residue retention
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2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 543
Author(s):  
Mukhtar Ahmad Faiz ◽  
Ram Swaroop Bana ◽  
Anil Kumar Choudhary ◽  
Alison M. Laing ◽  
Ruchi Bansal ◽  
...  

Pearl millet-based cropping systems with intensive tillage operations prior to sowing have limited sustainable productivity in the low-irrigation conditions of semi-arid farming ecologies, such as those in the north Indian plains. The adoption of improved management practices such as zero tillage with residue retention (ZTR) and diversification with the inclusion of summer pulse crops has the potential to improve cropping system sustainability. Therefore, an experiment was designed to compare two improved management practices, zero tillage (ZT) and ZTR, to conventional tillage (CT), across three pearl millet-based cropping systems: pearl millet–chickpea (PM–CP), PM–CP–mungbean (MB), and PM–CP–forage pearl millet in a two-year experiment. Experimental treatments were compared in terms of pearl millet productivity, mineral biofortification, and greenhouse gas emissions. Results showed a significant increase in pearl millet yield attributes, grain and stover productivity, nutrient uptake, and micronutrient biofortification in the PM–CP–MB cropping system under ZTR relative to other treatment combinations. On-farm evaluation at different locations also showed that the intensification of PM–CP system using summer crops enhanced pearl millet productivity across diverse tillage systems. Overall, zero tillage practices combined with diversified pearl millet-based cropping systems are likely to be management practices, which farmers can use to sustainably maintain or increase cropping system productivity in the various semi-arid areas of the world.


2022 ◽  
pp. 293-304
Author(s):  
Lindah Muzangwa ◽  
Isaac Gura ◽  
Sixolise Mcinga ◽  
Pearson Nyari Mnkeni ◽  
Cornelius Chiduza

Abstract Conservation Agriculture (CA) promotes soil health, but issues to do with soil health are poorly researched in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. This study reports on findings from a field trial done on the effects of tillage, crop rotations composed of maize (Zea mays L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) and residue management on a number of soil health parameters such as carbon (C)-sequestration, CO2 fluxes, enzyme activities, earthworm biomass and the Soil Management Assessment Framework soil quality index (SMAF-SQI). The field trial was done in a semi-arid region of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, over five cropping seasons (2012-2015). It was laid out as a split-split plot with tillage [conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT)] as main plot treatment. Sub-treatments were crop rotations: maize-fallow-maize (MFM), maize-fallow-soybean (MFS); maize-wheat-maize (MWM) and maize-wheat-soybean (MWS). Residue management: removal (R-) and retention (R+) were in the sub-sub-plots. Particulate organic matter (POM), soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and enzyme activities were significantly (p < 0.05) improved by residue retention and legume rotation compared to residue removal and cereal-only rotations. Also, carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes under CT were higher compared to NT. The calculated soil quality index (SQI) was greatly improved by NT and residue retention. MWM and MWS rotations, in conjunction with residue retention under NT, offered the greatest potential for building soil health. Residue retention and inclusion of soybean in crop rotations are recommended for improving soil health under CA systems in the semi-arid regions of South Africa.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0260946
Author(s):  
Lana Awada ◽  
Cecil Nagy ◽  
Peter W. B. Phillips

The global crop sector is estimated to contribute about 10.4% of global GHGs annually. The Canadian crop sector is assessed as adding about 6.5% to total national emissions. These estimates over report the impact of farming as they ignore the complex interaction of cropping with the environment and the role land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) play in sequestering carbon. This study quantifies the contribution of land use to GHG emissions and removals in the Canadian Prairies crop sector between 1985 and 2016. The modeling effort explores how different farming practices (i.e., conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), zero tillage (ZT), summerfallow, crop rotations, and residue retention) and input usage rates (i.e., fertilizer and fuel) affect GHG emissions in different soil climate zones and provinces in the Prairies region. The adoption of sustainable practices led to an 80% decline in GHG emissions in the crop sector between 1985 and 2016. Since 2005, the baseline for Canada’s Paris commitment, sectoral emissions dropped 53%, more than is required to meet the 2030 target. Most promising, the crop sector was a net GHG sink between 2013 and 2016 in Alberta and between 2006 and 2016 in Saskatchewan. As positive as these developments have been, more can be done by directing research to identify options for reducing GHGs in Manitoba (which made only minimal improvements as farmers there faced conditions requiring continuous use of conventional tillage practices), to explore better nitrogen management (a major continuing source of GHG from cropping) and by searching for low carbon transport options.


Author(s):  
Christian Thierfelder ◽  
Eric Paterson ◽  
Lumbani Mwafulirwa ◽  
Tim J Daniell ◽  
Jill E Cairns ◽  
...  

Abstract Climate change and soil fertility decline are major threats to smallholder farmers' food and nutrition security in southern Africa, and cropping systems that improve soil health are needed to address these challenges. Cropping systems that invest in soil organic matter, such as no-tillage (NT) with crop residue retention, have been proposed as potential solutions. However, a key challenge for assessing the sustainability of NT systems is that soil carbon (C) stocks develop over long timescales, and there is an urgent need to identify trajectory indicators of sustainability and crop productivity. Here we examined the effects of NT as compared with conventional tillage without residue retention on relationships between soil characteristics and maize (Zea mays L.) productivity in long-term on-farm and on-station trials in Zimbabwe. Our results show that relationships between soil characteristics and maize productivity, and the effects of management on these relationships, varied with soil type. Total soil nitrogen (N) and C were strong predictors of maize grain yield and above-ground biomass (i.e., stover) in the clayey soils, but not in the sandy soils, under both managements. This highlights context-specific benefits of management that fosters the accumulation of soil C and N stocks. Despite a strong effect of NT management on soil C and N in sandy soils, this accrual was not sufficient to support increased crop productivity in these soils. We suggest that sandy soils should be the priority target of NT with organic resource inputs interventions in southern Africa, as mineral fertilizer inputs alone will not halt the soil fertility decline. This will require a holistic management approach and input of C in various forms (e.g., biomass from cover crops and tree components, crop residues, in combination with mineral fertilizers). Clayey soils on the other hand have greater buffering capacity against detrimental effects of soil tillage and low C input.


Author(s):  
Chiranjeev Kumawat ◽  
V. K. Sharma ◽  
Mandira Barman ◽  
M. C. Meena ◽  
B. S. Dwivedi ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 497 ◽  
pp. 119517
Author(s):  
K.L. Webster ◽  
P.W. Hazlett ◽  
G. Brand ◽  
S.A. Nelson ◽  
M.J. Primavera ◽  
...  

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1650
Author(s):  
Nazmus Salahin ◽  
Md. Khairul Alam ◽  
Sharif Ahmed ◽  
Mohammad Jahiruddin ◽  
Ahmed Gaber ◽  
...  

Very little is known about the changes that occur in soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) under an intensive rice-based cropping system following the change to minimal tillage and increased crop residue retention in the Gangetic Plains of South Asia. The field experiment was conducted for 3 years at Rajbari, Bangladesh to examine the impact of tillage practices and crop residue retention on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. The experiment comprised four tillage practices—conventional tillage (CT), zero tillage (ZT), strip-tillage (ST), and bed planting (BP) in combination with two residue retention levels—increased residue (R50%) and low residue (R20%—the current practice). The TN, SOC, and mineral N (NH4+-N and NO3−-N) were measured in the soil at different crop growth stages. After 3 years, ZT, ST, and BP sequestered 12, 11, and 6% more SOC, and 18, 13, and 10% more TN, respectively than the conventional crop establishment practice at 0–5 cm soil depth. The accumulation of SOC and TN was also higher compared to the initial SOC and TN in soil. Among the tillage practices, the maximum SOC and TN sequestration were recorded with ST and with R50% that might be attributed to reduced mineralization of C and N in soil particularly with increased residue retention, since decay rates of potentially mineralizable C was lower in the ST with both the residue retention practices. Increased residue retention and minimum tillage practices after nine consecutive crops has altered the C and N cycling by slowing the in-season turnover of C and N, reducing the level of nitrate-N available to plants in the growing season and increasing retained soil levels of SOC and TN.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1465
Author(s):  
Tamer El-Shater ◽  
Yigezu A. Yigezu

Conservation agriculture (CA) involving zero tillage, crop diversification, and residue retention is considered a panacea for several interrelated problems in agricultural production. However, in the mixed crop-livestock production systems of the drylands, crop residues have great significance as sources of animal feed, posing a major challenge in the promotion of CA. While the economic benefits and the drivers of adoption of zero tillage and rotation have been well documented, the literature on the economics of residue retention (RR), especially in the drylands, is scanty. By applying the endogenous switching regression model to a case study of 2296 wheat fields in Morocco, this paper provides evidence on the socio-economic impacts of residue retention. Between 30% and 60% and above 60% of crop residues were retained respectively on 35% and 14% of wheat fields. These levels of residue retention led to 22% and 29% more yields, 25% and 32% higher gross margins and 22% and 25% more consumption of wheat, respectively. Retention of above 60% residue reduces both downside risk and variability of yield while lower levels of residue retention have mixed effects. Residue retention is economically and biophysically beneficial even for owners of livestock as the monetary value of the additional grain yield more than offsets the cost of purchasing an equivalent amount of feed from the market—all providing good economic justification for residue retention. Our findings show that economic reasons are not barriers for adoption of residue retention, but risk factors and absence of alternative feed sources might. The policy implication of our results is that there are high incentives for Morocco and other similar countries in North Africa and West Asia to invest in the development and/or import of alternative feed sources, introducing crop insurance, and raising the awareness of the economic, biophysical and environmental benefits of residue retention among farmers.


Author(s):  
Hao Gai ◽  
Tingwu Yan ◽  
Anran Zhang ◽  
William David Batchelor ◽  
Yun Tian

Over the past decade, crop residue burning after harvest is prevalent in developing countries. Promoting crop residue retention to replace residue burning is effective in improving air quality and contributing to the mitigation of global climate change. This study examines farmers’ continuance intention of crop residue retention, using the expectation confirmation model (ECM) and survey data from 542 rice farmers in Hubei Province, P.R. The results show that farmers’ perceived usefulness, confirmation, perceived ease of use, and satisfaction significantly have direct or indirect positive impacts on their continuance intention on adopting crop residue retention. In particular, perceived ease of use contributes the most. Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use act as intermediaries in the relationship between confirmation and farmers’ continuance intention to residue retention. This study provides a valuable governance reference and scientific basis for the government to adjust and improve existing policies, including how to stimulate farmers to continue to adopt agricultural waste treatment technologies such as residue retention.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Muhammad Farooq ◽  
Naqib Ullah ◽  
Faisal Nadeem ◽  
Ahmad Nawaz ◽  
Kadambot H. M. Siddique

Summary Continuous rotation of rice with wheat in rice–wheat system has resulted in stagnant yields and reduced profit margins while deteriorating the soil health. Legume incorporation in existing rice–wheat rotations might be a viable option to improve soil health and productivity. We investigated the influence of puddled transplanted flooded rice and direct-seeded rice on weed dynamics, soil health, productivity, and profitability of post-rice wheat and chickpea grown under zero tillage and conventional tillage. The previous direct-seeded rice crop was either sown alone or intercropped with sesbania as brown manure. The experiment comprised different rice–wheat and rice–chickpea systems which had been in place for two years: with and without rice residue retention. The initial soil analysis indicated that the plots with sesbania brown manuring in direct-seeded rice had the lowest soil bulk density (17.2%) and highest soil porosity (19.3%). Zero tillage in wheat or chickpea in the plots previously cultivated with co-culture of sesbania and direct-seeded rice increased total soil organic carbon by 13–22% in both years. The plots with sesbania brown manuring in direct-seeded rice followed by zero till or conventional till wheat and the plots with direct-seeded rice followed by zero till wheat with rice residue retention recorded the greater concentrations of total nitrogen, available phosphorus, and exchangeable potassium. Zero tillage in wheat and chickpea in post-rice sesbania brown manuring plots produced 41% and 43% more grain yield than those in the puddled transplanted flooded rice with conventional tillage and had the highest profitability. Overall, the rice–chickpea systems had better soil health and profitability than rice–wheat cropping systems. In conclusion, direct-seeded rice intercropped with sesbania followed by wheat and chickpea under zero tillage suppressed weed flora and improved soil physical properties, nutrient availability, productivity, and profitability.


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