Crop Selection for Specific Residue Management Systems

Author(s):  
W. E. Kronstad ◽  
W. L. McCuistion ◽  
M. L. Swearingin ◽  
C. O. Qualset
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 2921 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iara Maria Lopes ◽  
Shirlei Almeida Assunção ◽  
Ana Paula Pessim de Oliveira ◽  
Lúcia Helena Cunha dos Anjos ◽  
Marcos Gervasio Pereira ◽  
...  

The gradual change in management practices in sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) production from burning straw to a green harvesting system, as well as the use of minimum soil tillage during field renovation, may affect soil fertility and soil organic matter (SOM) contents. The objectives of this work were to investigate the influence of sugar cane production systems on: (1) soil fertility parameters; (2) on physical carbon fractions; (3) and on humic substance fractions, in a long-term experiment, comparing two soil tillage and two residue management systems an Xanthic Udult, in the coastal tableland region of Espírito Santo State, Brazil. The treatments consisted of plots (conventional tillage (CT) or minimum tillage (MT)) and subplots (residue burned or unburned at harvesting), with five replicates The highest values of Ca2+ + Mg2+ and total organic carbon (TOC) were observed in the MT system in all soil layers, while high values of K+ were observed in the 0.1-0.2 m layer. The CT associated with the burned residue management negatively influenced the TOC values, especially in the 0.1-0.2 and 0.2-0.4 m layers. The carbon in the humin fraction and organic matter associated with minerals were significantly different among the tillage systems; the MT showed higher values than the CT. However, there were no significant differences between the sugarcane residue management treatments. Overall, fractioning the SOM allowed for a better understanding of tillage and residue management systems effects on the soil properties.


1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 58-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
John E. Hammel

Sustainable crop production in the Pacific Northwest dry-farmed areas relies heavily on tillage and residue management systems to conserve water. Stable, sustainable yields cannot be achieved without adequate water conservation techniques. Frozen soil can reduce infiltration markedly, which decreases overwinter profile water storage and can cause severe soil erosion. Uncurbed evaporation losses throughout the year can greatly limit yields, particularly with summer fallow.In both summer-fallowed and annually cropped regions where soil freezes frequently, fall tillage is used to increase surface macroporosity and to provide open channels to below the frost depth. This enhances infiltration throughout the winter and insures better water intake during rapid snowmelt and rainfall when the soil is frozen. Fall tillage enhances overwinter water recharge under these conditions, whereas in areas where soil freezes infrequently, it does not improve water storage efficiency.In the dry-farmed regions receiving less than 330 mm annual precipitation, a winter wheat-fallow system is used to reduce the risk of uneconomical yields. Successful establishment of winter wheat following summer fallow is feasible only when proper management has suppressed evaporative loss. During the dry summer fallow, tillage is used to develop and maintain a soil mulch that restricts the flow of water, as both liquid and vapor. The tillage mulch effectively conserves stored soil water and maintains adequate seedzone moisture for fall establishment of winter wheat. However, the soil mulch can lead to high wind and water erosion.In the Pacific Northwest dry-farmed region, tillage by itself is not considered a substitute for proper residue management. Crop residues following harvest are important for conserving water and controlling erosion. Under conservation programs implemented since 1985, shallow subsurface tillage systems that maintain residues on the surface have substantially reduced wind and water erosion in the region. Surface residues are effective in decreasing evaporative water loss and trapping snow during the winter, and therefore increase overwinter recharge. While surface residues are much less effective in suppressing evaporative losses in dry-farmed areas during extended dry periods, residues provide substantial control of wind and water erosion during the fallow.Before conservation tillage systems came into use in the Pacific Northwest, water conservation frequently was achieved only through tillage. This helped to stabilize yields, but at a high cost to the soil resource. Poor use of surface residues and intensive tillage contributed to extensive wind and water erosion. Continued use of these practices would have caused yields to decline over time and required greater agrichemical inputs. To meet soil and water conservation needs, site-specific tillage and residue management systems were developed to account for the diversity and variability of soils and climate across the Pacific Northwest. Common to all these production systems is that both water conservation and effective residue management to protect the soil are required for long-term sustainable production.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1037-1055
Author(s):  
Tobias Herzfeld ◽  
Jens Heinke ◽  
Susanne Rolinski ◽  
Christoph Müller

Abstract. Sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) on cropland has been proposed as a climate change mitigation strategy to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere, which in particular is needed to achieve the targets proposed in the Paris Agreement to limit the increase in atmospheric temperature to well below 2 ∘C. We analyze the historical evolution and future development of cropland SOC using the global process-based biophysical model LPJmL, which was recently extended by a detailed representation of tillage practices and residue management (version 5.0-tillage2). We find that model results for historical global estimates for SOC stocks are at the upper end of available literature, with ∼2650 Pg C of SOC stored globally in the year 2018, ∼170 Pg C of which is stored in cropland soils. In future projections, assuming no further changes in current cropland patterns and under four different management assumptions with two different climate forcings, RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, results suggest that agricultural SOC stocks decline in all scenarios, as the decomposition of SOC outweighs the increase in carbon inputs into the soil from altered management practices. Different climate change scenarios, as well as assumptions on tillage management, play a minor role in explaining differences in SOC stocks. The choice of tillage practice explains between 0.2 % and 1.3 % of total cropland SOC stock change in the year 2100. Future dynamics in cropland SOC are most strongly controlled by residue management: whether residues are left on the field or harvested. We find that on current cropland, global cropland SOC stocks decline until the end of the century by only 1.0 % to 1.4 % if residue retention management systems are generally applied and by 26.7 % to 27.3 % in the case of residue harvest. For different climatic regions, increases in cropland SOC can only be found for tropical dry, warm temperate moist, and warm temperate dry regions in management systems that retain residues.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mauerer ◽  
D. Schubert ◽  
P. Zabel ◽  
M. Bamsey ◽  
E. Kohlberg ◽  
...  

AbstractThe inclusion of higher plants in bio-regenerative life support systems has been suggested to contribute to a nutritious menu, increase food acceptability and provide psychological benefits to the crew. In 2017, the EDEN ISS project will deploy a greenhouse module to the Neumayer Station III in Antarctica. This system will be used to advance bio-regenerative life support system technologies and operations. An initial survey was conducted to improve crop selection for the EDEN ISS greenhouse module by further investigating the aspects of food acceptability and psychological benefits of crop cultivation. Former members of the overwintering crews of the three Neumayer stations were asked about their fresh food and vegetable preferences and about further aspects concerning Antarctic plant production. Results confirm the benefits of growing higher plants in isolated and confined environments and offer insight on the importance of crop selection aspects like taste, texture, pungency and colour.


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