scholarly journals Temporal Change of Soil Carbon on a Long-Term Experimental Site with Variable Crop Rotations and Tillage Systems

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Laamrani ◽  
Paul R. Voroney ◽  
Aaron A. Berg ◽  
Adam W. Gillespie ◽  
Michael March ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
No Till

The impacts of tillage practices and crop rotations are fundamental factors influencing changes in the soil carbon, and thus the sustainability of agricultural systems. The objective of this study was to compare soil carbon status and temporal changes in topsoil from different 4 year rotations and tillage treatments (i.e., no-till and conventional tillage). Rotation systems were primarily corn and soy-based and included cereal and alfalfa phases along with red clover cover crops. In 2018, soil samples were collected from a silty-loam topsoil (0–15 cm) from the 36 year long-term experiment site in southern Ontario, Canada. Total carbon (TC) contents of each sample were determined in the laboratory using combustion methods and comparisons were made between treatments using current and archived samples (i.e., 20 year and 9 year change, respectively) for selected crop rotations. Overall, TC concentrations were significantly higher for no-till compared with conventional tillage practices, regardless of the crop rotations employed. With regard to crop rotation, the highest TC concentrations were recorded in corn–corn–oats–barley (CCOB) rotations with red clover cover crop in both cereal phases. TC contents were, in descending order, found in corn–corn–alfalfa–alfalfa (CCAA), corn–corn–soybean–winter wheat (CCSW) with 1 year of seeded red clover, and corn–corn–corn–corn (CCCC). The lowest TC concentrations were observed in the corn–corn–soybean–soybean (CCSS) and corn–corn–oats–barley (CCOB) rotations without use of cover crops, and corn–corn–soybean–winter wheat (CCSW). We found that (i) crop rotation varieties that include two consecutive years of soybean had consistently lower TC concentrations compared with the remaining rotations; (ii) TC for all the investigated plots (no-till and/or tilled) increased over the 9 year and 20 year period; (iii) the no-tilled CCOB rotation with 2 years of cover crop showed the highest increase of TC content over the 20 year change period time; and (iv) interestingly, the no-till continuous corn (CCCC) rotation had higher TC than the soybean–soybean–corn–corn (SSCC) and corn–corn–soybean–winter wheat (CCSW). We concluded that conservation tillage (i.e., no-till) and incorporation of a cover crop into crop rotations had a positive effect in the accumulation of TC topsoil concentrations and could be suitable management practices to promote soil fertility and sustainability in our agricultural soils.

Effect of long term no-till and conventional tillage practices on soil quality

2013 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 28-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irfan Aziz ◽  
Tariq Mahmood ◽  
K. Rafiq Islam
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
No Till

scholarly journals Reduced Fungicide Applications and Host Resistance for Managing Three Diseases in Pumpkin Grown on a No-Till Cover Crop

Plant Disease ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 86 (10) ◽  
pp. 1134-1141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryne L. Everts
Keyword(s):  
Powdery Mildew ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Black Rot ◽  
Hairy Vetch ◽  
Bare Ground ◽  
Fruit Number ◽  
No Till ◽  
Magic Lantern

Two recent changes in Maryland pumpkin production are (i) planting no-till into a cover crop with soil surface residue (70% of acreage) and (ii) adoption of cultivars with moderate resistance to powdery mildew. Pumpkin cultivar resistance to powdery mildew, planting method (no-till cover crop or conventional tillage bare ground), and fungicide schedules were examined for development of powdery mildew (caused primarily by Podosphaera xanthii), Plectosporium blight (Plectosporium tabacinum), and black rot (Didymella bryoniae), and pumpkin yield and quality. Fungicide application intervals were (i) nontreated, (ii) 7 days, (iii) 14 days, or (iv) 7 days early and 14 days late season. Pumpkin grown no-till on hairy vetch and hairy vetch plus rye cover crops had an average 36% less Plectosporium blight and 50% less black rot than those grown conventional tillage on bare ground. Powdery mildew was less severe on cv. Magic Lantern, which is moderately resistant to this disease, than on susceptible cv. Wizard. Regression equations to describe the impact of disease and treatment on pumpkin fruit number, weight, and peduncle quality (healthy, intact peduncles) were developed using three-stage least squares procedure. Powdery mildew caused the greatest reduction on fruit number, weight, and peduncle quality compared with other diseases. Plectosporium blight reduced fruit number in 1999 and 2000, and fruit weight and peduncle quality in 2000. Hairy vetch and hairy vetch plus rye cover crops resulted in greater fruit number (1,033 and 858 more marketable fruit/ha, respectively) than bare ground in 2000. Powdery mildew resistance (Magic Lantern) combined with pumpkin production on a cover crop resulted in lower levels of powdery mildew (average areas under the disease progress curve 1,474 versus 2,379), Plectosporium blight (average 5 versus 16% severity), and black rot (average 153 versus 217 symptomatic fruit/ha) compared with conventional production (Wizard on bare ground). A reduced fungicide schedule resulted in acceptable disease management, yield, and peduncle quality of Magic Lantern grown on a cover crop; Magic Lantern grown on a cover crop and sprayed every 14 days yielded the same as or more than Wizard grown on bare ground and sprayed weekly.

scholarly journals Bacterial Communities on Wheat Grown Under Long-Term Conventional Tillage and No-Till in the Pacific Northwest of the United States

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuntao Yin ◽  
Nicholas Mueth ◽  
Scot Hulbert ◽  
Daniel Schlatter ◽  
Timothy C. Paulitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Rhizosphere Soil ◽  
The United States ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Bulk Soil ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
No Till

Cultural practices, such as tillage, often have widespread impacts on phytobiomes. No-till has been increasingly adopted by wheat growers in the dryland cropping areas of the inland Pacific Northwest in the United States to reduce soil erosion and decrease fuel and labor inputs, yet there are limited data on how conversion to no-till impacts plant-associated bacteria in this highly productive system. To address this knowledge gap, we evaluated bacterial communities in bulk and rhizosphere soil of wheat in two locations (Idaho and Washington) for 2 years, comparing long-term no-till plots and adjacent plots under conventional tillage. In this study, members of phylum Proteobacteria were relatively more abundant in rhizosphere soil, while Acidobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes were more abundant in bulk soil than in the rhizosphere. Bacteroidetes were more frequent under conventional than conservation tillage. In general, bacterial families were more affected by the position of the sample (rhizosphere versus bulk soil) than by tillage practices. Families generally regarded as copiotrophic (Oxalobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, and Cytophagaceae) were more abundant in rhizosphere soil than bulk in both years. On the contrary, oligotrophic families such as Gaiellaceae and those within Gemmatimonadetes were more abundant in bulk soil than in the rhizosphere. Families affected by tillage varied between the 2 years. These results suggest that bacterial communities in soil were more influenced by plant proximity (rhizosphere versus bulk soil) than by tillage practices, but that specific differences were not consistent and may vary among locations and years.

NO-TILL ALFALFA ESTABLISHMENT AS INFLUENCED BY PREVIOUS COVER CROP

1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 609-613 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. D. WOLF ◽  
E. S. HAGOOD Jr. ◽  
M. LENTNER
Keyword(s):  
Medicago Sativa ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Secale Cereale ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Planting Methods ◽  
No Till ◽  
Secale Cereale L ◽  
Medicago Sativa L

Conventional tillage was compared with no tillage for establishing alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) in the residue of previous cover crops. The influences of planting methods and interim cover crops were studied near Blacksburg, Virginia. Alfalfa was seeded (a) in late March into a rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop, (b) in late April after a rye cover crop was harvested for silage, and (c) in late August into stubble left after removing millet (Setaria italica L.) as hay. Millet for the summer cover crop was planted after a rye cover crop was removed for silage. Alfalfa yields in the year after establishment showed no-till plantings to be equal to conventional planting methods. Previous cover crop did not affect alfalfa yields in the year after establishment. Alfalfa was successfully established into residue from rye and millet. Conditions were ideal for late August plantings after removing Millet for hay. Alfalfa stands were weed-free. These data indicate that alfalfa can be established with no-tillage methods into residue from interim cover crops such as rye and millet and will provide good conservation practices.Key words: Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), rye, Secale cereale L., no-till, erosion control

scholarly journals Soil organic matter as affected by management systems, phosphate fertilization, and cover crops

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (9) ◽  
pp. 1668-1676 ◽  
Author(s):  
Géssica Pereira de Souza ◽  
Cícero Célio de Figueiredo ◽  
Djalma Martinhão Gomes de Sousa
Keyword(s):  
Pearl Millet ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Phosphate Fertilization ◽  
Humic Fractions

Abstract The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of soil management systems, cover crops, and phosphate fertilization on soil humic fractions in a long-term experiment. The treatments consisted of conventional tillage and no-tillage with pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) or velvet bean (Mucuna aterrima) as cover crops, at two doses of phosphorous: 0 and 100 kg ha-1 P2O5 per year. Soil samples were taken 11 years after the establishment of the experiment and analyzed for soil total organic carbon and carbon content of humic fractions at 0.00-0.05, 0.05-0.10, and 0.10-0.20-m depths. The humic fractions are sensitive to soil management, except free fulvic acid, which was the only one that did not reduce its carbon contents on the surface layer (0.00-0.05 m) with conventional tillage. The main changes occurred on the soil surface layer, in which the no-tillage system with pearl millet as a cover crop provided the highest carbon levels in humic fractions. Long-term phosphate fertilization under no-tillage, with pearl millet as a cover crop, promotes the accumulation of organic carbon in soil humic fractions.

Simulated Effects of Winter Wheat Cover Crop on Cotton Production Systems of the Texas Rolling Plains

2017 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 2083-2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradip Adhikari ◽  
Nina Omani ◽  
Srinivasulu Ale ◽  
Paul B. DeLaune ◽  
Kelly R. Thorp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Cotton Yield ◽  
Seed Cotton ◽  
Seed Cotton Yield ◽  
Rolling Plains

Abstract. Interest in cover crops has been increasing in the Texas Rolling Plains (TRP) region, mainly to improve soil health. However, there are concerns that cover crops could potentially reduce soil water and thereby affect the yield of subsequent cash crops. Previous field studies from this region have demonstrated mixed results, with some showing a reduction in cash crop yield due to cover crops and others indicating no significant impact of cover crops on subsequent cotton fiber yield. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate the CROPGRO-Cotton and CERES-Wheat modules within the cropping system model (CSM) of the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) for the TRP region, and (2) use the evaluated model to assess the long-term effects of growing winter wheat as a cover crop on water balances and seed cotton yield under irrigated and dryland conditions. The two DSSAT crop modules were calibrated using measured data on soil water and crop yield from four treatments: (1) irrigated cotton without a cover crop (CwoC-I), (2) irrigated cotton with winter wheat as a cover crop (CwC-I), (3) dryland cotton without a cover crop (CwoC-D), and (4) dryland cotton with a winter wheat cover crop (CwC-D) at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Station at Chillicothe from 2011 to 2015. The average percent error (PE) between the CSM-CROPGRO-Cotton simulated and measured seed cotton yield was -10.1% and -1.0% during the calibration and evaluation periods, respectively, and the percent root mean square error (%RMSE) was 11.9% during calibration and 27.6% during evaluation. For simulation of aboveground biomass by the CSM-CERES-Wheat model, the PE and %RMSE were 8.9% and 9.1%, respectively, during calibration and -0.9% and 21.8%, respectively, during evaluation. Results from the long-term (2001-2015) simulations indicated that there was no substantial reduction in average seed cotton yield and soil water due to growing winter wheat as a cover crop. Keywords: CERES-Wheat, Cover crop, Crop simulation model, CROPGRO-Cotton, DSSAT, Seed cotton yield, Soil water.

Relationship Between Cover Crop Growth, Weed Suppression, and Yield of No-tillage Broccoli (Brassica oleraceae L. var. italica)

HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 495f-496
Author(s):  
Ronald D. Morse ◽  
Aref Abdul-Baki
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crops ◽  
Cover Crop ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Bare Soil ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Weed Suppression ◽  
No Till ◽  
Total Crop ◽  
Fertilizer Rates

In 1997, no-till fall broccoli was grown at the Kentland Agricultural Research Farm (KARF), Blacksburg, Va., and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), Md., to determine supplemental N requirements above the nitrogen contribution from legume in situ mulches. Treatments were tillage systems [CT = conventional tillage, bare soil, tilled prior to transplanting; NT-BS = untilled bare soil; NT-SB = soybean (Glycine max L.) cover crop; and NT-CP = cowpea (Vigna sinensis Endl.) cover crop; and nitrogen fertilizer rates (0, 84, and 168 at KARF, and 0, 56, 112, and 168 kg·ha–1 at BARC). All plots at both sites were treated with recommended herbicides and drip irrigated as needed to supplement rainfall. Dry weight soybean and cowpea biomass was 6.1 and 4.3 at KARF and 4.8 and 3.5 t·ha–1 at BARC. In N-unfertilized plots at both sites, average broccoli yield was higher in NT-SB and NT-CP than CT and NT-BS. The N contribution from the legume mulches was inadequate to meet total crop demand, since N fertilizer applications increased broccoli yield in all tillage treatments, including the legume cover crops (soybean and cowpea). In N-fertilized plots, broccoli yield was similar among tillage treatments at KARF where weed problems were not severe; however, at BARC, yield in CT was higher than in all no-till treatments. Weed pressure was considerably lower in CT than in no-till plots at BARC. Based on these data and other related no-till studies, two conclusions can be drawn: a) no-till systems are a viable option for production of broccoli when weeds are adequately controlled; and b) uniformly distributed, high-residue levels are required for weed suppression when weed pressure is high and herbicides are either ineffective or not applied.

scholarly journals Effects of long-term tillage practices on the quality of soil under winter wheat

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (No. 5) ◽  
pp. 236-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gajda Anna M ◽  
Czyż Ewa A ◽  
Stanek-Tarkowska Jadwiga ◽  
Dexter Anthony R ◽  
Furtak Karolina M ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Bulk Density ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
Biolog Ecoplate ◽  
Loamy Sand Soil

These studies were done in 2013–2016 on the effects of two tillage systems on the quality of a loamy sand soil (Eutric Fluvisol) and were based on a field experiment started in 2002. Winter wheat was grown in conventional tillage (CT) with mouldboard ploughing (inversion) tillage; and reduced (non-inversion) tillage (RT) based on soil crushing-loosening equipment and a rigid-tine cultivator. Chopped wheat straw was used as mulch in both treatments. The physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil were investigated. RT increased soil bulk density in the 0–5 cm and 5–10 cm depth layers in comparison with CT. The greatest content of soil organic carbon (SOC) was found in the 0–5 cm layer under RT. The BIOLOG EcoPlate System showed that soil under RT had a greater metabolic activity and diversity of microbial communities than soil under CT. RT improved the quality of the surface soil as shown by the greater content of SOC and microbial activity measured in terms of dehydrogenases. However, the mean yields of winter wheat under RT and CT were similar. This suggests that the effects of increased bulk density (BD) on yield can be compensated by the effects of the improved microbial status.

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