Suboptimal fertilisation compromises soil physical properties of a hard-setting sandy loam

Soil Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Lund Jensen ◽  
Per Schjønning ◽  
Bent T. Christensen ◽  
Lars Juhl Munkholm
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Animal Manure ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Pore Characteristics ◽  
The Impact

Nutrient management affects not only crop productivity and environmental quality, but also soil physical properties related to soil tilth. Previous studies on soil physical properties have focussed on effects of fertiliser type, whereas the effect of fertiliser rate has been neglected. We examined the impact of no fertilisation (UNF) and different rates of mineral fertiliser (½NPK and 1NPK) and animal manure (1½AM) on an ensemble of soil physical characteristics, with the amount of fertiliser added at level 1 corresponding to the standard rate of plant nutrients for a given crop. Soil was from the Askov long-term field experiment, initiated in 1894 on a hard-setting sandy loam. We assessed clay dispersibility, wet-stability of aggregates, aggregate strength, bulk soil strength and soil pore characteristics. The soils receiving 1NPK and 1½AM had similar soil physical properties, the only differences being a wider range in the optimum water content for tillage and more plant-available water in the soil amended with 1½AM. Suboptimal fertiliser rates (UNF and ½NPK) increased clay dispersibility, soil cohesion and bulk density, and reduced aggregate stability. The physical properties of soils exposed to suboptimal fertilisation indicate that the level of soil organic matter, including active organic binding and bonding materials, has become critically low due to reduced inputs of crop residues. While long-term suboptimal fertilisation compromises soil physical properties, crop-yield-optimised rates of mineral fertilisers and animal manure appear to sustain several soil physical properties equally well.

scholarly journals Stabilization of soil hydraulic properties under a long term no-till system

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
pp. 1281-1292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Alberto Lozano ◽  
Carlos Germán Soracco ◽  
Vicente S. Buda ◽  
Guillermo O. Sarli ◽  
Roberto Raúl Filgueira
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Conductivity ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Hydraulic Properties ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Water Retention Curve ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Tillage System ◽  
Crop Sequence

The area under the no-tillage system (NT) has been increasing over the last few years. Some authors indicate that stabilization of soil physical properties is reached after some years under NT while other authors debate this. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of the last crop in the rotation sequence (1st year: maize, 2nd year: soybean, 3rd year: wheat/soybean) on soil pore configuration and hydraulic properties in two different soils (site 1: loam, site 2: sandy loam) from the Argentinean Pampas region under long-term NT treatments in order to determine if stabilization of soil physical properties is reached apart from a specific time in the crop sequence. In addition, we compared two procedures for evaluating water-conducting macroporosities, and evaluated the efficiency of the pedotransfer function ROSETTA in estimating the parameters of the van Genuchten-Mualem (VGM) model in these soils. Soil pore configuration and hydraulic properties were not stable and changed according to the crop sequence and the last crop grown in both sites. For both sites, saturated hydraulic conductivity, K0, water-conducting macroporosity, εma, and flow-weighted mean pore radius, R0ma, increased from the 1st to the 2nd year of the crop sequence, and this was attributed to the creation of water-conducting macropores by the maize roots. The VGM model adequately described the water retention curve (WRC) for these soils, but not the hydraulic conductivity (K) vs tension (h) curve. The ROSETTA function failed in the estimation of these parameters. In summary, mean values of K0 ranged from 0.74 to 3.88 cm h-1. In studies on NT effects on soil physical properties, the crop effect must be considered.

Long-term effect of biochar on soil physical properties of agricultural soils with different textures

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Zanutel ◽  
Sarah Garré ◽  
Charles Bielders
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Particle Density ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Term Effect ◽  
Silt Loam ◽  
Long Term Effect

<p>In the context of global soil degradation, biochar is being promoted as a potential solution to improve soil quality, besides its carbon sequestration potential. Burying biochar in soils is known to effect soil physical quality in the short-term (<5 years), and the intensity of these effects depends on soil texture. However, the long-term effects of biochar remain largely unknown yet and are important to quantify given biochar’s persistency in soils. The objective of this study was therefore to assess the long-term effect of biochar on soil physical properties as a function of soil texture and biochar concentration.  For this purpose, soil physical properties (particle density, bulk density, porosity, water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves) were measured in the topsoil of three fields with former kiln sites containing charcoal more than 150 years old in Wallonia (southern Belgium).  The fields had a silt loam, loam and sandy loam texture.  Samples were collected along 3 transects in each field, from the center of the kiln sites outwards. </p><p>Particle density and bulk density slightly decreased as a function of charcoal content. Because particle density and bulk density were affected to a similar extent by charcoal content, total porosity was not affected by the presence of century-old charcoal. Regarding the soil water retention curve, charcoal affected mostly water content in the mesopore range. This effect was strongest for the sandy loam. On the other hand, the presence of century-old charcoal increased significantly the hydraulic conductivity at pF between 1.5 and 2 for the silt loam, while no effect of charcoal was observed for the loamy soil.  The study highlights a limited effect of century-old charcoal on the pore size distribution (at constant porosity) and on the resulting soil physical properties for the range of soils and charcoal concentrations investigated here.  Further research may be needed to confirm the observed trends over a wider range of soil types. </p>

scholarly journals Short and long-term effects of tillage systems and nutrient sources on soil physical properties of a Southern Brazilian Hapludox

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1437-1446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milton da Veiga ◽  
Dalvan José Reinert ◽  
José Miguel Reichert ◽  
Douglas Rodrigo Kaiser
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Crop Residues ◽  
Total Porosity ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Tillage Systems ◽  
Nutrient Sources ◽  
Over Time

Soil tillage promotes changes in soil structure. The magnitude of the changes varies with the nature of the soil, tillage system and soil water content and decreases over time after tillage. The objective of this study was to evaluate short-term (one year period) and long-term (nine year period) effects of soil tillage and nutrient sources on some physical properties of a very clayey Hapludox. Five tillage systems were evaluated: no-till (NT), chisel plow + one secondary disking (CP), primary + two (secondary) diskings (CT), CT with burning of crop residues (CTb), and CT with removal of crop residues from the field (CTr), in combination with five nutrient sources: control without nutrient application (C); mineral fertilizers, according to technical recommendations for each crop (MF); 5 Mg ha-1 yr-1 of poultry litter (wetmatter) (PL); 60 m³ ha-1 yr-1 of cattle slurry (CS) and; 40 m³ ha-1 yr-1 of swine slurry (SS). Bulk density (BD), total porosity (TP), and parameters related to the water retention curve (macroporosity, mesoporosity and microporosity) were determined after nine years and at five sampling dates during the tenth year of the experiment. Soil physical properties were tillage and time-dependent. Tilled treatments increased total porosity and macroporosity, and reduced bulk density in the surface layer (0.00-0.05 m), but this effect decreased over time after tillage operations due to natural soil reconsolidation, since no external stress was applied in this period. Changes in pore size distribution were more pronounced in larger and medium pore diameter classes. The bulk density was greatest in intermediate layers in all tillage treatments (0.05-0.10 and 0.12-0.17 m) and decreased down to the deepest layer (0.27-0.32 m), indicating a more compacted layer around 0.05-0.20 m. Nutrient sources did not significantly affect soil physical and hydraulic properties studied.

Runoff, soil loss and soil physical property changes of light textured surface soils from long term tillage treatments

Soil Research ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
IJ Packer ◽  
GJ Hamilton ◽  
TB Koen
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Loss ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Conservation Tillage ◽  
Physical Property ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Textured Surface ◽  
Direct Drilling

A long-term tillage trial was conducted (1981 to 1987) on loamy textured soils to quantify changes in runoff, soil loss and some soil physical properties due to conservation tillage practices. Two sites were established, one at Cowra on a sandy loam textured soil, and the other at Grenfell on a loamy textured soil. The tillage treatments imposed were direct drilling (DD), reduced tillage (RT) and traditional tillage (TT), with grazing at both sites, and a direct drilling ungrazed (NT) treatment at Cowra only. Runoff and soil loss were measured using a rainfall simulator, and sorptivity (S), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), bulk density to 40 mm (BD4) and 100 mm (BD10), organic carbon (OC) and water stable aggregates (WSA) were measured annually. Runoff decreased significantly in the minimum soil disturbance treatments (NT and DD) at Cowra. Runoff did not decrease in the stubble incorporation treatments despite a significant increase in OC and WSA. Decreases in runoff were due to the development and maintenance of porosity, particularly macropores. Changes in other soil physical properties were generally not significant owing to temporal variability. The regression relationship between OC and WSA, although significant, had little practical value because of high prediction error. Although improvements in soil physical properties were measured, a period of at least five years of cropping at both sites was required before they became significant and consistent.

Connecting Crop Nutrient Use Efficiency to Future Soil Productivity

2018 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 8-10
Author(s):  
Fernando García ◽  
Andrés Grasso ◽  
María González Sanjuan ◽  
Adrián Correndo ◽  
Fernando Salvagiotti
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Nutrient Use Efficiency ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Soil Productivity ◽  
Nutrient Use ◽  
Grain Crop ◽  
Wide Scale ◽  
Use Efficiency

Trends over the past 25 years indicate that Argentina’s growth in its grain crop productivity has largely been supported by the depletion of the extensive fertility of its Pampean soils. Long-term research provides insight into sustainable nutrient management strategies ready for wide-scale adoption.

Influence of long-term fertilization on soil microbial biomass and dehydrogenase activity in relation to crop productivity in an acid Inceptisols

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-311
Author(s):  
Debasis Purohit ◽  
Mitali Mandal ◽  
Avisek Dash ◽  
Kumbha Karna Rout ◽  
Narayan Panda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Dehydrogenase Activity ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Maturity Stage ◽  
Microbial Biomass Nitrogen ◽  
Biological Potential ◽  
Initiation Stage ◽  
The Impact

An effective approach for improving nutrient use efficiency and crop productivity simultaneously through exploitation of biological potential for efficient acquisition and utilization of nutrients by crops is very much needed in this current era. Thus, an attempt is made here to investigate the impact of long term fertilization in the soil ecology in rice-rice cropping system in post kharif - 2015 in flooded tropical rice (Oryza sativa L.) in an acidic sandy soil. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with quadruplicated treatments. Soil samples at different growth stages of rice were collected from long term fertilizer experiment.The studied long-term manured treatments included 100 % N, 100% NP, 100 % NPK, 150 % NPK and 100 % NPK+FYM (5 t ha-1) and an unmanured control. Soil fertility status like SOC content and other available nutrient content has decreased continuously towards the crop growth period. Comparing the results of different treatments, it was found that the application of 100% NPK + FYM exhibited highest nutrient content in soils. With regards to microbial properties it was also observed that the amount of microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and microbial biomass nitrogen ( MBN) showed highest accumulation in 100 % NPK + FYM at maximum tillering stage of the rice. The results further reveal that dehydrogenase activity was maximum at panicle initiation stage and thereafter it decreases. Soil organic carbon content, MBC, MBN and dehydrogenase activity were significantly correlated with each other. Significant correlations were observed between rice yield and MBC at maturity stage( R2 = 0.94**) and panicle initiation stage( R2 = 0.92**) and available nitrogen content at maturity stage( R2 = 0.91**).

Influence of Long-term Cropping Systems on Soil Physical Properties Related to Soil Erodibility

2003 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achmad Rachman ◽  
S. H. Anderson ◽  
C. J. Gantzer ◽  
A. L. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Erodibility
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