Download or read book Long term Reduced Tillage and Cover Cropping Change Soil Chemical Properties Under Irrigated Mediterranean Conditions written by Dominique Sylvia Dhainaut Medina and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reducing tillage and fallow periods may improve agricultural sustainability, addressing issues such as soil degradation, water and air pollution, and rising energy costs. From 1999 to 2012 we compared conservation (CT) and standard tillage (ST) with (CC) and without (NO) cover crops for a cotton-tomato rotation in a Panoche clay loam soil in Five Points, CA. CT considered a reduction of tractor passes of 50% and 40% for tomato and cotton respectively. Soil samples from 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm were analyzed for total N and C, nitrate, Olsen phosphorus, interchangeable potassium, pH, electrical conductivity, and organic matter. After 13 years of rotation, both conservation tillage and cover cropping increased soil C and N. In CTCC, total C and N increased approximately 19 and 1.1 t ha−1 respectively in the 0- to 30 cm depth. In STNO the C was around 8 t ha−1 higher, while total N was approximately 0.2 t ha−1 lower than in 1999. Electrical conductivity increased in all treatments, primarily in the 15- to 30- cm depth, as a consequence of salts accumulation from irrigation water and fertilizers. The EC at that depth was significantly higher in ST than CT; reaching approximately 1.53 mmhos cm−1 compared to 1.23 mmhos cm−1 in CT. CTCC showed the highest values for extractable P and K. Neither pH nor nitrate content changed significantly in any of the treatments during the duration of the study. Total C, N, P and K were higher in CT and as a result, some agronomical features of the soil were improved. However, these nutrients were concentrated in the surface layer of soil, away from where the vast majority of roots are, which may limit their uptake by crops and thus other mechanisms would be needed to make them available. Under irrigated Mediterranean conditions, both CT and CC appear as feasible alternatives to conventional agriculture. If profitability is maintained, and water constraints are managed, these practices may become increasingly attractive for cotton and tomato farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.
Download or read book Long term Comparison of Nitrogen Use in Cropping Systems with Different Nitrogen Sources in a Mediterranean Climate written by Kathleen Marie Reed and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Managing Cover Crops Profitably 3rd Ed written by Andy Clark and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2008-07 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.
Download or read book Conservation Tillage and Cover Cropping in the San Joaquin Valley California written by Jessica Jeanne Veenstra and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Soil Management and Climate Change written by Maria Angeles Munoz and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-10-16 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil Management and Climate Change: Effects on Organic Carbon, Nitrogen Dynamics, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions provides a state of the art overview of recent findings and future research challenges regarding physical, chemical and biological processes controlling soil carbon, nitrogen dynamic and greenhouse gas emissions from soils. This book is for students and academics in soil science and environmental science, land managers, public administrators and legislators, and will increase understanding of organic matter preservation in soil and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Given the central role soil plays on the global carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles and its impact on greenhouse gas emissions, there is an urgent need to increase our common understanding about sources, mechanisms and processes that regulate organic matter mineralization and stabilization, and to identify those management practices and processes which mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, helping increase organic matter stabilization with suitable supplies of available N. Provides the latest findings about soil organic matter stabilization and greenhouse gas emissions Covers the effect of practices and management on soil organic matter stabilization Includes information for readers to select the most suitable management practices to increase soil organic matter stabilization
Download or read book Building Soils for Better Crops written by Fred Magdoff and published by Sare. This book was released on 2009 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "'Published by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, with funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture."
Download or read book Effects of Conservation Tillage on Ground Water Quality written by Terry J. Logan and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Nowadays the environmental sustainability of the cropping systems is increasingly requested by the consumers. Conventional tillage practices, totally turning over the soil between the vineyard rows, may cause erosion due to rain as well as structure destruction of the soil in the long term. Conservation tillage is a soil management technique, poorly widespread in Sardinia, allowing cover cropping between vineyard rows. Furthermore, this technique makes the canopy development control of herbage possible by cutting it up during specific phenological phases. Conservation tillage usually involves direct benefits to farmers such as increasing soil fertility as well as reductionof tillage costs, soil erosion and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the atmosphere. This long term trial, during at least five years aims to assess the conservation tillage impact on chemical-physical soil characteristics in comparison with traditional tillage by evaluating the change of organic matter, C.E.C. and availability of major plant nutrients in the soil and to estimate their probable rise. The field plots are located in a 35% slope condition vineyard, showing massive erosion problem and organic matter low content. A split/plot design with four replications was set up, with the comparison between conservation and traditional tillage apart as main plots. Moreover, the effects of two different irrigation levels were evaluated in the subplots of each main plot. At the beginning of the trial (2011) a pedological survey was made. Three soil profiles were described and sampled along the field slope and soil sampling in each plot were made both to characterize the soil and to find the zero point. The soil chemical and physical characteristics were monitored through a second soil sampling made at the end of 2013. Conservation tillage caused increasing organic matter content and C.E.C. values. As for major plant nutrients in soil, results were more uncertain. Grapevine yield and quality parameters did not show any negative effect when passing from conventional to conservation tillage techniques. The trial provided a preliminary positive evaluation of conservation tillage. However, more years are required to confirm this trend."--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Conceptual Basis Formalisations and Parameterization of the Stics Crop Model written by Nadine Brisson and published by Editions Quae. This book was released on 2009-01-19 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The STICS crop model has been developed since 1996 at INRA in collaboration with other research and technical institutes. The model syntheses, illustrates and concretizes an important part of the French agronomic knowledge as a point of view on the field and cropping systems working. The formalisations of the STICS crop model presented in this book can be considered as references used in the framework of crop sciences. The book arrangement relies on the way the model designs the crop-soil system functioning, each chapter being devoted to a set of important functions such as growth initiation, yield onset, water uptake, transformation of organic matter etc. One chapter deals with the cropping system and long term simulations and the final chapter is about the involvement of the user in terms of option choices and parameterization. If this book is mainly intended for scientists who use the STICS model, it can also be useful for agronomists, crop modellers, students and technicians looking for elementary formalizations of the crop-soil system functioning.
Download or read book Phosphorus in Action written by Else K. Bünemann and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-11-08 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Phosphorus (P) is a finite resource which is essential for life. It is a limiting nutrient in many ecosystems but also a pollutant which can affect biodiversity in terrestrial ecosystems and change the ecology of water bodies. This book collects the latest information on biological processes in soil P cycling, which to date have remained much less understood than physico-chemical processes. The methods section presents spectroscopic techniques and the characterization of microbial P forms, as well as the use of tracers, molecular approaches and modeling of soil-plant systems. The section on processes deals with mycorrhizal symbioses, microbial P solubilization, soil macrofauna, phosphatase enzymes and rhizosphere processes. On the system level, P cycling is examined for grasslands, arctic and alpine soils, forest plantations, tropical forests, and dryland regions. Further, P management with respect to animal production and cropping, and the interactions between global change and P cycling, are treated.
Download or read book Intensive Cropping written by Sohan S Prihar and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2000-01-25 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore new concepts for maximizing crop yields! Intensive Cropping: Efficient Use of Water, Nutrients, and Tillage is a compilation of current information on the interdependence of and synergies among water, nutrients, and energy in regard to increasing crop performance. This book explains the need for intensive cropping and explores the technologies and practices necessary for proper management of water, nutrients, and energy. With Intensive Cropping you will learn how to improve the quantity of the world's most important crops using methods that will minimize harm to the environment. This essential guide is a state-of-the-art account of the concepts and practices concerning the integrated use of water, nutrients, and energy in intensive cropping. Intensive Cropping combines basic and applied aspects of soil-water, nutrients, and energy management to help you optimize your crop yields and maximize the efficiency of intensively farmed regions. In Intensive Cropping, you will explore the need for extreme farming and related concerns and concepts, including: reducing runoff, deep seepage, and evaporation losses supplementing irrigation with surface and ground water understanding the process of water uptake and its effects on root dynamics and water use reducing leaching, erosion, and gasseus losses in your fields using combinations of organic manures, crop residues, chemical fertilizers, and biofertilizers for soil maintenance implementing conventional and emerging tillage systems, such as conservation tillage for improving soil quality examining case studies of contrasting edaphic requirements of rice-wheat systems Intensive Cropping brings you up-to-date on recent advances in the field, supported by relevant experimental observations on environmentally safe and effective ways to increase crop performance. By examining this new research on increasing crop production, you will be able to successfully increase crop yields in various climates and support the growing global demand for such resources.
Download or read book Long term Impact of Tillage and Cropping Managements on Soil Hydro physical Properties and Yield written by Amin Nouri Gharahassanlou and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil physical and hydraulic properties control the major soil functions related to the imbibition, transmission and retention of water, air, heat and nutrients. Adoption of no-tillage in Tennessee through the last decades has considerably decreased the fluvial soil losses. However, the long-term effect of no-tillage on soil hydro-physical properties and its interaction with companion practices such as cover crops and crop sequence has not been fully discovered. In this project, three long-term experiments located in West Tennessee Research and Education Center in Milan and Jackson, TN were studied in 2015 and 2016 for soil hydro-physical properties. The effect of 34 years of tillage, fertilization and cover crop, 15 years of crop rotation on no-tillage with winter fallow and 37 years of a range of tillage intensities and no-tillage with and without cover crop on soil physical properties were assessed. Relationship between soil physical properties were determined and by relating the soil physical properties to corn, cotton and soybean yield and long-term yield stability, the most effective cropping and tillage managements were identified. Long-term no-tillage substantially improved soil aggregation, water infiltration and transmission and cotton yield than conventional tillage. Effect of cover crops on measured soil physical properties were less evident than the effect of no-tillage. However, planting hairy vetch and wheat cover crops improved the soil aggregation and increased the water infiltration and transmission significantly compared with no cover crop. No-tillage planted with hairy vetch cover crop experienced significantly higher quasi-steady and cumulative infiltration compared with the other treatment combinations in both years. Cropping corn, cotton and soybean in double cropping sequences did not favor soil in improved physical quality than monoculture while existence of corn in cropping system either as continuous cropping or in sequence improved soil physical quality. Corn rotated with soybean and cotton increased yield and decreased the long-term variance in soybean yield. Under sub-humid climate of Tennessee with relatively high decomposition rate of organic matter, the magnitude of residue turnover and below-ground root activity was found to be key factors increasing the no-tillage potential for additional improvement in soil quality and yield.
Download or read book Mitigating Land Degradation and Improving Livelihoods written by Feras Ziadat and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-07-16 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The research presented in this book demonstrates how an integrated ‘systems’ approach to farming in the watershed context increases the effectiveness of a production system and improves people’s livelihoods. It takes an integrated approach, using one watershed in Ethiopia as a ‘laboratory’ or model case study to focus on the interaction and interdependence between land, water, crops, soil, water harvesting, supplemental irrigation, forestry, socio-economic aspects, livestock and farm tools. A range of linked studies was conducted with active participation of the farming community and other relevant stakeholders, such as the local offices of agriculture and extension services. The starting point for the work was the premise that previous efforts to solve farming system constraints using a piecemeal approach or discipline-specific focus have not been successful. Thus, addressing agricultural and environmental constraints through a holistic approach enables the generation of comprehensive technologies to sustainably improve the natural resource base and livelihoods of communities. The authors discuss trade-offs and resource allocation, demonstrating how the environment can be protected while also improving productivity. A unique feature is the methodology developed for the selection of suitable fields and farmers to implement new approaches or improved technologies, to achieve production increases while reducing degradation of sensitive agro-ecosystems. It is also shown how the watershed scale is a valuable basis for assessing the protection of fragile lands.
Download or read book Effects of Reduced Tillage on cash Crop Yields Soil Quality and Other Ecosystem Services written by Martine Trip and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decreasing soil quality, worsened by climate change-related weather extremes, is prompting the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture's aim for sustainable management of all agricultural soils by 2030. One proposed practice for this goal is reduced tillage, which offers potential benefits such as improved soil structure and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. However reduced tillage comes with potential drawbacks such as topsoil compaction and yield reduction. While global meta-analyses mainly focus on effects of reduced tillage in North and South American cash crops, like grains, maize and soy, this long-term Dutch farming systems experiment called BASIS is unique in its focus on Dutch small seeded, root and tuber crops. The BASIS experiment, established in 2009 by Wageningen University and Research in Lelystad, consists of three organic and two conventional fields with common Dutch crop rotations. In BASIS we experiment with three tillage systems: conventional tillage with mouldboard plough (CT), reduced tillage with sub-soiling (RTS), and reduced tillage without sub-soiling (RT). Reduced tillage with shallow ploughing was added (RT/SPL) later in the experiment. The experiment employs controlled traffic farming (CTF) and is a randomized complete block design with four replicates per tillage system and field. In the BASIS experiment a system approach is used; this allowed for the experiment to be optimized during the project period. Effects of reduced tillage on ecosystems services such as yield, yield quality and soil quality were investigated. Overall, reduced tillage systems showed comparable or higher marketable yield for most crops, except for fineseeded crops like carrots and onions. The Twinrotor tiller seems a viable option in reduced tillage systems to create a finer seedbed and reduce the yield gap of carrots between reduced and conventional tillage. The influence of extreme weather conditions on reduced tillage effects varied, with yields sometimes higher and sometimes lower compared to conventional tillage. Over time the differences in marketable yield between reduced and conventional tillage showed no increasing or decreasing trend. For yield quality, the difference between gross yield and marketable product, there were no significant differences nor discernible trends between the tillage systems; with the expedition of carrots which showed a lower yield quality under reduced tillage, with larger-sized and deformed carrots. This was likely caused by cover crop residue and soil aggregate size. The impact of reduced soil tillage on crop quality parameters such as sugar content (sugar beet) and thousand grain weight (cereal crops) showed no significant differences between the tillage systems. Bulk density showed no differences in the upper 0-10 cm layer, but significantly higher values were observed in the deeper 10-20 cm layer for reduced tillage. Soil moisture was generally higher for reduced tillage in the upper 0-10 cm layer, while conventional tillage exhibited higher moisture in the lower 10-20 cm layer. Penetration resistance was consistently greater for reduced tillage, particularly in the 10-30 cm layer. Despite these soil property differences, there was no substantial evidence of decreased yields or root limitations. The increased compaction under reduced tillage could potentially enhance soil bearing capacity. Reduced tillage leads to higher soil organic matter and carbon content in the upper 0-15 cm layer compared to conventional tillage. However, in lower layers no significant difference were found. Reduced tillage shows minimal impact on soil pH. Total nitrogen content is higher in the upper 0-15 cm layer for reduced tillage. Other nutrient availabilities are not strongly influenced by tillage systems. Mineral nitrogen levels in the soil are very low in this experiment and differences between tillage systems are small. Overall, reduced tillage increases soil organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen in the upper layer (0-15 cm), with a trend towards higher values in the 0-30 cm layer. To summarize, the BASIS experiment shows that reduced tillage is a viable option for most of the Dutch crops and indicates a trend towards improved soil quality.
Download or read book Integrated Nutrient Management INM in a Sustainable Rice Wheat Cropping System written by Anil Mahajan and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-05-07 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agriculture is the main occupation in India and about 75% of its population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihood. It is the dominant sector that contributes 18% of the gross domestic product. Thus, agriculture is the foundation of the Indian economy. The maximum share of Indian exports is also from the agriculture sector. As the population of the country is increasing trem- dously, approximately at the rate of 19 million every year over the existing popu- tion of more than 1 billion (approximately 1. 18 billion), the food grain production must necessarily be increased. This can be done by increasing crop production to match the population growth rate of 2. 2% per annum, which is expected to stabilize at 1. 53 billion around 2050. There is no doubt that the Green Revolution in India during the late 1960s brought self-sufficiency in food grain production, mainly through the increase in rice and wheat crop yields – the two main crops of the country which play an important role from food security point of view. However, the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, and the neglect of organic manures for these crops, has resulted in the deterioration of physical, chemical and biological health of the ri- and wheat-growing soils. Owing to the deterioration of the health of these soils, the productivity of the rice–wheat cropping system has now either got reduced or in some places has become constant for the last decade.
Download or read book Agro ecological Approaches to Pest Management for Sustainable Agriculture written by P. Parvatha Reddy and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-12-13 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book outlines a new paradigm, “Agro-ecological Intensification of Crop Protection”, which reduces negative impacts on the environment and enhances the provision of ecosystem services. It discusses the use of ecologically based management strategies to increase the sustainability of agricultural production while reducing off-site consequences, highlighting the underlying principles and outlining some of the key management practices and technologies required to implement agro-ecological pest management. It also comprehensively explores important topics like stimulo-deterrent diversion strategy, precision agriculture, plant breeding, nutrient management, habitat management, cultural approaches, cultivar mixtures/multiline cultivars, crop rotation, crop residue management, crop diversity, cover crops, conservation tillage, biofumigation, agro-forestry, and addition of organic matter. This timely book promotes the rapid implementation of this technology in farming community around the globe. It is a valuable resource for the scientific community involved in teaching, research and extension activities related to agro-ecological pest management as well as policymakers and practicing farmers. It can also be used for teaching post-graduate courses.
Download or read book Soil Fertility Management for Sustainable Development written by Deepak G. Panpatte and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-03-07 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil fertility is the backbone of agricultural systems and plays a key role in determining food quantity and quality. In recent decades, soil fertility has decreased due to indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, and nations around the globe are now facing the challenge of increasing food production while sustainably maintaining soil fertility. Written by leading international scientists in the field, this book explores soil fertility management strategies, including agronomic, microbiological and soil-science based strategies. Highlighting the practices that can be incorporated into organic farming and discussing recent advances, it is a valuable resource for researchers wanting to broaden their vision and the scope of their investigations.
Download or read book Advances in Legumes for Sustainable Intensification written by Ram Swaroop Meena and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2022-06-29 with total page 730 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in Legume-based Agroecoystem for Sustainable Intensification explores current research and future strategies for ensuring capacity growth and socioeconomic improvement through the utilization of legume crop cultivation and production in the achievement of sustainability development goals (SDGs). Sections cover the role of legumes in addressing issues of food security, improving nitrogen in the environment, environmental sustainability, economic-environmentally optimized systems, the importance and impact of nitrogen, organic production, and biomass potential, legume production, biology, breeding improvement, cropping systems, and the use of legumes for eco-friendly weed management. This book is an important resource for scientists, researchers and advanced students interested in championing the effective utilization of legumes for agronomic and ecological benefit. Focuses on opportunities for agricultural impact and sustainability Presents insights into both agricultural sustainability and eco-intensification Includes the impact of legume production on societal impacts such as health and wealth management
