information Criterion ◽  
Covariance Structures ◽  
Yield Data ◽  
Over Time

Crop rotation serves as a mechanism for developing sustainable crop production systems. Crop-rotation trials are used to identify agronomic input factors suitable for use in a cropping system. In crop-rotation trials, experimental errors within the same plot over time are correlated. The form of the covariance structure of the plot errors may be specific to the data from a rotation trial, but is unknown and is generally assumed. Statistical analyses are usually based on the assumption that plot errors are independent, or have constant covariance. An experiment was conducted using wheat-based, three-course rotations containing tillage treatment subplots over 12 years at ICARDA's experimental station at Tel Hadya, a moderately dry area in northern Syria. This study examined several covariance structures for temporal errors arising over the rotation plots and tillage subplots, in order to model wheat yield data. Eighteen covariance structures were examined, and the best pair was selected using the Akaike Information Criterion. The best pair comprised first-order autocorrelation and homogeneous variance for temporal errors in rotation plots, and uniform correlation with heterogeneous variances for temporal errors in tillage subplots. Using the 12 years of data obtained for wheat yield and the best pair of covariance structures, the tillage and rotation effects were found to be statistically significant and to have significant interactions with the cycle of rotation. The precision of the means calculated differed from those calculated using a control structure based on homogeneous error variances and constant correlation. The cumulative yield build-up over time differed significantly over the rotations and the tillage methods. An increasing yield trend was observed for the bread wheat rotation, while a yield decline was observed in durum wheat when the rotation was repeated. When evaluating the effects of input factors in crop rotations, we therefore recommend that the covariance structures be examined and that a suitably chosen structure be used.

scholarly journals Cover Crop and Pruning Residue Management to Reduce Nitrogen Mineral Fertilization in Mediterranean Vineyards

Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 164
Author(s):  
Antonino Pisciotta ◽  
Rosario Di Lorenzo ◽  
Agata Novara ◽  
Vito Armando Laudicina ◽  
Ettore Barone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crop ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
Soluble Solids ◽  
Vitis Vinifera L ◽  
N Availability ◽  
Mineral Fertilization ◽  
Winter Cover Crop ◽  
Winter Cover

This paper aimed to study the effect of temporary cover crop and vine pruning residue burial as alternative practices to conventional tillage on soil nitrate (NO3-N) availability and grapevine performance in the short term. The trial was carried out in a rain-fed vineyard (Vitis vinifera L., cv Grecanico dorato/140 Ruggeri) located in a traditional Mediterranean viticultural area (37°32′48′′ N; 13°00′15′′ E) in Sicily (Italy). Conventional tillage (CT) soil management was compared with winter cover crop (CC), conventional tillage plus buried pruning residue (CT + PR), and winter cover crop plus buried pruning residue (CC + PR) management treatments. Two fertilizer treatments (92 kg ha−1 of N as urea and 0 kg ha−1) were applied to the four soil management treatments. Vicia faba L. was the selected leguminous cover crop species, which was seeded in autumn and buried in spring at the same time as vine pruning residues. The soil NO3-N content was monitored, and vine vegetative growth, yield, and must quality were assessed over two seasons. Results showed that NO3-N availability strongly differed between fertilized (F) and unfertilized (UF) plots and years and among treatments. A positive effect of winter leguminous CC + PR on the Grecanico dorato grapevine performance was observed. In the UF vineyard, grape fertility, yield, Ravaz index, and total soluble solids were significantly higher in CC + PR vines than in other treatments, thus showing the reliability of reducing N mineral fertilization and related risks of excess nitrate in groundwater. The possibility of increasing the overall sustainability of rain-fed vineyards in a semiarid agro-ecosystem, without negative effects on grape and must quality, is also demonstrated.

scholarly journals Components of Sustainable Production Systems for Vegetables-Conserving soil Moisture

1993 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald D. Morse
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Tillage Systems ◽  
Planting Dates ◽  
Cereal Rye ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Strip Tillage

Conservation tillage systems offer distinct advantages for crop production under erosive and droughty soil conditions. This report contains 4 years of data on the effects of in situ cereal rye and wheat mulches on yield of cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata) grown under limited-irrigation, conservation-tillage systems. Three tillage systems were studied: conventional plow-disk (CT); strip tillage (ST) and no-tillage (NT). The summers of 1987 and 1990 were characterized by below-average total rain and periods of prolonged (45 days) of dry weather during head enlargement; cabbage yields were highest in the mulched ST and NT plots. In contrast, the 1988 and 1989 growing seasons were above average in total rain and there were no prolonged periods of dry weather. Cabbage yields were unaffected by tillage treatments in 1988, while, in 1989, yields with NT were 65% and 60% lower than with CT and ST, respectively. A combination of abundant rain, soil compaction, and delayed planting retarded plant growth in the 1989 NT plots, resulting in smaller, less-productive plants than in the tilled ST and CT plots. These data show that: 1) conservation tillage and particularly strip tillage systems are viable options for production of cabbage; and 2) rain-irrigation patterns, site selection, and planting dates are major determinants of the relative advantages of conservation tillage compared to conventional tillage systems.

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