scholarly journals Long-term cropping system studies support intensive and responsive cropping systems in the low-rainfall Australian Mallee

2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Whitbread ◽  
C. W. Davoren ◽  
V. V. S. R. Gupta ◽  
R. Llewellyn ◽  
the late D. Roget
Keyword(s):  
Crop Residue ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Continuous Cropping ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
No Till ◽  
Residue Retention ◽  
Term Field

Continuous-cropping systems based on no-till and crop residue retention have been widely adopted across the low-rainfall cereal belt in southern Australia in the last decade to manage climate risk and wind erosion. This paper reports on two long-term field experiments that were established in the late 1990s on texturally different soil types at a time of uncertainty about the profitability of continuous-cropping rotations in low-rainfall environments. Continuous-cereal systems significantly outyielded the traditional pasture–wheat systems in five of the 11 seasons at Waikerie (light-textured soil), resulting in a cumulative gross margin of AU$1600 ha–1 after the initial eight seasons, almost double that of the other treatments. All rotation systems at Kerribee (loam-textured soil) performed poorly, with only the 2003 season producing yields close to 3 t ha–1 and no profit achieved in the years 2004–08. For low-rainfall environments, the success of a higher input cropping system largely depends on the ability to offset the losses in poor seasons by capturing greater benefits from good seasons; therefore, strategies to manage climatic risk are paramount. Fallow efficiency, or the efficiency with which rainfall was stored during the period between crops, averaged 17% at Kerribee and 30% at Waikerie, also indicating that soil texture strongly influences soil evaporation. A ‘responsive’ strategy of continuous cereal with the occasional, high-value ‘break crop’ when seasonal conditions are optimal is considered superior to fixed or pasture–fallow rotations for controlling grass, disease or nutritional issues.

Molecular characterization of soil organic matter and its extractable humic fraction from long-term field experiments under different cropping systems

Geoderma ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 383 ◽  
pp. 114700
Author(s):  
Claudia Savarese ◽  
Marios Drosos ◽  
Riccardo Spaccini ◽  
Vincenza Cozzolino ◽  
Alessandro Piccolo
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Molecular Characterization ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Humic Fraction ◽  
Term Field

scholarly journals Impacts of Repeated Glyphosate Use on Wheat-Associated Bacteria Are Small and Depend on Glyphosate Use History

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Schlatter ◽  
Chuntao Yin ◽  
Scot Hulbert ◽  
Ian Burke ◽  
Timothy Paulitz
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
No Till ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Use

ABSTRACT Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide worldwide and a critical tool for weed control in no-till cropping systems. However, there are concerns about the nontarget impacts of long-term glyphosate use on soil microbial communities. We investigated the impacts of repeated glyphosate treatments on bacterial communities in the soil and rhizosphere of wheat in soils with and without long-term history of glyphosate use. We cycled wheat in the greenhouse using soils from 4 paired fields under no-till (20+-year history of glyphosate) or no history of use. At each cycle, we terminated plants with glyphosate (2× the field rate) or by removing the crowns, and soil and rhizosphere bacterial communities were characterized. Location, cropping history, year, and proximity to the roots had much stronger effects on bacterial communities than did glyphosate, which only explained 2 to 5% of the variation. Less than 1% of all taxa were impacted by glyphosate, more in soils with a long history of use, and more increased than decreased in relative abundance. Glyphosate had minimal impacts on soil and rhizosphere bacteria of wheat, although dying roots after glyphosate application may provide a “greenbridge” favoring some copiotrophic taxa. IMPORTANCE Glyphosate (Roundup) is the most widely used herbicide in the world and the foundation of Roundup Ready soybeans, corn, and the no-till cropping system. However, there have been recent concerns about nontarget impacts of glyphosate on soil microbes. Using next-generation sequencing methods and glyphosate treatments of wheat plants, we described the bacterial communities in the soil and rhizosphere of wheat grown in Pacific Northwest soils across multiple years, different locations, and soils with different histories of glyphosate use. The effects of glyphosate were subtle and much less than those of drivers such as location and cropping systems. Only a small percentage of the bacterial groups were influenced by glyphosate, and most of those were stimulated, probably because of the dying roots. This study provides important information for the future of this important tool for no-till systems and the environmental benefits of reducing soil erosion and fossil fuel inputs.

scholarly journals Tillage, Crop Rotation and Crop Residue Management Effects on Nutrient Availability in a Sweet Sorghum-Based Cropping System in Marginal Soils of South Africa

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mashapa E. Malobane ◽  
Adornis D. Nciizah ◽  
Fhatuwani N. Mudau ◽  
Isaiah I.C Wakindiki
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Nutrient Availability ◽  
Sweet Sorghum ◽  
Crop Residue ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Residue Management ◽  
Crop Residue Management ◽  
No Till ◽  
Marginal Soils ◽  
Residue Retention

The low soil fertility status of South African marginal soils threatens sustainable production of biofuel feedstock in smallholder farmers. It is therefore imperative to development sustainable and optimal management practices that improve soil fertility. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of tillage, rotation and crop residue management on nutrient availability in a bioenergy sweet sorghum-based cropping system in marginal soils. Two tillage levels, no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT); two crop rotations, sweet sorghum–grazing vetch–sweet sorghum (SVS) and sweet sorghum–fallow–sweet sorghum (SFS); and three crop residue retention levels, 0%, 15% and 30%, were tested. No-till enhanced total nitrogen, total organic nitrogen (TON), magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) by 3.19% to 45% compared to CT. SVS rotation increased ammonium (NH4+-N) and nitrate (NO3−-N) by 3.42% to 5.98% compared to SFS. A 30% crop residue retention increased NH4+-N, NO3−-N, available phosphorus (Available P), cation exchange capacity (CEC), calcium (Ca), Mg and potassium (K) by 3.58% to 31.94% compared to crop residue removal. In the short term, a 30% crop residue retention was the main treatment that enhanced soil fertility. The application of NT−30% was a better practice to enhance soil fertility. However, research on inclusion of crop diversity/intercropping can add more value to the NT–30% practice in enhancing soil fertility.

KMnO4 determination of active carbon for laboratory routines: three long-term field experiments in Austria

Soil Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 190 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tatzber ◽  
N. Schlatter ◽  
A. Baumgarten ◽  
G. Dersch ◽  
R. Körner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Organic Amendments ◽  
Sodium Oxalate ◽  
Tillage Systems ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Term Field

Recent studies show that a labile soil carbon (C) fraction determined with potassium permanganate (KMnO4) reflects the type of soil management. The present study combines the method for determining the active C (AC) pool with an alternative titration of the 0.02 m KMnO4 solution with sodium oxalate (Na2C2O4) for routine laboratory analyses. Three long-term field experiments investigated: (i) different cropping systems and 14C-labelled organic amendments, (ii) three different tillage systems, and (iii) the application of four different kinds of compost. The results showed the depletion of AC in the permanent bare-fallow system of the 14C-labelled field experiment. When calculating the ratio AC/total organic C (TOC), the depletion of the AC/TOC curve reflected a priming effect, in accord with previous work. We obtained significant positive correlations of AC with TOC, total nitrogen (Nt), humic acid-C and remaining 14C-labelled material. The AC in the tillage systems experiment was significantly (P < 0.05) different between all three tillage treatments at 0–10 cm depth, and the ratio AC/TOC also revealed a significant difference between minimum and conventional tillage treatments at 10–20 cm. For the compost field experiment, significant differences occurred between plots fertilised solely with N and plots receiving organic amendments. The AC/TOC ratio of the sewage sludge amendment was significantly lower than in all other systems. Correlations of AC with TOC for all samples of the different long-term field experiments revealed different behaviours in different soil types. The correlations of AC with Nt showed higher coefficients than with TOC. The applied methodology has a potential for sensitive and reliable detections of differences in soil organic matter characteristics.

scholarly journals SOCIOECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF NO-TILL IN WHEAT CROPPING SYSTEM: A CASE STUDY IN ALGERIA

New Medit ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amar Rouabhi ◽  
Abdelmalek Laouar ◽  
Abdelhamid Mekhlouk ◽  
Boubaker Dhehibi
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Work Time ◽  
System A ◽  
No Till

This paper aimed at the socioeconomic appraisal of two cropping systems namely no-till and tilled wheat in Sétif region (Algeria). The study based on a sample of 28 adherent farms in an international project of Conservation Agriculture adoption for smallholders in North Africa. Economic diagnosis showed that no-till system performed best with a gross margin difference of $ 84/ha in comparison with conventional tilled wheat. Moreover, no-till recorded less work time and fuel consumption, with 241minutes/ha and 42 liters/ha against 624 minutes/ha and 99 liters/ha for conventional tillage. Though, no-till still faced some local social and technical constraints that are relatively easy to overcome. If Algeria put forward its best efforts through increasing no-till in the suitable zones, many objectives could be achieved in the context of preserving natural resources and building up farming sustainability. It could be also a key solution for “Intended Nationally Determined Contribution” (INDCs) schemes to meet Algerian commitments regarding “Paris Agreement” on climate change.

ECONOMIC AND STOCHASTIC EFFICIENCY COMPARISON OF EXPERIMENTAL TILLAGE SYSTEMS IN CORN AND SOYABEAN UNDER RISK

2011 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
EIHAB M. FATHELRAHMAN ◽  
JAMES C. ASCOUGH ◽  
DANA L. HOAG ◽  
ROBERT W. MALONE ◽  
PHILIP HEILMAN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Risk Aversion ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Tillage Systems ◽  
Net Return ◽  
Continuous Corn ◽  
No Till ◽  
Tillage System

SUMMARYThere are many reasons why agricultural researchers carefully evaluate approaches to experimental data analysis. Agricultural experiments are typically highly complex, with many types of variables often collected at a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Furthermore, research in the developing world is often conducted on-farm where simple and conventional experimental designs are often unsuitable. Recently, a variant of stochastic dominance called stochastic efficiency with respect to a function (SERF) has been developed and used to analyse long-term experimental data. Unlike traditional stochastic dominance approaches, SERF uses the concept of certainty equivalents (CEs) to rank a set of risk-efficient alternatives instead of finding a subset of dominated alternatives. This study evaluates the efficacy of the SERF methodology for analysing conventional and conservation tillage systems using 14 years (1990–2003) of economic budget data collected from 36 experimental plots at the Iowa State University Northeast Research Station near Nashua, IA, USA. Specifically, the SERF approach is used to examine which of two different tillage systems (chisel plough and no-till) on continuous corn (Zea mays) and corn/soyabean (Glycine max) rotation cropping systems are the most risk-efficient in terms of maximizing economic profitability (gross margin and net return) by crop across a range of risk aversion preferences. In addition to the SERF analysis, we also conduct an economic analysis of the tillage system alternatives using mean-standard deviation and coefficient of variation for ranking purposes. Decision criteria analysis of the economic measures alone provided somewhat contradictive and non-conclusive rankings, e.g. examination of the decision criteria results for gross margin and net return showed that different tillage system alternatives were the highest ranked depending on the criterion and the cropping system (e.g. individual or rotation). SERF analysis results for the tillage systems were also dependent on the cropping system (individual, rotation or whole-farm combined) and economic outcome of interest (gross margin or net return) but only marginally on the level of risk aversion. For the individual cropping systems (continuous corn, rotation corn and rotation soyabean), the no-till tillage and rotation soyabean system was the most preferred and the chisel plough tillage and continuous corn system the least preferred across the entire range of risk aversion for both gross margin and net return. The no-till tillage system was preferred to the chisel plough tillage system when ranking within the continuous corn and the corn-soyabean rotation cropping systems for both gross margin and net return. Finally, when analysing the tillage system alternatives on a whole-farm basis (i.e. combined continuous corn and corn-soybean rotation), the no-till tillage system was clearly preferred to the chisel plough tillage system for both gross margin and net return. This study indicates that the SERF method appears to be a useful and easily understood tool to assist farm managers, experimental researchers and, potentially, policy makers and advisers on problems involving agricultural risk.

scholarly journals The dry nitrogen yields nitrogen uptake, and the efficacy on nitrogen fertilisation in long-term experiment in Prague

2011 ◽  
Vol 49 (No. 8) ◽  
pp. 337-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Kubát ◽  
J. Klír ◽  
D. Pova
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Beet ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Spring Wheat ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
N Uptake ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Term Field

Long-term field experiments conducted under different soil and climate conditions and their databases provide invaluable information and are indispensable means in the study of the productivity and sustainability of the soil management systems. We evaluated the results of the dry matter yields of the main products obtained with four variants of organic and mineral fertilisation in three long-term field experiments established in 1955. The experiments differed in the cultivated crops. The period of evaluation was 12 and 16 years (1985&ndash;2000), respectively. The productivity of nine-year crop rotation was lower with the fertilised variants than that with the alternative growing of spring wheat and sugar beets. The dry matter yields on the Nil variants, however, were higher in the crop rotation than in the alternate sugar beet and spring wheat growing, apparently due to the symbiotic nitrogen fixation. The dry matter yields of sugar beet and mainly of spring wheat declined in almost all variants of fertilisation in the alternate sugar beet and spring wheat growing, over the evaluated time period. In spite of the relatively high dry matter production, the declining yields indicated a lower sustainability of the alternate cropping system. Both organic and mineral fertilisation increased the production of the cultivated crops. The differences in the average dry matter yields were statistically significant. Both organic and mineral fertilisation enhanced significantly the N-uptake by the cultivated crops. The effectivity of nitrogen input was the highest with the alternate cropping of sugar beet and spring wheat indicating that it was more demanding for the external N-input and thus less sustainable than nine-year crop rotation.

Liming demand and plant growth improvements for an Oxisol under long-term no-till cropping

2017 ◽  
Vol 155 (7) ◽  
pp. 1093-1112 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. A. CARMEIS FILHO ◽  
C. A. C. CRUSCIOL ◽  
A. M. CASTILHOS
Keyword(s):  
Root Length Density ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
No Tillage ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
No Till ◽  
Rotation Scheme ◽  
Tropical Conditions ◽  
Tillage System

SUMMARYThe adequate management of soil acidity has long been a challenge in no-till (NT) cropping systems. Some studies conducted in sub-tropical conditions have demonstrated the feasibility of surface liming. However, for tropical regions with dry winters, little long-term information about adequate rates and frequencies of application is available. A 12-year field trial was performed under a tropical no-tillage system with an annual crop rotation scheme. The treatments were composed of four lime rates (0, 1000, 2000 and 4000 kg/ha), estimated via the base saturation (BS) method. Surface application of lime was found to be an effective method for improving the soil fertility profile under this long-term NT cropping system. All three acidity components (pH, hydrogen + aluminium (H + Al), exchangeable Al) and some fertility attributes (phosphorus, exchangeable calcium and magnesium, and BS) were adjusted to a linear function, and better soil chemical conditions were obtained in the 4000 kg/ha treatment, even 4 years after the final application. Due to soil chemical changes, the root length density of wheat and common bean was greater at depths <0·20 m, which led to a higher grain yield, even under unfavourable weather conditions. The results indicate that the application of lime at higher rates can be an acceptable criterion for a tropical Oxisol under a no-tillage system, reducing the frequency of lime application.

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