scholarly journals Long-term effects of soil management practices on selected indicators of chemical soil quality

2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja Pecio ◽  
Zuzanna Jarosz
Keyword(s):  
Quality Indicators ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Farmyard Manure ◽  
Chemical Quality ◽  
Mineral Fertilization ◽  
Change Mitigation

The study was conducted in scope of Catch-C project “Compatibility of agricultural management practices and types of farming in the EU to enhance climate change mitigation and soil health” (7FP), realized in 2012–2014 by the consortium of partners from 10 European countries (<span>http://www.catch-c.eu</span>). This work reports the effects of soil management practices – under different soil and climatic conditions – on the selected soil chemical quality indicators, based on the analysis of data extracted from literature on long term experiments (LTEs) in Europe, as well as from LTEs held by the Catch-C consortium partners. The dataset related to soil chemical quality indicators consisted of 1044 records and referred to 59 long-term trials. The following indicators of chemical soil quality were analyzed: pH, N total content, N total stock, C:N ratio, N mineral content, P and K availability. They are the most frequently used indicators in the European literature on long-term experiments collected in the Catch-C project database. Soil organic carbon, however, the most important indicator was not presented here, due to it was covered by a separate study on indicators for climate change mitigation. The indicators were analyzed using their response ratio (RR) to a management practice. For a given treatment (management practice), this ratio was calculated as the quotient between the indicator value obtained in the treatment, and the indicator value in the reference treatment. The examples were: rotation (with cereals, with legume crops, with tuber or root crops, with grassland) vs. adequate monoculture, catch/cover crops vs. no catch/cover crops, no-tillage and no-inversion tillage vs. conventional tillage, mineral fertilization vs. no fertilization, organic fertilization (compost, farmyard manure, slurry) vs. mineral fertilization at the same available nitrogen input, crop residue incorporation vs. removal. All tested practices influenced soil chemical quality indicators. Both positive and negative effects were observed. When the RR values of seven soil chemical quality indicators were considered in an overall evaluation – based on their significance level, the number of indicators positively affected, and the size of the effects – the best practices among those tested were: farmyard manure application, no-inversion tillage, compost application, mineral fertilization, and no-tillage.

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 A Comparison of Flower and Grass Strips for Augmentation of Beneficial Arthropods in Apple Orchards

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaoke Dong ◽  
Mengjing Xia ◽  
Cheng Li ◽  
Baofeng Mu ◽  
Zhiyong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Natural Enemies ◽  
Cover Crops ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Alternative Prey ◽  
Apple Orchards ◽  
Beneficial Arthropods ◽  
Arthropod Predators

Sowing plants that provide food resources in orchards is a potential habitat management practice for enhancing biological control. Flowering plants (providing pollen and nectar) and grasses (providing alternative prey) can benefit natural enemies in orchards; however, little is known about their relative importance. We studied the effect of management practices (flower strips, grass strips, and spontaneous grass) on arthropod predators under organic apple management regimes in apple orchards in Beijing, China. Orchards located at two different sites were assessed for 3 years (2017–2019). The cover crops had a significant impact on the abundance and diversity of arthropod predators. The grass treatment consistently supported significantly greater densities of alternative prey resources for predators, and predators were more abundant in the grass than in the other treatments. The Shannon–Wiener diversity was significantly higher for the cover crop treatment than for the control. Community structure was somewhat similar between the grass and control, but it differed between the flower treatment and grass/control. Weak evidence for an increase in mobile predators (ladybirds and lacewings) in the orchard canopy was found. Ladybirds and lacewings were more abundant in the grass treatment than in the other treatments in 2019 only, while the aphid abundance in the grass treatment was lowest. The fact that grass strips promoted higher predator abundance and stronger aphid suppression in comparison to the flower strips suggests that providing alternative prey for predators has great biocontrol service potential. The selection of cover crops and necessary management for conserving natural enemies in orchards are discussed in this paper.

scholarly journals Insurrection for land, sea and dignity: resistance and autonomy against wind energy in Álvaro Obregón, Mexico

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Dunlap
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Wind Energy ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Sand Bar ◽  
Wind Energy Development ◽  
The Village ◽  
The Town ◽  
Change Mitigation

Providing a glimpse into the reality of wind energy development, the story of Álvaro Obregón is one of resistance. Álvaro Obregón is a primarily Zapotec semi-subsistence community located near the entrance of the Santa Teresa sand bar (Barra), where in 2011 Mareña Renovables initiated the process of building 102 wind turbines. Demonstrating the complicated micro-politics of land acquisition, conflict and unrest, this article argues that climate change mitigation initiatives are sparking land grabs and conflict with the renewed valuation of wind resources. Insurrection against the Mareña Renovables wind project has spawned a long-term conflict, which has created social divisions and a type of low-intensity civil war within the town. This article will chronicle the uprising against the wind company, battles with police, and the town hall takeover, which includes analyzing the conflict taking place between the cabildo comunitario and the constitucionalistas. Subsequent sections examine the different perspectives within the village and how this battle between the Communitarians and the wind company continues today. The article reveals the complications associated with land deals, the conflict generating potential of climate change mitigation practices and, finally, concludes by reflecting on the difficulties of formulating alternatives to development within a conflict situation.

Dependence of soil fertility on organic and mineral fertilization in a 46-year long-term field experiment

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 35-40
Author(s):  
S. Hoffmann ◽  
K. Berecz ◽  
S. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Farmyard Manure ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Mineral Fertilization ◽  
Npk Fertilizers ◽  
N Utilization ◽  
Ammonium Lactate

Increasing doses of farmyard manure (FYM) or equivalent mineral NPK fertilizers and their combinations were analysed in a crop rotation with potato, maize and winter wheat with special regard to their long-term influence on soil fertility. The yield-increasing capacity of FYM doses was only 82%, as compared to the equivalent amount of mineral NPK. Fairly high N release (50.9 kg ha −1 ) could be observed on the unfertilized plots. Great differences in N utilization were recorded, depending on the form and dose of fertilizers. The average N utilization from FYM was only 29.3%, while that of the equivalent fertilizer application was 49.8%. The lowest soil reactions were observed without fertilization and at the highest NPK doses. Negative N balances generally resulted in low soil organic matter content. FYM and equivalent NPK fertilizers had a similar influence on the ammonium lactate (AL)-extractable K 2 O content of the soil, while an increase in the AL-P 2 O 5 content could be observed in the case of mineral fertilization.

scholarly journals The Climate Benefit of Carbon Sequestration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Sierra ◽  
Susan E. Crow ◽  
Martin Heimann ◽  
Holger Metzler ◽  
Ernst-Detleft Schulze
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Radiative Effect ◽  
Global Warming Potentials ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Carbon Retention ◽  
Change Mitigation

Abstract. Ecosystems play a fundamental role in climate change mitigation by taking up carbon from the atmosphere and storing it for a period of time in organic matter. Although climate impacts of carbon emissions can be quantified by global warming potentials, it is not necessarily clear what are appropriate formal metrics to assess climate benefits of carbon removals by sinks. We introduce here the Climate Benefit of Sequestration (CBS), a metric that quantifies the radiative effect of taking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and retaining it for a period of time in an ecosystem before releasing it back to the atmosphere. To quantify CBS, we also propose a formal definition of carbon sequestration (CS) as the integral of an amount of carbon taken up from the atmosphere stored over the time horizon it remains in an ecosystem. Both metrics incorporate the separate effects of i) inputs (amount of atmospheric carbon removal), and ii) transit time (time of carbon retention) in carbon sinks, which can vary largely for different ecosystems or management types. In three separate examples, we show how to compute and apply these metrics to compare different carbon management practices in forestry and soils. We believe these metrics can be useful in resolving current controversies about the management of ecosystems for climate change mitigation.

scholarly journals Modelling of long-term Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb dynamics from soils fertilised with organic amendments

SOIL ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-123
Author(s):  
Claudia Cagnarini ◽  
Stephen Lofts ◽  
Luigi Paolo D'Acqui ◽  
Jochen Mayer ◽  
Roman Grüter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Farmyard Manure ◽  
Organic Amendments ◽  
Mineral Weathering ◽  
Lateral Mixing ◽  
Critical Limits

Abstract. Soil contamination by trace elements (TEs) is a major concern for sustainable land management. A potential source of excessive inputs of TEs into agricultural soils are organic amendments. Here, we used dynamic simulations carried out with the Intermediate Dynamic Model for Metals (IDMM) to describe the observed trends of topsoil Zn (zinc), Cu (copper), Pb (lead) and Cd (cadmium) concentrations in a long-term (>60-year) crop trial in Switzerland, where soil plots have been treated with different organic amendments (farmyard manure, sewage sludge and compost). The observed ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (EDTA)-extractable concentrations ranged between 2.6 and 27.1 mg kg−1 for Zn, 4.9 and 29.0 mg kg−1 for Cu, 6.1–26.2 mg kg−1 for Pb, and 0.08 and 0.66 mg kg−1 for Cd. Metal input rates were initially estimated based on literature data. An additional, calibrated metal flux, tentatively attributed to mineral weathering, was necessary to fit the observed data. Dissolved organic carbon fluxes were estimated using a soil organic carbon model. The model adequately reproduced the EDTA-extractable (labile) concentrations when input rates were optimised and soil lateral mixing was invoked to account for the edge effect of mechanically ploughing the trial plots. The global average root mean square error (RMSE) was 2.7, and the average bias (overestimation) was −1.66, −2.18, −4.34 and −0.05 mg kg−1 for Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd, respectively. The calibrated model was used to project the long-term metal trends in field conditions (without soil lateral mixing), under stable climate and management practices, with soil organic carbon estimated by modelling and assumed trends in soil pH. Labile metal concentrations to 2100 were largely projected to remain near constant or to decline, except for some metals in plots receiving compost. Ecotoxicological thresholds (critical limits) were predicted to be exceeded presently under sewage sludge inputs and to remain so until 2100. Ecological risks were largely not indicated in the other plots, although some minor exceedances of critical limits were projected to occur for Zn before 2100. This study advances our understanding of TEs' long-term dynamics in agricultural fields, paving the way to quantitative applications of modelling at field scales.

scholarly journals A framework for the cross-sectoral integration of multi-model impact projections: land use decisions under climate impacts uncertainties

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 447-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Frieler ◽  
A. Levermann ◽  
J. Elliott ◽  
J. Heinke ◽  
A. Arneth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Impact Model ◽  
Natural Carbon ◽  
Change Mitigation ◽  
Biome Model

Abstract. Climate change and its impacts already pose considerable challenges for societies that will further increase with global warming (IPCC, 2014a, b). Uncertainties of the climatic response to greenhouse gas emissions include the potential passing of large-scale tipping points (e.g. Lenton et al., 2008; Levermann et al., 2012; Schellnhuber, 2010) and changes in extreme meteorological events (Field et al., 2012) with complex impacts on societies (Hallegatte et al., 2013). Thus climate change mitigation is considered a necessary societal response for avoiding uncontrollable impacts (Conference of the Parties, 2010). On the other hand, large-scale climate change mitigation itself implies fundamental changes in, for example, the global energy system. The associated challenges come on top of others that derive from equally important ethical imperatives like the fulfilment of increasing food demand that may draw on the same resources. For example, ensuring food security for a growing population may require an expansion of cropland, thereby reducing natural carbon sinks or the area available for bio-energy production. So far, available studies addressing this problem have relied on individual impact models, ignoring uncertainty in crop model and biome model projections. Here, we propose a probabilistic decision framework that allows for an evaluation of agricultural management and mitigation options in a multi-impact-model setting. Based on simulations generated within the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP), we outline how cross-sectorally consistent multi-model impact simulations could be used to generate the information required for robust decision making. Using an illustrative future land use pattern, we discuss the trade-off between potential gains in crop production and associated losses in natural carbon sinks in the new multiple crop- and biome-model setting. In addition, crop and water model simulations are combined to explore irrigation increases as one possible measure of agricultural intensification that could limit the expansion of cropland required in response to climate change and growing food demand. This example shows that current impact model uncertainties pose an important challenge to long-term mitigation planning and must not be ignored in long-term strategic decision making.

scholarly journals Lean Management Practices’ Effects on Brazilian Firms: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-108
Author(s):  
Filipe Lage de Sousa ◽  
Mauricio Canêdo-Pinheiro ◽  
Bernardo Pereira Cabral ◽  
Glaucia Estefânia de Sousa Ferreira
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Lean Management ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Innovation Outcomes

One of the key drivers for a firm's productivity growth is management. One lean management practice considered cost-effective is Kaizen. Originally from Japan, the Kaizen basic concept is continuous improvement with the involvement of the full workforce. Using a firm-level dataset from Brazil's innovation and manufacturing surveys, this paper evaluates quantitatively whether Kaizen has impacted the performance of domestic firms. Our initial results suggest a productivity premium on Kaizen adopters, yet when it materializes is not detectable in the short term. Moreover, the impact on innovation is observable after Kaizen implementation. Understanding these outcomes with a qualitative approach, our analysis highlights the importance of Kaizen on innovation, especially by improving worker's time at the production line as well as the long-term vision of Kaizen on productivity. In summary, Kaizen is not a magic wand that improves firms’ performance in a wide array of indicators yet it may boost innovation outcomes in the short term aiming to improve productivity in the long term if it is implemented carefully and persistently, as established by its basic principles.

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