Evaluation of SLAKES, a smartphone application for quantifying aggregate stability, in soils with contrasting managements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margot Peluchon ◽  
Didier Michot ◽  
Blandine Lemercier ◽  
Sylvain Busnot ◽  
Thierry Morvan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Analysis Of Variance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Aggregate Stability ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
P Value ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Stability Measurements

<p>The measurement of aggregate stability is an important indicator of soil quality and is widely used for monitoring soil condition. The SLAKES mobile app is an alternative tool to laboratory-based methods to measure soil aggregate stability. It provides aggregate stability measurements through Slaking Index (SI) with SI close to 0 suggesting high stability and values above 7 suggesting minimum stability. As the duration of this low-cost experiment is only 10 minutes, SLAKES is very attractive for scientists and no-scientists. SLAKES was implemented in Australia and has proven its efficiency in several studies.</p><p>This study was conducted to determine whether the SLAKES mobile app could be adapted to French soils and then could be an alternative to the Mean Weight Diameter (MWD) method, normalized in France (ISO 10390). More specifically, the three main objectives were: (i) determining whether the aggregate stability measurements depend on the phones used for the experiment, (ii) estimating the number of measurements necessary to get reliable results, (iii) determining whether the app has the ability to detect the effect of contrasting soil managements previously shown using the MWD method.</p><p>The study was performed on silty loam soils from EFELE (Effluents d’Elevage et Environnement) experimental site at le Rheu (Brittany, France) which is part of the French “Organic Residues” research observatory (SOERE PRO). The experimental design combines two different tillage practices (conventional tillage and shallow tillage) with two fertilizer treatments (mineral and organic (cattle manure)) randomly replicated three times. Soil samples were collected in March 2017 at both 0-15 cm and 15-25 cm depth from the 12 plots. </p><p>The SI was measured on three aggregates simultaneously and this measurement was repeated 15 times for each sample which provided 45 SI per sample. Outliers above SI=11 were removed before statistical treatments. Four different phones of the same brand and generation were used to measure SI.</p><p>An analysis of variance showed that the effect of the smartphone on SI measurements was not significant (p-value = 0.73, 0.88, 0.067 for 3 different samples). The SLAKES results showed comparable significant separation of means (p < 0.0001) between each soil management than the MWD method. According to the results of an analysis of variance, SI was significantly lower in reduced tillage than in conventional tillage condition (p-value = 2.10<sup>-16</sup>). These results indicate a higher soil stability in reduced tillage. Yet, the analysis of variance did not underline any effect of fertilization on the SI (p-value = 0.28), as previously found with the MWD method.</p><p>This study proved that a relatively simple mobile app can detect the effect of soil management practices on aggregate stability with a similar performance than the MWD method. This conclusion was reinforced by the existing correlation between the SI and the MWD index (p-value = 0.00059, R<sup>2</sup> = 0.39). We recommend to perform similar experiments on other sampling campaigns or in other pedological and soil management contexts taking at least 15 measures per sample.</p>

scholarly journals Effects of different soil management practices on soil properties and microbial diversity

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Gajda ◽  
Ewa A. Czyż ◽  
Anthony R. Dexter ◽  
Karolina M. Furtak ◽  
Jarosław Grządziel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Soil Microbial Activity ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Reduced Tillage

AbstractThe effects of different tillage systems on the properties and microbial diversity of an agricultural soil was investigated. In doing so, soil physical, chemical and biological properties were analysed in 2013-2015, on a long-term field experiment on a loamy sand at the IUNG-PIB Experimental Station in Grabów, Poland. Winter wheat was grown under two tillage treatments: conventional tillage using a mouldboard plough and traditional soil tillage equipment, and reduced tillage based on soil crushing-loosening equipment and a rigid-tine cultivator. Chopped wheat straw was used as a mulch on both treatments. Reduced tillage resulted in increased water content throughout the whole soil profile, in comparison with conventional tillage. Under reduced tillage, the content of readily dispersible clay was also reduced, and, therefore, soil stability was increased in the toplayers, compared with conventional tillage. In addition, the beneficial effects of reduced tillage were reflected in higher soil microbial activity as measured with dehydrogenases and hydrolysis of fluorescein diacetate, compared with conventional tillage. Moreover, the polimerase chain reaction – denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis showed that soil under reduced till-age had greater diversity of microbial communities, compared with conventionally-tilled soil. Finally, reduced tillage increased organic matter content, stability in water and microbial diversity in the top layer of the soil.

scholarly journals Sustainable Viticulture: Effects of Soil Management in Vitis vinifera

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1949
Author(s):  
Eleonora Cataldo ◽  
Linda Salvi ◽  
Sofia Sbraci ◽  
Paolo Storchi ◽  
Giovan Battista Mattii
Keyword(s):  
Vitis Vinifera ◽  
Water Potential ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Leaf Gas Exchange ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Plant Residues ◽  
Vitis Vinifera L ◽  
Stem Water Potential

Soil management in vineyards is of fundamental importance not only for the productivity and quality of grapes, both in biological and conventional management, but also for greater sustainability of the production. Conservative soil management techniques play an important role, compared to conventional tillage, in order to preserve biodiversity, to save soil fertility, and to keep vegetative-productive balance. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate long-term adaptation strategies to create a balance between the vine and the surrounding environment. This work sought to assess the effects of following different management practices on Vitis vinifera L. cv. Cabernet Sauvignon during 2017 and 2018 seasons: soil tillage (T), temporary cover cropping over all inter-rows (C), and mulching with plant residues every other row (M). The main physiological parameters of vines (leaf gas exchange, stem water potential, chlorophyll fluorescence, and indirect chlorophyll content) as well as qualitative and quantitative grape parameters (technological and phenolic analyses) were measured. Significant differences in gas exchanges related to the different season and inter-row management were observed. C showed more negative values of water potential, due to the grass–vine competition, especially when water availability was lower. The competition exerted by C led to differences in fruit setting with impact on yield; therefrom, significant differences also in sugar and anthocyanic content were observed.

Influence of different soil management practices on ground-flora vegetation in an almond orchard

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 300-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fracchiolla ◽  
M. Terzi ◽  
L. Frabboni ◽  
D. Caramia ◽  
C. Lasorella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Bank ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Ground Flora ◽  
Weed Flora ◽  
Natural Flora ◽  
Almond Orchard

AbstractThis paper reports a survey on the weed flora and seed bank in an almond orchard sited in Apulia region (Southern Italy), where the following soil management practices have been compared for over 30 yrs: no-tillage, keeping the soil totally weed-free throughout the year by using pre-emergence herbicides to prevent plant emergence or post-emergence herbicides in case of weeds already emerged; no-tillage, with post-emergence herbicides; no-tillage, with mowing of natural weed flora in spring; cover cropping, with faba bean sown in November and green manured in springtime; conventional soil tillage. The different management techniques influenced significantly the weed flora in experimental plots, both in terms of quantity and quality. The seed bank was clearly impoverished after the long-term applications of pre-emergence herbicides, both in terms of richness and of diversity. During the fall period, the plots of conventional tillage or pre-emergence herbicides had less natural ground-flora than the others. During springtime, prior to the sward control practices, the plots treated by foliar herbicides or mowing had the highest total weed cover. We conclude that post-emergence weed control by mowing or using chemical herbicides or the green manure of the cover crop may be proposed to reduce impact to the soil and to promote the growth of abundant and sufficiently diversified and balanced flora. If appropriately managed, this flora can provide potential ecological services, without competing with the orchard, as suggested by the literature. During the autumn, natural flora can uptake soil nitrogen thus preventing leaching in the rainy season. In springtime, after the sward has been destroyed, natural flora can supply a substantial amount of biomass to the soil. Indicator species analysis was also used to find the species characterizing each treatment and some of their combinations. Weeds belonging to thePoaceaebotanical family were significantly associated with post-emergence herbicides and mowing treatments. These species produce a substantial amount of biomass and have bunched roots; consequently, they supply beneficial effects by improving porosity and structure of the soil and reducing erosion hazard.

scholarly journals The use of total luminescence spectroscopy in the investigation of the effects of different rice management practices on humic substances of a planosol

2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1147-1152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Nogueira Olendzki ◽  
Andréia Christina Ignácio ◽  
Antonio Salvio Mangrich
Keyword(s):  
Humic Substances ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Agricultural Management ◽  
Emission Wavelength ◽  
Luminescence Spectroscopy ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
The Impact

In the Earth's carbon cycle, C stocks in the soil are higher than in vegetation and atmosphere. Maintaining and conserving organic C concentrations in the soil by specific management practices can improve soil fertility and productivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of agricultural management techniques and influence of water regime (flooded or drained) on the structure of humic substances by excitation/emission matrix fluorescence. Six samples of a Planosol (Planossolo by the Brazilian System of Soil Classification) were collected from a rice field. Humic substances (HS) were extracted from flooded and drained soil under different agricultural management techniques: conventional tillage, reduced tillage and grassland. Two peaks at a long emission wavelength were observed in the EEM spectra of HA whereas those of the corresponding FA contained a unique fluorophore at an intermediate excitation/emission wavelength pair (EEWP) value. The fluorescence intensity measured by total luminescence (FI TL) of HA was lower than that of the corresponding FA. A comparison of all samples (i.e., the HA values compared to each other) revealed only slight differences in the EEWP position, but the FI TL values were significantly different. In this soil, anoxic conditions and reduced tillage (little plowing) seem to favor a higher degree of humification of the soil organic matter compared with aerated conditions and conventional tillage.

scholarly journals Measured and Modeled (DNDC) Nitrous Oxide Emissions (N2O) under Different Crop Management Practices in the Nitra Region, Slovakia

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
Ján Horák ◽  
Irina Mukhina
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
Poor Correlation ◽  
Dndc Model ◽  
Relative Deviation ◽  
Good Agreement

Abstract An important method of investigating N2O emissions from cropland is model simulation. The measured data of N2O emissions under conventional tillage (CT) and reduced tillage (RT) with (N1) and without (N0) N fertilizer application were used to test the DNDC model during the year 2012 (April-December) in Slovakia. There was found a good agreement with seasonal N2O emissions only for CTN0 treatment, but in case of other treatments DNDC overestimated the emissions. The relative deviation between observed and simulated total seasonal N2O emissions (kg N ha−1) from four treatments were 46%, 164%, 346% and 321% for CTN0, CTN1, RTN0 and RTN1, respectively. Also, some discrepancies were found between observed and simulated emissions when evaluating the daily N2O emissions, especially when looking at the magnitude of N2O emissions peaks. The correlation between observed and simulated daily N2O emissions (N = 38) in case of conventional tillage was quite high and significant with r = 0.48 (P <0.01), r = 0.45 (P <0.01) for CTN0 and CTN1 treatment, respectively. On the other hand, there was found poor correlation in reduced tillage treatment with r = 0.22 (P >0.01) and r = 0.39 (P >0.01), for RTN0, RTN1, respectively.

scholarly journals Removal of Biomass and Nutrients by Weeds and Direct-Seeded Rice under Conservation Agriculture in Light-Textured Soils of North-Western India

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2431
Author(s):  
Salwinder Singh Dhaliwal ◽  
Sandeep Sharma ◽  
Arvind Kumar Shukla ◽  
Vivek Sharma ◽  
Makhan Singh Bhullar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rice Straw ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Growth And Yield ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
Western India ◽  
Rice Grain ◽  
Zero Tillage ◽  
Micronutrient Uptake ◽  
Direct Seeded

The escalating scarcity of irrigation water, transplantation of rice on light-textured soils and labour cost acted as major drivers for the transition towards direct-seeded rice (DSR) cultivation from the conventionally flooded transplanting system. Despite these advantages, DSR is a challenge in light texture soil due to heavy weed infestation and a slight decline in crop yield. The weeds compete for nutrients and have an adverse effect on the growth and yield of crops. Hence, to assess the removal of macro and micronutrients by weeds and direct-seeded rice, a field experiment was carried out on sandy loam soil for two consecutive Kharif seasons (2018 and 2019). Three treatments from rice, namely: DSR under zero tillage (DSR-ZT), DSR under conventional tillage (DSR-CT) and DSR under reduced tillage (DSR-RT) were taken as main plots with three tillage treatments in wheat, namely: Conventional tillage without rice straw (CTW-R), Zero tillage without rice straw (ZTW-R) and Zero tillage with straw as mulch using Happy Seeder (ZTW+R) as subplots, replicated thrice. Among the rice establishment methods, DSR-RT showed an edge in terms of rice grain and straw yield (6.18 and 8.14 Mg ha−1, respectively) as well as macro- and micronutrient uptake by rice. Under management practices, ZTW+R proved as an efficient strategy in terms of yield and nutrient uptake by crops. The contribution of weeds towards biomass production was maximum under the ZTW-R (9.44%) treatment followed by DSR-ZT (7.72%). The nutrient budgeting showed that macro- and micronutrient removal by weeds was minimum under reduced tillage (24.51 and 50.35%, respectively), whereas it was 21.88 and 44.87% when wheat was grown under conventional tillage without rice straw. In overall, the research study concluded that weeds on an average remove 25.65 % macronutrients (N, P, K) and 51.47% of micronutrients (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) in DSR under rice-wheat cropping system.

Enzymological and Physicochemical Evaluation of the Effects of Soil Management Practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (10) ◽  
pp. 2243-2247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Dora Samuel ◽  
Delia Mirela Tit ◽  
Carmen Elena Melinte (Frunzulica) ◽  
Ciprian Iovan ◽  
Lavinia Purza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Enzymatic Activities ◽  
Moderate Intensity ◽  
Maize Crop ◽  
No Till

Soil enzymes activities have been considered as sensitive indicators of alteration soil quality by management. In order to obtain new data on the soil enzymological effects of soil management practices, we have determined some enzymatic activities in a preluvosoil submitted to a complex tillage and crop rotation experiment at the Agricultural Research and Development Station in Oradea (Bihor County). Actual and potential dehydrogenase, acid phosphatase and catalase activities were investigated in a split plot experiment where tillage (no-till and conventional tillage) was the main plot and crop rotation (Wheat/Maize, W/M; Soybean/Maize, S/M; Oats-Clover/maize, O-C/M) was the subplot. Soil samples were taken at 0-20, 20-40 and 40-60 cm. Each activity in both non-tilled and conventionally tilled soil under maize crop decreased with increasing sampling depth. It was found that no-till, in comparison with conventional tillage, resulted in insignificantly higher (p]0.10) soil enzymatic activities in the 0-20 cm layer and insignificantly (at least at p]0.10) lower activities in the deeper layers, excepting actual and potential dehydrogenase activities in the 40-60 cm layer, in which these activities were significantly lower(0.02]p]0.01). Based on the absolute values of the enzymatic activities, the enzymatic indicator of soil quality (EISQ) was calculated. The EISQ values ranged between 0.201 and 0.974 indicating the presence of high enzymatic activities in the upper layer and a moderate intensity of the enzymatic activities in the deeper layers. A significant correlation between soil enzyme activities and physical and chemical indicators was established.

Sustainable soil management practices

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-24
Author(s):  
Shiva Kumar Shrestha
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Desertification Process ◽  
Sustainable Soil Management

Purpose – Temporary and permanent decline in the productive capacity of the land due to natural and human-induced activities such as soil erosion, changing cropping practices and less use of organic matter (OM) has been the greatest challenge faced by mankind in recent years, particularly in the hills and mountains of Nepal. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of sustainable soil management practices to mitigate desertification process in the hills of Nepal. Design/methodology/approach – Promotion of sustainable soil management (SSM) practices through a decentralised agriculture extension approach by involving all the stakeholders in a participatory way. Findings – SSM practices mainly: OM management, fodder and forage promotion, increased biomass production systems, integrated plant nutrition systems, and bioengineering for soil and water conservation are identified as the most appropriate and relevant technologies in mitigating the desertification process without deteriorating land quality, particularly conserving the top-soils effectively and efficiently in the hills and mountains of the country. Research limitations/implications – This research is focus on the overall effect of SSM practices due to time and budget constraints. There is scope for doing research on the different aspects of SSM practices and the extent of their effect on different soil parameters (chemical, biological and physical). Practical implications – SSM interventions clearly indicated that there is significant impact in increasing soil fertility, conserving fertile top-soils and mitigating physical, chemical and biologic desertification processes. These are possible through maintaining and improving the soil organic matter, which is the most important indicator for soil health. SSM practices have resulted in an increase of up to 30 per cent in crop yield compared to yields without SSM practices. This might be due to the improvement in SOC which improves soil texture, increases nutrient supply from organic source and conserves water quality, thus, improving soil quality. Social implications – This has created awareness among farmers. Hence, farmers are mitigating pH through increased use of organic manures, where there is less availability of agriculture lime and they are far from road access. Originality/value – SSM practices significantly contributes to combat soil desertification in the hills of Nepal.

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