soil sustainability
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2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 383
Author(s):  
Emanuela Coller ◽  
Claudia Maria Oliveira Longa ◽  
Raffaella Morelli ◽  
Sara Zanoni ◽  
Marco Cristiano Cersosimo Ippolito ◽  
...  

The use of conservation and sustainable practices could restore the abundance and richness of soil organisms in agroecosystems. Fitting in this context, this study aimed to highlight whether and how different soil living communities reacted to the conversion from an integrated to an organic orchard. The metataxonomic approach for fungi and bacteria and the determination of biological forms of diatoms and microarthropods were applied. Soil analyses were carried out in order to evaluate the effect of soil chemical features on four major soil living communities. Our results showed that the different taxa reacted with different speeds to the management changes. Fungi responded quickly to the changes, suggesting that modification in agricultural practices had a greater impact on fungal communities. Bacteria and microarthropods were more affected by abiotic parameters and less by the management. The diatom composition seemed to be affected by seasonality but the highest H’ (Shannon index) value was measured in the organic system. Fungi, but also diatoms, seemed to be promising for monitoring changes in the soil since they were sensitive to both the soil features and the anthropic impact. Our study showed that soil biodiversity could be affected by the conversion to sustainable management practices from the early years of an orchard onwards. Therefore, better ecological orchard management may strengthen soil sustainability and resilience in historically agricultural regions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12236
Author(s):  
Yasser M. Zakarya ◽  
Mohamed M. Metwaly ◽  
Mohamed A. E. AbdelRahman ◽  
Mohamed R. Metwalli ◽  
Georgios Koubouris

Land evaluation is imperative for its efficient use in agriculture. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the suitability of a region in West El-Minia for cultivating some of the major crops using the geographical information system (GIS). The results focus on allocating space for cultivating sugar beet and utilizing the free period of sugar beet in other crops. This exploitation helps to maintain the quality of the land and increase its fertility by using crop rotation with integrated agricultural management. A machine learning technique was implemented using the random forest algorithm (RF) to predict soil suitability classes for sugar beet using geomorphology, terrain attribute and remote sensing data. Fifteen major crops were evaluated using a suitability multicriteria approach in GIS environment for crop rotation decisions. Soil parameters were determined (soil depth, pH, texture, CaCO3, drainage, ECe, and slope) to characterize the land units for soil suitability. Soils of the area were found to be Entisols; Typic Torrifluvents, Typic Torripsamments and Typic Torriorthents and Aridsols; Typic Haplocacids, Calcic Haplosalids and Sodic Haplocalcids. Overall, the studied area was classified into four suitability classes: high “S1”, moderate “S2”, marginal “S3”, and not suitable “N”. The area of each suitability class changed depending on the crop tested. The highest two crops that occupied S1 class were barley with 471.5 ha (representing 6.8% of the total study area) and alfalfa with 157.4 ha (2.3%). In addition, barley, sugar beet, and sorghum occupied the highest areas in S2 class with 6415.3 ha (92.5%), 6111.3 ha (88.11%) and 6111.3 ha (88.1%), respectively. Regarding the S3 class, three different crops (sesame, green pepper, and maize) were the most highly represented by 6151.8 ha (88.7%), 6126.3 ha (88.3%), and 6116.7 ha (88.2%), respectively. In the end, potato and beans occupied the highest areas in N class with 6916.9 ha (99.7%) and 6853.5 ha (98.8%), respectively. The results revealed that the integration of GIS and soil suitability system consists of an appropriate approach for the evaluation of suitable crop rotations for optimized land use planning and to prevent soil degradation. The study recommends using crop rotation, as it contributes to soil sustainability and the control of plant pests and diseases, where the succession of agricultural crops on a scientific basis aims at maintaining the balance of nutrients and fertilizers in the soil.


Author(s):  
Stefan Shilev ◽  
I. Mitova ◽  
V. Kuncheva ◽  
N. Dinev ◽  
Lyudmila Kabaivanova

Background: Using organic manure derived from animal or vegetable matter is often associated with balanced crop production. The influence of organics and fertilizers on soil sustainability during cultivation of potatoes in field was studied. Methods: Vegetable experiment comprising 10 years (2011-2021), having a control variant (no fertilization), independent mineral, organics (compost) and their combination (50:50%). Changes in the amount and distribution of microbial groups in experimental variants and associated untreated controls were evaluated. Total bacterial number, spore-forming bacteria, fungi, nitrogen-utilizing bacteria and actinomycetes were assessed. Result: Applied organics and fertilizers had statistically proven a positive effect on growth parameters of potatoes. Organics and fertilizers supplied with mineral and foliar feeding registered taller plants with increased number of branches, number and mass of leaves and stem and root masses, compared to potatoes with organic and organic-mineral combination. Application of compost led to a significant increase in populations of all physiological groups of microorganisms excluding spore-forming bacteria and bacteria utilizing mineral nitrogen, which is a good indicator of increased soil microbial activity in respective treatments. Mineral fertilization had a positive effect on total number of bacteria and on absorption of mineral nitrogen. The treatment in variant (50:50 %) at rhizosphere soil was associated with organic manure application and at non-rhizosphere soil with mineral fertilizer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-296
Author(s):  
PRABHU V ◽  

This study was conducted during the kharif, 2020 at ICAR-Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Puducherry, India aimed to examine the effect of fortified in situ rice residue compost, zinc nano fertilizer on the growth and yield of rice under rice cultivation methods. The experiment was conducted in a split plot design; 3mainplots (TPR, DSR and AR) and eight subplots (fortified manures and nano zinc particles) with three replications. The results revealed that the TPRsignificantly improved tillers, LAI, productive tillers, panicle weight, grain and straw yield, zinc content and uptake and it was statistically on par with DSRand superior over AR. Nutrient management, fortified manure + ZnO NPs (SP+FS) significantly registered higher growth and yield attributes, Zn content and uptake of rice over to ZnO seed priming alone, ZnSO4 and control. The PGPM, humic acid and seaweed extract fortified organic manures either FYM or rice residue compost, nano zinc as seed priming and foliar spray under TPR or DSR have the potential to maximize rice production without foregoing soil sustainability


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1433
Author(s):  
Wentian He ◽  
Ping He ◽  
Rong Jiang ◽  
Jingyi Yang ◽  
Craig F. Drury ◽  
...  

Accurate estimates of soil organic carbon (SOC) are critical for evaluating the impacts of crop and nutrient management practices on soil sustainability and global climate change. Temporal and spatial variations in topsoil (0–0.20 m) SOC were analyzed using 43,743 soil samples in China’s croplands. The soil database in our study was collected from the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) China Program. The results showed an increasing trend in SOC density (SOCD) for both grain and cash crops from 1991 to 2012. The average SOCD increased by 16.8, 17.4, 11.8 and 8.7% in the north central, northwest, southeast and southwest regions, respectively, whereas average SOCD decreased by 1.3% for the northeast region between the 1991–2001 and 2002–2012 periods. For both grain and cash crops, the SOCD frequency distribution (%) increased in the ranges of 10–20, 20–30 and 30–40 Mg C ha−1 from the 1991–2001 to the 2002–2012, but decreased in the ranges of 0–10 and 50–60 Mg C ha−1. Additionally, SOCD increased in most major soil types across China’s cropland regions, except in phaeozems, chernozems and umbrisols, where it decreased by 8.6–18.7% mainly due to water runoff, soil erosion, and low C input. The overall SOC stock (SOCS) in China’s cropland increased by 260 Tg C (23.7 Tg C yr−1) from 1991–2001 to 2002–2012, which was partially due to the increased crop residue return, improved fertilization and adopted conservation tillage over the period. This SOC increase represents a potential offset in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that could help reduce the overall net CO2 emissions in China.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 738
Author(s):  
Jean Diatta ◽  
Agnieszka Andrzejewska ◽  
Witold Grzebisz ◽  
Leszek Drobek ◽  
Zbigniew Karolewski

The study outlines a novel and traceable procedure for inactivating zinc polluted soil (an Anthrosols) adjacent to a former zinc (Zn) ore mine “Orzel Biały” in Bytom (Poland), where the total content of Zn amounted to 3988.0 mg kg−1. This pollution level initiated an inactivation process involving two natural mineral sorbents, i.e., zeolite (Z) and bentonite (B), as well as their five blends (ZeoBen) expressed as ZB: (1) ZB15/85, (2) ZB30/70, (3) ZB50/50, (4) ZB70/30 and (5) ZB85/15. Next, phosphorus (P) as triple superphosphate (TSP, 46% P2O5) was added to individual ZB at rates: 0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0%. All sorbents were added to the Zn polluted soil at 0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% (dry weight basis). Treatments (1.0 kg of Zn-polluted soil with ZB sorbents) were aged for 115 days. Data revealed that ZB85/15 with prevailing zeolite caused a Znact inactivation of 66–71%, while zeolite induced 54% and 47% for bentonite. Reactive zinc (Znreac) decreased much more (20%) when zeolite was incorporated at the rate 2.5 g·kg−1 soil, and bentonite was (10%) at the same rate. The application of the sorbent ZB50/50 enriched with triple superphosphate (TSP) raised the stabilization degree for both Zn fractions. The efficiency was significant at the TSP rate of 2.0% of the sorbent and at least the sorbent +TSP of 10 g·kg−1 soil. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of about 2 cmol(+)·kg−1 controlled the activity −0.50 mmol·dm−3 of either γZnreac or γZnact, hence a very low zinc ionic activity. The use of mineral blends with higher sharing of zeolite is promising for remediating metal-polluted lands in the case of zinc.


2021 ◽  
pp. 117205
Author(s):  
Yi Chen ◽  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
Cheng Gao ◽  
Wenyang Deng ◽  
Wenqing Chen ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-24
Author(s):  
Olena S. Danylchenko ◽  
Anatolii О. Kornus ◽  
Olesia H. Kornus ◽  
Olha О. Vynarchuk

The article is devoted to the study of the life potential support of the population, which reflects living conditions of the population in specific geosystems (on the example of the Sumy region, Ukraine). The main purpose of the article is to assess the geo-ecological potential of the regional landscape structures, namely the landscape districts of the Sumy region. The article highlights the theoretical and methodological foundations of the geoecological potential research, substantiates the theoretical aspects of the of “geo-ecological potential” concept, describes in detail the methodology of assessing geo-ecological potential, which is evaluated on the basis of natural geosystem potential, geosystem sustainability potential and technogenic geosystem load. The assessment of the natural potential of the Sumy region landscape districts (based on the humidity coefficient, the sum of active temperatures above 10°C, hydrothermal potential of phytomass productivity, annual precipitation, adverse natural processes such as landslides, flooding, rising groundwater levels, erosion, dry winds, hail, fogs) is conducted and the levels (low, below average, average and high) of the natural potential are defined. Three districts of the environmental sustainability of the regional landscape districts are established on the basis of component-by-component assessment of the meteorological potential of the atmosphere, surface water and soil sustainability potential, as well as biotic potential: below average, average and above average. The indicators of the population density of the region, coefficient of the territorial production concentration, economic development of lands (agricultural lands, built-up lands and open lands without vegetation), environmental pollution of the region (radiation and chemical air pollution, pollution of natural waters and soils) and the integrated indicator of technogenic load, which allows to establish the following levels of the technogenic load on the landscape districts of the region: below average, average and above average, are analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of the geo-ecological potential, which allows to establish 5 levels, of which only 3 are presented in Sumy region, based on which areas of geo-ecological potential of the landscape districts are identified: below average, average and above average and a map of the geo-ecological potential areas is created. It is established that the indicator of the geo-ecological potential of the landscape districts of the Sumy region ranges from 0.05 Psel-Vorskla landscape district (below average level) to 1.07 Esman’-Kleven’ landscape district (above average level). It is established that the higher the values of the natural potential and sustainability of the natural environment and the lower the indicators of technogenic load, the higher are the values of the geo-ecological potential.


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