Soil Quality and Soil Sustainability

2019 ◽  
pp. 46-58
Author(s):  
Ashok Kumar Rathoure
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Dynamic Properties ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Quality Work ◽  
Complex Part ◽  
Soil Sustainability ◽  
Soil Structures

Soil is an important and complex part of our environment. The agro-ecosystem is made up of many interacting components with multiple goals. Soil quality is one important part of sustainable agro-ecosystem management, analogous to water and air quality. Assessing soil quality may help managers identify practices that could be adapted to become more sustainable. Soil quality is the ability of a soil to perform functions that are essential to people and the environment. Soil quality is not limited to agricultural soils, although most soil quality work has been done in agricultural systems. Soil quality definitions emphasize several features. Dynamic properties include organic matter, soil structure, infiltration rate, bulk density, and water and nutrient holding capacity. Changes in dynamic properties depend both on land management practices and the inherent properties of the soil. Here, the author has presented for intrinsic and vigorous properties, soil structures and macrophores, soil quality management, etc.

scholarly journals Sustainability/resilience of soil organic matter components in an Argentinean arid region .

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Vázquez ◽  
Laura Noe ◽  
Adriana Abril ◽  
Carolina Merlo ◽  
Carlos Romero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Humic Substances ◽  
Humic Acids ◽  
Arid Region ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Fulvic Acids ◽  
Soil Sustainability ◽  
Undisturbed Site

This short communication presents a novel approach to determining the soil sustainability of productive practices in an Argentinean arid region, using the resilience degree of soil organic matter components. The study was conducted in four sites of the Arid Chaco region of the Cordoba province: one undisturbed site, two sites with livestock (with total and with selective clearing) and one site with agriculture. In each site three soil samples were taken and total soil organic matter, fulvic and humic acids, and non-humic substances were analyzed. Variations of each component (%) between each productive practice and the undisturbed site were calculated in order to establish the resilience degree. The livestock soils showed: a) moderate resilience for non-humic substances, b) low resilience for organic matter and humic acids, and c) no resilience for fulvic acids. The agricultural soils showed: a) low resilience for total organic matter and non-humic substances, and b) no resilience for fulvic and humic acids. We conclude that this approach is a powerful tool for establishing management practices according to each particular situation, allowing improved productivity in arid regions.

Effect of different agricultural management practices on soil quality in maize intensive production.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Luísa ◽  
carlos oliveira ◽  
Isabel Campos ◽  
Oscar Pelayo ◽  
Dalila Serpa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Urease Activity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Agricultural Management ◽  
Chemical Parameters ◽  
No Till ◽  
Soil Sustainability ◽  
Biodiversity Preservation

<p>Potential changes in soil quality as result of intensive agriculture are increasingly raising concerns about associated impacts and the need to implement more sustainable agricultural practices. Among several intensive crops, maize, an important human food source, is one of the most intensely produced around the world, representing harmful consequences for soil quality. Therefore, it is fundamental to understand how different agricultural management practices can influence soil quality. Hence, the main objective of this study was to compare the implications of the conventional tillage versus non-tillage in soil quality. Additionally, it was also an objective to evaluate how the implementation of herbage strips, non-irrigated and fallow areas, contribute to soil sustainability and biodiversity preservation, compensating the impacts of intensive maize cultivation. For this purpose, an integrative approach was adopted including physical-chemical parameters (e.g. bulk density, pH, electrical conductivity, field capacity, organic matter, nutrients) and biological parameters (e.g. phosphatase activity, urease activity, ecotoxicological tests with soil organisms).</p><p>The obtained results revealed the existence of differences between the analyzed practices, mainly associated with chemical parameters and nutrients. When comparing no-till and conventional sowing, higher mean values for no-till were observed for the following parameters: organic matter, cation exchange capacity, nitrogen, phosphorus, nitrates, calcium, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, urease activity and invertase activity. Hence, this study highlights the importance of the implementation of nonconventional agricultural practices, as is the case of no-till, as promoters of productivity and soil sustainability. Additionally, different management practices as herbage strip, non-irrigated and fallow areas around conventional areas play an additional role in soil quality and biodiversity preservation.</p>

CO2 fluxes and carbon balance of an agricultural grassland in southern Finland

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Heimsch ◽  
Annalea Lohila ◽  
Liisa Kulmala ◽  
Juha-Pekka Tuovinen ◽  
Mika Korkiakoski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Carbon Balance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Management Procedures ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change

<p>Agriculture is globally a significant source of carbon emissions to the atmosphere. Main causes for these high emissions are conventional intensive management practices which include such as frequent ploughing, monocropping and high use of agrochemicals. These practices contribute to the loss of biodiversity and soil organic matter, as well as to the CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from land use. Recently, it has been recognised that agriculture functioning on the basis of regenerative practices is one of the most potential tools to mitigate climate change.</p><p>It is well known that topsoil layer and especially humus-rich soils can store more carbon than atmosphere and vegetation together. Therefore, increasing the amount of soil organic matter in the agroecosystems, by applying enhanced management practices such as reduced tillage, high biodiversity and cover cropping, agricultural soils would not only help to mitigate climate change but also to restore soil quality and fertility. To understand the carbon dynamics on different agricultural sites, factors affecting and comprising the carbon balance, and to verify soil carbon and ecosystem models, continuous long-term monitoring of the GHG fluxes is essential at such managed ecosystems. Here we present results from a new eddy covariance (EC) flux study site located in southern Finland.</p><p>Continuous CO<sub>2</sub> flux measurements using the EC method have been conducted at Qvidja farm on mineral (clay) soil forage grassland in Parainen, southern Finland (60.29550°N, 22.39281°E) since the spring 2018. Based on the flux and biomass data, the annual carbon balance was estimated to be negative, i.e. the site acted as an overall sink of carbon even in the dry and hot year 2018. However, the seasonal CO<sub>2</sub> fluxes were greatly dependent on weather conditions and management procedures. Results from 2019 show that the growing season accompanied with more mature and dense grass, a bit higher precipitation and lower temperatures, as well as higher cutting height was more favorable for carbon uptake in Qvidja as compared to year 2018.</p>

scholarly journals Effects of agricultural management on soil organic matter and carbon transformation – a review

2011 ◽  
Vol 52 (No. 12) ◽  
pp. 531-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Liu ◽  
S.J. Herbert ◽  
A.M. Hashemi ◽  
X. Zhang ◽  
G. Ding
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Farmyard Manure ◽  
Major Effect ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Tillage Practices ◽  
The Impact

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most often reported attribute and is chosen as the most important indicator of soil quality and agricultural sustainability. In this review, we summarized how cultivation, crop rotation, residue and tillage management, fertilization and monoculture affect soil quality, soil organic matter (SOM) and carbon transformation. The results confirm that SOM is not only a source of carbon but also a sink for carbon sequestration. Cultivation and tillage can reduce soil SOC content and lead to soil deterioration. Tillage practices have a major effect on distribution of C and N, and the rates of organic matter decomposition and N mineralization. Proper adoption of crop rotation can increase or maintain the quantity and quality of soil organic matter, and improve soil chemical and physical properties. Adequate application of fertilizers combined with farmyard manure could increase soil nutrients, and SOC content. Manure or crop residue alone may not be adequate to maintain SOC levels. Crop types influence SOC and soil function in continuous monoculture systems. SOC can be best preserved by rotation with reduced tillage frequency and with additions of chemical fertilizers and manure. Knowledge and assessment of changes (positive or negative) in SOC status with time is still needed to evaluate the impact of different management practices.

scholarly journals Cropland soil organic matter content change in Northeast China, 1985-2005

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanmin Yao ◽  
Liming Ye ◽  
Huajun Tang ◽  
Pengqin Tang ◽  
Deying Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Content Change

AbstractSoil organic matter (SOM) content is one of the most important indicators of soil quality and hence the productive capacity of soils. Northeast China (NEC) is the most important region in grain production in China. In this study,we assessed the spatiotemporal change of cropland SOM content in NEC using sampling data of 2005 and survey data of 1985. We also analysed the driving forces behind the SOM content change. Our results showed that SOM content decreased in 39% of all the cropland in NEC, while increase in SOM content was only detected on 16% of the cropland. SOM remained unchanged in nearly half (i.e. 45%) of the cropland. Our results also revealed that cropping intensity and fertilizer application were the two most important factors driving SOM change. Overall, results from this research provided novel details of the spatiotemporal patterns of cropland SOM content change in NEC which was not revealed in earlier assessments. The datasets presented here can be used not only as baselines for the calibration of process-based carbon budget models, but also to identify regional soil quality hotspots and to guide spatial-explicit soil management practices.

scholarly journals 315 Formation, persistence, and function of soil organic matter: how recent scientific advances apply in agroecosystems

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_4) ◽  
pp. 51-52
Author(s):  
Jocelyn M Lavallee ◽  
Francesca Cotrufo
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Paradigm Shifts ◽  
The Usa ◽  
And Function

Abstract Soil organic matter is fundamental to healthy and productive soils and building it is an effective means by which to draw down atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations with added co-benefits. Scientific understanding of soil organic matter dynamics is constantly evolving, and the past decade has seen major advances and paradigm shifts. Soil organic matter creation from decaying plant litter is now thought to occur under two separate pathways, yielding two functionally different types: predominantly plant-derived, unprotected particulate organic matter (POM) and predominantly microbially-derived, mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM). The idea of naturally-occurring humic substances in soils has been largely abandoned, and long-term soil organic matter persistence is now understood to be driven mainly by mineral association. We will present the research behind these paradigm shifts, and show how considering POM and MAOM separately is key to understanding the mechanisms driving carbon accrual and persistence in soil, and therefore to guiding policy and management for soil carbon sequestration. We will present drivers of POM and MAOM contents, from individual fields to continents, including their capacity for sequestration and saturation in agricultural soils of the USA, and their responses to common management practices in agroecosystems.

scholarly journals Assessing soil carbon and soil quality for sustainable agricultural systems in tropical hillslope soils using spectroscopic methods

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bunjirtluk Jintaridth
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The World

Soil quality is a concept that integrates physical, chemical, and biological components and processes of soil across landscapes. Identifying and developing appropriate methods to quantify and assess changes in soil quality are necessary for evaluating soil degradation and improving management practices. Many parameters that are associated with soil quality depend on soil organic matter (SOM) levels and composition. The objectives of this research were to: 1) conduct a literature review of soil quality assessment techniques to evaluate soil quality across a wide-range of environments and agricultural practices; 2) determine if some standard soil sampling and analytical protocols could be identified or developed to enhance soil quality comparisons across a wide range of environments around the world; and 3) assess the efficacy of spectroscopic-based (i.e. near-infrared, mid-infrared, and visible range) analytical methods to evaluate soil organic matter fractions and soil quality. To assess soil quality for sustainable agricultural systems in hillslope soils using spectroscopic methods, surface soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected from hillslope agricultural sites in Bolivia, the Philippines and Indonesia which had differences in length of fallow, levels of soil degradation, and cultivation by landscape position. To determine the efficacy of spectroscopic-based on visible range, the use of the potassium permanganate test (MnOxC) for active organic carbon was studied. The MnOxC test was generally responsive to a range of fallow lengths among different agricultural fields and communities in Umala Municipality in Bolivia. A major objective of fallowing agricultural fields in this region is to restore soil fertility in the field after cropping. This general increase in MnOxC with increased length fallowing may be due to inputs of residue and roots from regrowth of native vegetation after cropping in fallowed areas and possible manure inputs from sheep that generally graze these fallow areas. In addition, higher concentrations of MnOxC were generally observed in non-degraded soil compared to that of degraded soil in all sampled communities in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Comparisons of soil quality among agroforestry and nonagroforestry sites were studied near Bogor, Indonesia. Both agroforestry and nonagroforestry sites had been managed with different types and rates (low, medium, and high) of amendments including manure, compost and chemical fertilizer. Soil MnOxC was generally higher with increasing amounts of added animal manure and in agroforestry areas compared to that of non-agroforestry areas. A set of soil samples was collected along a hill-slope transect from the top to the bottom of agricultural valley on Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The transect across the landscape was divided into summit, shoulder, backslope, footslope and toeslope landscape positions. Soil MnOxC from cultivated fields areas at each landscape position were generally lower than noncultivated areas at similar landscape positions. Among the non-cultivated sites, soil MnOxC was the highest at the summit position and the lowest at the backslope positions while soil MnOxC among cultivated sites were relatively similar across the hill-slope transect. This comparison of the use of the soil MnOxC test to determine changes in active C among a wide range of environmental conditions, cropping systems and soil management practices among agroecosystems with hillslopes in tropical countries around the world indicates that the soil MnOxC test is a sensitive indicator to assess changes in active C with changes in crop and soil management. Several advantages to using this procedure include its ease of use that requires a minimal of training for the field method, its low relative cost and growing research results that facilitate interpretation of the test results. Therefore, this method has potential for supporting management decisions, and sustainable management of agricultural systems in tropical hillslope ecosystems. The ability of visible/near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy to estimate soil organic carbon and carbon fractions from diverse soils in tropical hillslope agroecosystems around the world that were under different soil management and cropping systems was evaluated in this research. It was shown that VNIR spectroscopy could be an effective technique to estimate SOC and soil organic carbon fractions for a wide range of soils from tropical hillslope agroecosystems around the world. Several potential advantages of use of VNIR compared to conventional soil testing methods in developing countries are that it may allow for simultaneous evaluation of several soil properties and it can be done rapidly and possibly in the field. Diffuse Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (DRIFT) is considered to be one of the most sensitive infrared techniques for analyzing the structural composition of soil organic matter. The benefit of the DRIFT technique is the ability to characterize the functional group composition of heterogeneous materials with minimal sample preparation. Results showed that this method can be used to characterize the functional groups of heterogeneous soil organic materials and it may be a more direct method to determine changes in soil organic matter and soil quality caused by soil management practices than several other chemical and spectral techniques. The high resolution of the spectra and quantitative estimations of functional groups can be used to analyze soil organic carbon composition. Therefore, in future work this technique has great potential to be an accurate and simple method for helping to understand the changes in the composition of soil organic carbon due to soil organic management practices and to estimate changes in soil quality resulting from those practices in these hillslope agroecosystems.

scholarly journals Soil Quality in Agroecological Production Areas in Southern Brazil: Indicators Based on Farmers' Perception

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Jacir João Chies ◽  
Helvio Debli Casalinho ◽  
Lizete Stumpf ◽  
Marília Alves Brito Pinto ◽  
Leonir Aldrigui Dutra Junior
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
History Of ◽  
Production Areas ◽  
The Impact

Farmers' local knowledge about soil quality and management practices should be considered to assess the impact of agricultural technology packages on the environmental performance of agro-ecosystems. This study aimed to evaluate the soil quality under agroecological production in southern Brazil, which was considered of good quality by the farmers' perception. From August to November 2017, ten farms from Liberdade settlement were visited, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect information about soil and agricultural knowledge. “What does good quality soil mean? What cares for preserve soil quality? Does the soil location in landscape influence conservation practices?” were the questions asked. In May 2018, soil samples were collected from each area, and chemical, physical, and biological attributes were determined. All farmers mentioned the organic matter indicated good soil quality; however, the study showed that most soils have low content, a consequence of the annual tillage adopted by all farmers for the implantation of seeds crops; Farmers indicated that a good quality soil has "life" with the presence of organisms. In our study, a low population of mites and springtails in most areas was observed. Positive farmers’ perception about the organic matter content and soil organism’s presence in their agroecological production areas come from the degradation history of the areas, at the same time that they attribute improvements in soil quality due to the actions adopted over the 10 years of agroecological production.

scholarly journals Soil Quality of a Rice Organic Farm in Langkong, M'lang, Cotabato

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-53
Author(s):  
Kathleen Cedeño
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Cation Exchange ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Cation Exchange Capacity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Water Holding

Soil quality is crucial to global food production security. However, research data on soil quality, which is vital to enhancing soil fertility and crop yield, is limited particularly on the soil in the rice fields located in Langkong, Mlang, Cotabato. This study aims to assess the soil quality of one of the organic rice farms in said area. Soil samples were collected in thirty-one (31) paddies for two sampling periods: thirty (30) days after harvest and thirty (30) days after rice transplanting. Eight (8) soil indicators representing soil physicochemical characteristics were measured from 0-15 cm depth; the indicators were soil texture, water holding capacity, pH, exchangeable phosphorus, extractable potassium, total organic matter, electrical conductivity, and cation exchange capacity. Results reveal that soils in the studied area are characterized by clay loam with moderate water-holding capacity of about 62.57% and 60.57% for both sampling periods, respectively. The soil is strongly acidic (5.3 and 5.5) and has a low amount of organic matter (2.16% and 1.57%) and exchangeable P (8.55 ppm and 2.48 ppm), although it has marginal extractable K (80.77 ppm and 91.10 ppm). Also, the soils are non-saline and have low cation exchange capacity. The findings signify that the soils have insufficient fertility to sustain the optimal growth of the rice plants which can potentially reduce the yield of rice production. Thus, amendment of the soil quality and enhancement of soil management practices should be taken into consideration to further improve soil fertility to ensure productivity and profitability of farmers.

The role of active fractions of soil organic matter in physical and chemical fertility of Ferrosols

Soil Research ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 809 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Bell ◽  
P. W. Moody ◽  
R. D. Connolly ◽  
B. J. Bridge
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Aggregate Stability ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Physical And Chemical

The relationships between fractions of soil organic carbon (C) oxidised by varying strengths of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) and important soil physical and chemical properties were investigated for Queensland Ferrosols. These soils spanned a wide range of clay contents (31-83%), pH values (4·4-7·9; 1 : 5 water), and total C contents (12· 1-111 g/kg). Carbon fractions were derived by oxidation with 33 mM (C1), 167 mM (C2), and 333 mM (C3) KMnO4, while organic C and total C were determined by Heanes wet oxidation and combustion, respectively. Aggregate stability was determined by wet sieving soil from the surface crust after 30 min of high intensity (100 mm/h), simulated rainfall on disturbed samples in the laboratory. The proportion of aggregates <0·125 mm (P125) was used as the stability indicator because of the high correlation between this size class and the final rainfall infiltration rate (r2 = 0qa86, n = 42). The soil organic C fraction most closely correlated with P125 was C1 (r2 = 0·79, n = 42). This fraction was also highly correlated with final, steady-state infiltration rates in field situations where there were no subsurface constraints to infiltration (r2 = 0·74, n = 30). Multiple linear regression techniques were used to identify the soil properties determining effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC, n = 89). Most variation in ECEC (R2 = 0 ·72) was accounted for by a combination of C1 (P < 0·0001) and pH (P < 0·0001). These results confirm the very important role played by the most labile (easily oxidised) fraction of soil organic matter (C1) in key components of the chemical and physical fertility of Ferrosols. Management practices which maintain adequate C1 concentrations are essential for sustainable cropping on these soils.

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