Crop Residues Management under Changing Climate Scenario

Soil is the fundamental and necessary natural resource for the agricultural production system. Due to the increasing global population and the impact of climate changes, natural resources are the major limiting factor to use widely for food production. The major factors responsible for the deterioration of natural resources are extreme events caused by man-made activities and unexpected and unpredictable adverse natural forces of nature. Among the different degradation processes, soil erosion is one of the serious threatens to the deterioration of soil for the agricultural sector and healthy ecosystem conservation. Intensive agricultural practices are particularly caused by the acceleration of the soil erosion process. Therefore, the good and systematic management of soil resources is indispensable not only for sustainable agriculture or conservation agriculture but also for the protection and reduction of the natural ecosystem. Covering crop residues on soil enhances organic matter, protects the soil surfaces, maintains water and nutrients, improves soil biological activity and chemical composition, and contributes to pest management. Therefore, crop residue management is one of the conservation practices and is designed to leave sufficient residue on the soil surface to reduce wind and water erosion. It includes all field operations that affect the amount of residue, its an orientation to the soil surface and prevailing wind and rainfall patterns and the residue distribution throughout the period requiring protection. This paper especially highlights the status of soil erosion, crop residues, and management in crop residues in sustainable agriculture.

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Management of Crop Residues for Improving Input Use Efficiency and Agricultural Sustainability

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12239808 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (23) ◽

pp. 9808

Author(s):

Sukamal Sarkar ◽

Milan Skalicky ◽

Akbar Hossain ◽

Marian Brestic ◽

Saikat Saha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Crop Production ◽

Crop Residue ◽

Agricultural Sector ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Soil Health ◽

Residue Management ◽

Crop Residue Management ◽

Input Use ◽

The Impact

Crop residues, the byproduct of crop production, are valuable natural resources that can be managed to maximize different input use efficiencies. Crop residue management is a well-known and widely accepted practice, and is a key component of conservation agriculture. The rapid shift from conventional agriculture to input-intensive modern agricultural practices often leads to an increase in the production of crop residues. Growing more food for an ever-increasing population brings the chance of fast residue generation. Ecosystem services from crop residues improve soil health status and supplement necessary elements in plants. However, this is just one side of the shield. Indecorous crop residue management, including in-situ residue burning, often causes serious environmental hazards. This happens to be one of the most serious environmental hazard issues witnessed by the agricultural sector. Moreover, improper management of these residues often restrains them from imparting their beneficial effects. In this paper, we have reviewed all recent findings to understand and summarize the different aspects of crop residue management, like the impact of the residues on crop and soil health, natural resource recycling, and strategies related to residue retention in farming systems, which are linked to the environment and ecology. This comprehensive review paper may be helpful for different stakeholders to formulate suitable residue management techniques that will fit well under existing farming system practices without compromising the systems’ productivity and environmental sustainability.

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Impact of crop residue management on crop production and soil chemistry after seven years of crop rotation in temperate climate, loamy soils

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.4836 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e4836 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Marie-Pierre Hiel ◽

Sophie Barbieux ◽

Jérôme Pierreux ◽

Claire Olivier ◽

Guillaume Lobet ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Crop Production ◽

Crop Residue ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Conventional Tillage ◽

Residue Management ◽

Temperate Climate ◽

Reduced Tillage ◽

Crop Residue Management ◽

The Impact

Society is increasingly demanding a more sustainable management of agro-ecosystems in a context of climate change and an ever growing global population. The fate of crop residues is one of the important management aspects under debate, since it represents an unneglectable quantity of organic matter which can be kept in or removed from the agro-ecosystem. The topic of residue management is not new, but the need for global conclusion on the impact of crop residue management on the agro-ecosystem linked to local pedo-climatic conditions has become apparent with an increasing amount of studies showing a diversity of conclusions. This study specifically focusses on temperate climate and loamy soil using a seven-year data set. Between 2008 and 2016, we compared four contrasting residue management strategies differing in the amount of crop residues returned to the soil (incorporation vs. exportation of residues) and in the type of tillage (reduced tillage (10 cm depth) vs. conventional tillage (ploughing at 25 cm depth)) in a field experiment. We assessed the impact of the crop residue management on crop production (three crops—winter wheat, faba bean and maize—cultivated over six cropping seasons), soil organic carbon content, nitrate (${\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) soil content and uptake by the crops. The main differences came primarily from the tillage practice and less from the restitution or removal of residues. All years and crops combined, conventional tillage resulted in a yield advantage of 3.4% as compared to reduced tillage, which can be partly explained by a lower germination rate observed under reduced tillage, especially during drier years. On average, only small differences were observed for total organic carbon (TOC) content of the soil, but reduced tillage resulted in a very clear stratification of TOC and also of P and K content as compared to conventional tillage. We observed no effect of residue management on the ${\mathrm{NO}}_{3}^{-}$ content, since the effect of fertilization dominated the effect of residue management. To confirm the results and enhance early tendencies, we believe that the experiment should be followed up in the future to observe whether more consistent changes in the whole agro-ecosystem functioning are present on the long term when managing residues with contrasted strategies.

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Crop Residue Management for Sustenance of Natural Resources and Agriculture Productivity

Agricultural Reviews ◽

10.18805/ag.r-1814 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (03) ◽

Author(s):

Maninder Singh ◽

Anita Jaswal ◽

Arshdeep Singh

Keyword(s):

Organic Matter ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Crop Production ◽

Crop Residue ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Soil Surface ◽

Residue Management ◽

Soil Productivity ◽

Crop Residue Management

Crop residue management (CRM) through conservation agriculture can improve soil productivity and crop production by preserving soil organic matter (SOM) levels. Two major benefits of surface-residue management are improved organic matter (OM) near the soil surface and boosted nutrient cycling and preservation. Larger microbial biomass and activity near the soil surface act as a pool for nutrients desirable in crop production and enhance structural stability for increased infiltration. In addition to the altered nutrient distribution within the soil profile, changes also occur in the chemical and physical properties of the soil. Improved soil C sequestration through enhanced CRM is a cost-effective option for reducing agriculture's impact on the environment. Ideally, CRM practices should be selected to optimize crop yields with negligible adverse effects on the environment. Crop residues of common agricultural crops are chief resources, not only as sources of nutrients for subsequent crops but also for amended soil, water and air quality. Maintaining and managing crop residues in agriculture can be economically beneficial to many producers and more importantly to society. Improved residue management and reduced tillage practices should be encouraged because of their beneficial role in reducing soil degradation and increasing soil productivity. Thus, farmers have a responsibility in making management decisions that will enable them to optimize crop yields and minimize environmental impacts. Multi-disciplinary and integrated efforts by a wide variety of scientists are required to design the best site-specific systems for CRM practices to enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability while minimizing environmental impacts.

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Micronutrients in the Soil and Wheat: Impact of 84 Years of Organic or Synthetic Fertilization and Crop Residue Management

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy9080464 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 464 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Santosh Shiwakoti ◽

Valtcho D. Zheljazkov ◽

Hero T. Gollany ◽

Markus Kleber ◽

Baoshan Xing ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Residue ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Farmyard Manure ◽

Triticum Aestivum L ◽

Residue Management ◽

Inorganic N ◽

N Application ◽

Crop Residue Management ◽

The Impact ◽

Over Time

Crop residues are an important source of plant nutrients. However, information on the various methods of residue management on micronutrients in soil and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) over time is limited. A long-term (84-year) agroecosystem experiment was assessed to determine the impact of fertilizer type and methods of crop residue management on micronutrients over time under dryland winter wheat-fallow rotation. The treatments were: no N application with residue burning in fall (FB), spring (SB), and no residue burn (NB); 45 kg N ha−1 with SB and NB; 90 kg N ha−1 with SB and NB; pea vines; and farmyard manure (FYM) and a nearby undisturbed grass pasture (GP). Wheat grain, straw, and soil samples from 1995, 2005, and 2015 were used to determine tissue total and soil Mehlich III extractable Mn, Cu, B, Fe, and Zn, and soil pH. After 84 years, extractable Mn and B in the top 10 cm of soil decreased in all plots, except for B in FYM and SB. The FYM plots had the highest extractable Mn (114 mg kg−1) in the top 10 cm soil; however, it declined by 33% compared to the GP (171 mg kg−1). Extractable Zn in the top 10 cm of soil increased with FYM while it decreased with inorganic N application in 2015; however, total Zn in grain increased by 7% with inorganic N (90 kg ha−1) application compared to FYM application. The results suggest that residue management had similar impact on soil micronutrients. Inorganic N and FYM application can be integrated to reduce micronutrient losses from cultivation.

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Identifying the resource integration processes of green service

Journal of Service Management ◽

10.1108/josm-12-2017-0350 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (4) ◽

pp. 839-859 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hugo Guyader ◽

Mikael Ottosson ◽

Per Frankelius ◽

Lars Witell

Keyword(s):

Natural Resources ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Biological Diversity ◽

Service Providers ◽

Service Research ◽

Natural Ecosystem ◽

Resource Integration ◽

Content Type ◽

Negative Environmental Impact ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve the understanding of green service. In particular, the focus is on identifying homopathic and heteropathic resource integration processes that preserve or increase the resourceness of the natural ecosystem. Design/methodology/approach Through an extensive multiple case study involving ten service providers from diverse sectors based on a substantial number of interviews, detailed accounts of green service are provided. Findings Six resource integration processes were identified: reducing, recirculating, recycling, redistributing, reframing and renewing. While four of these processes are based on homopathic resource integration, both reframing and renewing are based on heteropathic resource integration. While homopathic processes historically constitute a green service by mitigating the impact of consumption on the environment, heteropathic resource integration increases the resourceness of the natural ecosystem through emergent processes and the (re)creation of natural resources. Research limitations/implications The present study breaks away from the paradigm that “green service” is about reducing the negative environmental impact of existing services, toward providing a green service that expands biological diversity and other natural resources. Originality/value Transformative service research on environmental sustainability is still in its infancy. The present study contributes through conceptualizing green service, redefining existing resource integration processes (reducing, recirculating, recycling) and identifying new resource integration processes (redistributing, reframing, renewing).

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Soil erosion controlled by biota along a climate gradient in Chile

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10817 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Nicolás Riveras ◽

Kristina Witzgall ◽

Victoria Rodríguez ◽

Peter Kühn ◽

Carsten W. Mueller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Biological Soil Crust ◽

Environmental Filtering ◽

Soil Surface ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Rainfall Simulation ◽

Soil Erodibility ◽

Rainfall Gradient ◽

The Impact ◽

Semi Arid

Soil erosion is one of the main problems in soil degradation nowadays and is widely distributed in many landscapes worldwide. Particularly water erosion is widespread and determined by rain erosivity, soil erodibility, topographic factors and the management carried out to mitigate this phenomenon. Although this process is mostly known as a consequence of human management such as agriculture or forestry, it is a process that also occurs naturally, being one of the factors that regulate the shape of the landscape.One of the main agents that stabilize the soil surface is biota and its activity, either in the form of plants, microorganisms or as an assemblage in the form of a biological soil crust (biocrusts). However, there are limited studies about how and what extent biota drives soil-stabilizing processes. With particular view on the impact of biocrusts on soil erosion, most studies have been carried out in arid and semi-arid regions, so its influence under other climates is largely unknown.This study focuses on the influence of biota on soil erosion in a temperature and rainfall gradient, covering four climate zones (arid, semi-arid, mediterranean and humid) with very limited human intervention. Other variables such as the origin of the geological formation, geographical longitude and glacial influence were kept constant for all study sites. The effect of vegetation (biocrusts) and its abundance, microbiology and terrain parameters are investigated using rainfall simulation experiments under controlled conditions and by a physico-chemical evaluation of the soil, surface runoff, percolation and sediment discharge, in order to determine the different environmental filtering effects that the soil develops under different climatic conditions.It is expected that as vegetation vigor and cover increase, soil erodibility will decrease. The biocrust is the protagonist of this stabilization in conditions of low pedological development and will become secondary as edaphoclimatic conditions favor the colonization of plants.The results of this study will help to achieve a better understanding of the role of biota in soil erosion control and will clarify its influence on soil losses under different climate and slope conditions. Analyses are currently ongoing and first results of our work will be presented at the EGU 2020.

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SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENTS TO CONTROL SOIL EROSION

10.4995/cigeo2021.2021.13258 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Artemi Cerdà ◽

Enric Terol

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Sustainable Agriculture ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Traditional Management ◽

Erosion Rates ◽

Olive Groves ◽

Simulated Rain ◽

The Impact

High rates of soil erosion compromise sustainable agriculture. In rainfed agricultural fields, erosion rates several orders ofmagnitude higher than the erosion rates considered tolerable have been quantified. In Mediterranean rainfed crops suchas vineyards, almonds and olive groves, and in the new sloping citrus and persimmon plantations, the rates of soil lossmake it necessary to apply measures to reduce them to avoid collapse in agricultural production. Managements such asweeds, catch crops and mulches (straw and pruning remains) are viable options to achieve sustainability. This work appliesmeasurements through plots, simulated rainfall experiments and ISUM (Improved Stock-Unearhing method) to quantifythe loss of soil at different temporal and spatial scales in fields of traditional management (herbicide or tillage) and underalternative management (mulches and plant covers). The work carried out at the experimental station for the study of soilerosion in the Sierra de Enguera and those of Montesa and Les Alcusses provide information on erosion plots undernatural rain. Experiments carried out with simulated rain in fields of olive, almond, citrus, persimmon, vineyard and fruittrees report the hydrological and erosive response under low frequency and high intensity rains. And finally, the ISUMtopographic method report the impact of long-term management, from the plantation. The results indicate that the loss ofsoil is greater (x10-1000) in soils under traditional management (tillage and herbicide) due to the fact that they remain barefor most of the year. The use of straw mulch immediately reduces soil erosion by two orders of magnitude. Also mulchesfrom chipped pruned branches remains are very efficient but require more years to reduce soil loss. Weeds and catchcrops are very efficient in controlling erosion.

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Effect of crop residue incorporation and crop residue quality on soil N2O emissions and respiration - A laboratory measurement approach

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-17716 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Felix Havermann ◽

Klaus Butterbach-Bahl ◽

Baldur Janz ◽

Florian Engelsberger ◽

Maria Ernfors ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crop Residue ◽

Crop Residues ◽

C:N Ratio ◽

Emission Factors ◽

Residue Management ◽

Soil N ◽

Residue Quality ◽

Soil Columns ◽

Residue Incorporation ◽

The Impact

Crop residues are a significant source for soil N2O emissions and major component affecting the C storage in arable soils. The balance between C sequestration and N2O emissions is delicate and depends on the type of residues and its management. Thus, residue management might be a feasible option to reduce the GHG footprint of crop production. However, the mitigation potential of residue management is highly variable and strongly affected by the crop residue quality (C and N content, C:N ratio, concentrations of lignin, cellulose and solutes), field management (incorporation depth, amount applied) as well as soil physical and soil biogeochemical properties. In the frame of the EU-ERAGAS project RESIDUEGAS, we investigated the impact of different crop residue qualities on soil respiration and reactive N fluxes as well as soil ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-) concentrations in order to test and possibly improve existing IPCC emission factors for GHG emissions from crop residue management.In this study, we used sieved and homogenized soil columns of 8 cm height and 12 cm diameter filled with arable soil taken from a site near Gie&#223;en, Germany. Soil columns were incubated in the laboratory for 60 days at constant soil temperature (15&#176;C) and water-filled pore space (60 %). Residues from nine different crops (oilseed rape, winter wheat, field pea, maize, potato, mustard, red clover, sugar beet, ryegrass) were re-wetted according to field moisture level and incorporated over approx. 0-4 cm topsoil layer one week after soil re-wetting and start of the measurements. The CO2, N2O (as well as NO and NH3) fluxes were measured automatically using a dynamic chamber approach. Soil samples were additionally analyzed for soil NH4+ and NO3- concentrations at specific time steps during the experiment.Re-wetting of the dry soil immediately resulted in a sharp increase of soil N2O and CO2 emissions, which, however, was less pronounced than peak emissions following residue incorporation. Those were 4-5 times higher as compared to soil cores without residue amendment. Elevated emissions were short-lived and declined to background levels within 10 days for N2O and within 30 days for CO2. However, a small but significant period of higher than background N2O emissions was observed in the second half of the incubation period, which might be directly related to the decomposition of slower decomposable organic matter such as lignin and cellulose from crop residues. Generally, the emission magnitude was strongly affected by the crop residue quality, with highest N2O as well as CO2 emissions being calculated for residues with a narrow C:N ratio. However, C:N ratio was not the single explaining factor. The range of calculated emission factors (fraction of cumulatively emitted N2O-N to crop residue N input) over a 60 day period was larger than the range given by IPCC in 2006.

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Carbon balance and crop residue management in dynamic equilibrium under a no-till system in Campos Gerais

Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo ◽

10.1590/s0100-06832012000500022 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 36 (5) ◽

pp. 1583-1590 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Ademir de Oliveira Ferreira ◽

João Carlos de Moraes Sá ◽

Mônica Gabrielle Harms ◽

Simone Miara ◽

Clever Briedis ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Balance ◽

Crop Residues ◽

Dynamic Equilibrium ◽

Soil Surface ◽

C Sequestration ◽

Residue Management ◽

Minimum Amount ◽

No Till ◽

Sequestration Rate

The adoption of no-tillage systems (NT) and the maintenance of crop residues on the soil surface result in the long-term increase of carbon (C) in the system, promoting C sequestration and reducing C-CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the C sequestration rate and the minimum amount of crop residues required to maintain the dynamic C equilibrium (dC/dt = 0) of two soils (Typic Hapludox) with different textural classes. The experiment was arranged in a 2 x 2 x 2 randomized block factorial design. The following factors were analyzed: (a) two soil types: Typic Hapludox (Oxisol) with medium texture (LVTM) and Oxisol with clay texture (LVTA), (b) two sampling layers (0-5 and 5-20 cm), and (c) two sampling periods (P1 - October 2007; P2 - September 2008). Samples were collected from fields under a long-term (20 years) NT system with the following crop rotations: wheat/soybean/black oat + vetch/maize (LVTM) and wheat/maize/black oat + vetch/soybean (LVTA). The annual C sequestration rates were 0.83 and 0.76 Mg ha-1 for LVTM and LVTA, respectively. The estimates of the minimum amount of crop residues required to maintain a dynamic equilibrium (dC/dt = 0) were 7.13 and 6.53 Mg ha-1 year-1 for LVTM and LVTA, respectively. The C conversion rate in both studied soils was lower than that reported in other studies in the region, resulting in a greater amount of crop residues left on the soil surface.

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The Crop Residue Removal Threshold Ensures Sustainable Agriculture in the Purple Soil Region of Sichuan, China

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13073799 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 3799

Author(s):

Peng Zhang ◽

Yuxin He ◽

Tao Ren ◽

Yang Wang ◽

Chao Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Erosion ◽

Sustainable Agriculture ◽

Soil Fertility ◽

Crop Residue ◽

Removal Rate ◽

Purple Soil ◽

Residue Removal ◽

Crop Residue Removal ◽

One Year ◽

The Impact

Sichuan, a hilly area in southwestern China, is recommended as a bioethanol production base because of its abundant crop residue resources. However, removing the crop straw for bioethanol may negatively affect soil fertility and productivity due to the local purple soil vulnerability. To explore the impact of crop residue removal on soil fertility and productivity and meet the needs of sustainable agriculture, we conducted a crop residue removal experiment by measuring the soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) contents, and crop yield in the purple soil region in southwest China. Soil erosion was also simulated by Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation version 2 (RUSLE 2). The results showed that soil erosion increased with the increase of the straw removal rate. Compared with 0% removal treatment, the SOC content reduced at other removal rate treatments, especially for long-term residue removal. The effect of residue removal on soil TN and TP was not consistent within one year. After two years, residue removal greater than 25% caused a decrease in TN by 1.6–3.7%, and straw removal greater than 50% caused a TP decrease by 8.5–9.3%. More than 25% of the residue removed reduced maize and canola yields, and TN and TP content. However, all crop residue removal treatments resulted in SOC content reduction and soil erosion deterioration. In conclusion, crop residue removal was not recommended due to agricultural sustainability in Sichuan, China.

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