The importance of long-term trials in understanding sustainable farming systems: the Rothamsted experience

1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 825 ◽  
Author(s):  
PR Poulton
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Soil Types ◽  
Sustainable Farming ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Long Term Experiments

This paper gives examples of how long-term experiments can be used t o improve our understanding of sustainable farming systems. Rothamsted conducts more than 20 long-term (>20 years) experiments in south-eastern England; several were started in the middle of the last century. Some have continued with minor changes, others have been modified considerably t o ensure their continuation and relevance. Examples are given of the effect on soils and crop yields of organic matter, the availability of P, and acidification. The use of archived material in addressing problems not even considered when the experiments began is also discussed. Long-term experiments are essential in determining the factors affecting soil fertility and sustainable production. In many cases, effects may only be observed or interactions become apparent over an extended time. Full use should be made of existing experiments and data; in particular, those on different soil types and under different climatic conditions should be compared so that the information is valuable to farmers, advisers, legislators, and other scientists in both the local and wider community.

scholarly journals The Rothamsted long-term experiments: Are they still relevant?

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 559-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. R. Poulton
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Global Change ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Atmospheric Pollution ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Land Management Practice ◽  
Long Term Experiments

Maintaining soil fertility and sustaining or increasing crop yield is of worldwide importance. Many factors impact upon the complex biological, chemical and physical processes which govern soil fertility. Changes in fertility caused by acidification, declining levels of organic matter, or P and K status may take many years to appear. These properties can in turn be affected by external influences such as atmospheric pollution, global change, or changes in land management practice. Long-term experiments provide the best practical means of studying changes in soil properties and processes and providing information for farmers, scientists and policy makers. This paper shows how the experiments run at Rothamsted in southeast England continue to provide data which are highly relevant to today's agriculture and wider environmental concerns. Examples are given of how crop yield is affected by soil organic matter, by pests and disease and by P nutrition. The effect of atmospheric pollution on soil acidity and the mobilization of heavy metals are also examined. The need for making better use of existing long-term experiments is stressed. Key words: Soil fertility, sustainability, long-term experiments, global change

EuroSOMNET – a European database of long-term experiments on soil organic matter: the WWW metadatabase

2002 ◽  
Vol 138 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. SMITH ◽  
P. D. FALLOON ◽  
M. KÖRSCHENS ◽  
L. K. SHEVTSOVA ◽  
U. FRANKO ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
European Database ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Long Term Experiments

Since 1997, the EuroSOMNET project, funded by the EU-ENRICH programme, has assembled a metadatabase, and separate experimental databases, of European long-term experiments that investigate changes in soil organic matter. In this paper, we describe the WWW-based metadatabase, which is a product of this project. The database holds detailed records of 110 long-term soil organic matter experiments, giving a wide geographical coverage of Europe, and includes experiments from the European part of the former Soviet Union, many of which have not been available previously. For speed of access, records are stored as hyper-text mark-up language (HTML) files. In this paper, we describe the metadatabase, the experiments for which records are held, the information stored about each experiment, and summarize the main characteristics of these experiments. Details from the metadatabase have already been used to examine regional trends in soil organic matter in Germany and eastern Europe, to construct and calibrate a regional statistical model of humus balance in Russia, to examine the effects of climatic conditions on soil organic matter dynamics, to estimate the potential for carbon sequestration in agricultural soils in Europe, and to test and improve soil organic matter models. The EuroSOMNET metadatabase provides information applicable to a wide range of agricultural and environmental questions and can be accessed freely via the EuroSOMNET home page at URL: http://www.iacr.bbsrc.ac.uk/aen/eusomnet/index.htm.

FARMING IN OTAGO

1958 ◽  
pp. 11-26
Author(s):  
A.G. Elliott
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Soil Types ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Total Acreage ◽  
The Many

The land district of Otago, comprising the counties of Waitaki, Waihemo, Waikouaiti, Taieri, Peninsula, Bruce, Clutha, Tuapeka, Lake, Vincent, and Maniototo, contains the greatest variations in climatic conditions, topography, and soil types. Consequently, a detailed description of. the farming systems practised in each of the many categories into which land use may be subdivided is beyond the scope of this paper, which will deal broadly with a description of farming in the principal areas of the region. The fascinating story of settlement, which commenced over 100 years ago, has been published in several books freely available to all interested and some of the results from earlier practices, now recognised to be damaging to soil fertility and stability, will be discussed in a later section. The total acreage in occupation is over 8 million and this extends from the intensively farmed alluvial plains at sea level to the summer grazed natural grasslands at altitudes of over 5,000 ft.

scholarly journals Crop Yield and Soil Fertility Status of Long-Term Rice-Rice-Wheat Cropping Systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-50
Author(s):  
Nabin Rawal ◽  
Rajan Ghimire ◽  
Devraj Chalise
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Oryza Sativa L ◽  
Farmyard Manure ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Nutrient Supply ◽  
Available Phosphorus

Balanced nutrient supply is important for the sustainable crop production. We evaluated the effects of nutrient management practices on soil properties and crop yields in rice (Oryza sativa L.) - rice - wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) system in a long-term experiment established at National Wheat Research Program (NWRP), Bhairahawa, Nepal. The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block experiment with nine treatments and three replications. Treatments were applied as: T1- no nutrients added, T2- N added; T3- N and P added; T4- N and K added; T5- NPK added at recommended rate for all crops. Similarly, T6- only N added in rice and NPK in wheat at recommended rate; T7- half N; T8- half NP of recommended rate for both crops; and T9- farmyard manure (FYM) @10 Mg ha-1 for all crops in rotation. Results of the study revealed that rice and wheat yields were significantly greater under FYM than all other treatments. Treatments that did not receive P (T2, T3, T7, T8) and K (T2, T4) had considerably low wheat yield than treatments that received NPK (T5) and FYM (T9). The FYM lowered soil pH and improved soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (P), and exchangeable potassium (K) contents than other treatments. Management practices that ensure nutrient supply can increase crop yield and improve soil fertility status.Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 5(1): 42-50

scholarly journals Organik Matter: It’s Role in Sustainable Farming of Sugarcane

Perspektif ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Djajadi Djajadi
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Green Manure ◽  
Organic Fertilizer ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Cane Yield ◽  
Sustainable Farming

<p class="Default">ABSTRACT</p><p class="Default">Organik matter has an important role in determining soil health of sugarcane, i.e. soil capacity to support sugarcane to produce sustainable high yield. Soil organic matter influences soil physical, chemical, and biological properties, so that a consequence of declining soil organic matter is poorer soil fertility and lower yield. This paper has an objective to elucidate the important role of organic matter on sustainable farming of sugarcane. The important role of organic matter in soil fertility has been known for a long time before Green Revolution concept was introduced. With more intensity in sugarcane farming and more increasing of sugar demand, application of organic fertilizer started to be substituted by chemical fertilizer. Using green manure and/or biofertilizer has a chance to be spread out to the farmers due to more practical and more efficient than solid organik fertilizer, such as dung manure or compost. Future research should be focusing on the efectivity of green manure and or biofertilzer sources in improving soil fertility and cane yield, minimizing soil pathogen, reducing soil erosion of sugar cane land monoculture, and improving awareness of farmers about soil degradation as consequences of sugarcane monoculture planting for years.</p><p class="Default">Keywords: Organic matter, sugarcane, soil health sustainable farming</p><p class="Default"> </p><p class="Default"><strong>Bahan Organik: Peranannya dalam Budidaya Tebu Berkelanjutan</strong></p><p class="Default">ABSTRAK</p><p class="Default">Bahan organik tanah berperan penting dalam menentukan kesehatan tanah tebu, yaitu kapasitas tanah yang dapat mendukung produksi tebu yang tinggi secara berkelanjutan. Kadar bahan organik tanah mempengaruhi sifat fisik, kimia dan biologi tanah. Paper ini bertujuan untuk menguraikan tentang peranan bahan organik dalam memperbaiki sifat fisik, kimia dan biologi tanah pertanaman tebu. Pentingnya peran bahan oganik tersebut sudah disadari dari dulu, sehingga sebelum revolusi hijau penggunaan pupuk organik sudah umum dilakukan petani. Dengan semakin intensifnya budidaya tebu dan semakin meningkatnya kebutuhan gula, pemanfaatan pupuk organik sudah jarang dilakukan. Diperlukan usaha untuk meningkatkan dan mempertahankan kadar bahan organik pada lahan tebu, antara lain berupa gerakan masal dalam bentuk gerakan nasional melalui program aplikasi bahan organik. Pemanfaatan pupuk hijau dan/atau pupuk hayati berpeluang untuk diterapkan karena lebih praktis dan efisien daripada penambahan pupuk organik padat. Penelitian ke depan perlu difokuskan untuk mengkaji jenis-jenis pupuk organik dan pupuk hayati yang efektif memperbaiki kesuburan, dalam menekan serangan penyakit, meminimalkan erosi pada lahan-lahan tebu monokultur, dan meningkatkan kesadaran petani tebu tentang terjadinya degradasi lahan akibat penanaman tebu yang terus menerus.</p><p class="Default">Kata kunci: Bahan organik, tebu, kesehatan tanah, budidaya berkelanjutan</p><p class="Default"> </p>

Conservation agriculture for climate smart agriculture in smallholder farming systems in Kenya.

2022 ◽  
pp. 431-442
Author(s):  
Alfred Micheni ◽  
Patrick Gicheru ◽  
Onesmus Kitonyo
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Yield Increase ◽  
Adequate Food ◽  
Labour Requirement ◽  
Smart Agriculture

Abstract Climate change is any significant change in climatic conditions. Such changes may negatively affect productivity of the rain-fed agriculture practised by over 75% of the smallholder Kenyan farmers. The effect leads to failure to sustainably provide adequate food and revenue to famers. It is on this basis that an almost 8-year field study was conducted to evaluate and scale climate resilient agricultural technological options associated with Conservation Agriculture (CA) systems and practices (no-till; maintenance of permanent soil cover; and crop diversification - rotations and associations), complemented with good agricultural strategies. The activities involved were targeted to sustainably increase productivity of maize-legumes farming systems while reducing environmental risks. The results showed improved soil properties (physical, chemical and health) and consequently increased crop yields and human nutrition by over 30%. Such benefits were attributed to cost savings arising from NT and reduced labour requirement for weed control. This was further based on enhanced crop soil moisture and nutrients availability and use efficiency leading to over 25% yield increase advantage. Apart from the field trials, the study used the Agricultural Production Simulator (APSIM) computer model to simulate CA scenario with the aim of providing potential quick answers to adopting CA practices for farm system productivity. The results were inclusively shared, leading to over 21% increase in the number of farmers adopting the CA practices within and beyond the project sites. The study's overall recommendation affirmed the need to integrate the CA practices into Kenyan farming systems for sustainable agricultural livelihoods and economic opportunities.

scholarly journals Development of scientific support and prototype multilevel information resource system for creating digital farming systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 00002
Author(s):  
Vladimir Badenko ◽  
Alexander Fedotov ◽  
Alexander Tarakanov ◽  
Anton Terentev ◽  
Rahul Dev Garg
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Information Resource ◽  
Agricultural Activities ◽  
Scientific Support ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Resource System ◽  
Digital Farming

In the context of changing political, socio-economic, natural and climatic conditions, there is a need for effective tools to manage agricultural activities. Such tools are digital farming systems, which are a set of interconnected agrotechnical, reclamation and organizational measures aimed at the effective use of agricultural landscapes, preservation and improvement of soil fertility, and obtaining high crop yields. The paper describes the basics of development of scientific support and a prototype of the multilevel information resource system for creating digital farming systems.

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