• Authors:
    • Campos, L. P.
    • Leite, L. F. C.
    • Maciel, G. A.
    • Iwata, B. de F.
    • Nobrega, J. C. A.
  • Source: Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira
  • Volume: 46
  • Issue: 12
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The objective of this work was to evaluate the chemical attributes in a Xanthic Ferralsol under different tillage systems in the cerrado of Piaui State, Brazil. Four tillage systems were evaluated: three-year-old conventional tillage; no-tillage with three (NT3) and five years old (NT5), using millet as cover crop; and no-tillage with nine years old (NT9), of which seven years used millet as cover crop and two used forage. A native cerrado area was taken as reference. Soil samples were collected in wet and dry seasons at soil depths, 0.00-0.05, 0.05-0.10, 0.10-0.20 and 0.20-0.40 m, and analyzed for pH, Al 3+, H+Al, Ca 2+, Mg 2+, K +, sum of bases (SB), effective (t) and potential (T) cation exchangeable capacity, base (BS) and Al 3+ saturation (m%), available P and total organic carbon (TOC). The system NT9 showed the highest values of pH and lowest of Al 3+, H+Al, and m%. The highest values for Ca 2+, K, SB, t, T, V% and P, were observed under NT5 and NT9, until 0.20 m depth. The highest TOC contents were verified also under NT5 and NT9, except for 0.00-0.05 m soil depth. Organic matter accumulation associated with pasture under no-till increases TOC content at deeper soil layers in the dry period.
  • Authors:
    • Campos-Magana, S. G.
    • Cadena-Zapata, M.
  • Source: Campos-Magana, SG
  • Volume: 42
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: A five year field experiment was conducted to assess the interaction between soil tillage levels, maize-sorghum-legume rotation and two levels of chemical fertilization at the rain feed tropical region of southeast Mexico. The purpose of this research work was to asses this interaction over the variation of some soil quality indices and the effect on the productivity of the soil-grain yield. The treatments for soil tillage were zero till and the intensive traditional soil tillage of the region. Crop rotations employed were five years maize (mmmmm), five years sorghum (sssss), two rotations; (smsms) and (msmsm) and two intercropping of legumes (f)-cereals, (fsfsf) and (fmsmf). Ninety two and 136 units of nitrogen were the two levels of fertilization and were applied only to the cereals. The evaluated soil index in the first and fifth year were organic matter (mo), water infiltration rate (ir), aggregate stability (as), ph, biomass microbiana (mb), nitrogen soluble nitrogen, soil density (sd), soil depth (sd), electrical conductivity (ec) and availability of nutrients. In general terms, the best grain yield for both sorghum and maize were obtained with the no till treatment although no big differences were observed between them. The five year sorghum mean yield under no till with fertilization levels 1 and 2 were 3.6 and 4.5 Mg/ha, whereas, with conventional tillage these were just 3.1 and 4.1 Mg/ha, respectively. The grain yield of maize with level 2 of nitrogen, with zero and traditional till were 5.1 and 4.6 Mg/ha; however, with nitrogen level 1 there were no apparent advantages of the first treatment (3.8 Mg/ha in both cases). The type of crop rotation and soil tillage level mainly affected the chemical soil index at 0 to 5 cm depth. However, no effect occurred with the way of handling crop residues and with the levels of chemical fertilization. The main values of electrical conductivity were attributed to an increase in the solubility of some elements. It was also observed that, under no till, there was an increase of the levels of soluble carbon.
  • Authors:
    • FaQi, W.
    • JinYin, L.
    • LongShan, Z.
    • XiaoLing, Y.
    • WeiPeng, C.
  • Source: Journal of Northwest A & F University - Natural Science Edition
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Objective: The objective of this article was to evaluate the soil quality under different mechanical tillage treatments: no-till with straw-mulching (SM), no-tillage (NT), film-mulching (FM), conventional tillage (CT), in the southern edge of Mu Us desert. Method: Based on results obtained from an experiment of six years, 13 soil fertility indexes were selected and grouped into three common factors using factor analysis method: the potential fertilizer factor F1, organic matter factor F2, biological activity factor F3, and calculated scores of all measures were comprehensive and crop yields were used to verify the evaluation results. Result: The results showed that: (1) The score trend of soil fertility quality under different tillages was film-mulching > no-tillage=conventional tillage > no-till with straw-mulching, which was basically consistent with yield trend film-mulching > conventional tillage > no-tillage > no-till with straw-mulching, indicating evaluation results were reliable and valid. (2) Owing to microbes under straw mulching treatment consuming a large amount of nutrients, three common factors had lower scores and soil fertility quality score was the lowest in the no-till with straw-mulching treatment; The highest soil organic matter factor score in the no-tillage treatment indicated that the no-tillage measure was conducive to the accumulation of soil organic matter; The highest soil potential fertility factor score but lower soil organic matter factor score in the conventional tillage measure indicated that the conventional tillage measure was not conducive to the accumulation of soil organic matter, and cannot be the best treatment for sustainable agricultural development; The highest biological activity score but the lowest soil potential fertility factor score in the film-mulching treatment indicated that the FM treatment was conducive to the effectuate of potential soil nutrient. Conclusion: Factor analysis method could better reflect quality of soil fertility and could be used for soil quality evaluation.
  • Authors:
    • Chen, G.
    • Weil, R. R.
  • Source: Soil & Tillage Research
  • Volume: 117
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: The yield of rainfed crops is commonly limited by the availability of soil water during the summer growing season. Channels produced by cover crop roots in fall/winter when soils are relatively moist may facilitate the penetration of compacted soils by subsequent crop roots in summer when soils are relatively dry and hard. Our objective was to determine the effects of fall cover crops on maize (Zea mays) growth and soil water status under three levels (high, medium, and no) of imposed traffic compaction. The study was conducted on coastal plain soils (fine-loamy Typic/Aquic hapludults and siliceous, Psammentic hapludults) in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States from 2006 to 2008. Cover crop treatments were FR (forage radish: Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, cv. 'Daikon'), rapeseed (Brassica napus, cv. 'Essex'), rye (cereal rye: Secale cereale L, cv. 'Wheeler') and NCC (no cover crop). Maize under high compaction achieved more deep-roots following FR and rapeseed than following rye or NCC. However, maize had greater yield following all cover crops than NCC control regardless of compaction levels and soil texture. Compaction reduced maize yield only under the high compaction in the lightly textured soils. During 24 June-24 July 2008, soils at 15 and 50 cm depths were drier under no compaction than high compaction and drier following FR than other cover crop treatments. Our results suggest that FR benefited maize root penetration in compacted soils while rye provided the best availability of surface soil water; rapeseed tended to provide both benefits. However, as rapeseed is relatively difficult to kill in spring, a mixture of FR and rye cover crops might be most practical and beneficial for rainfed summer crops under no-till systems in regions with cool to temperate, humid climates.
  • Authors:
    • Cheng, L.
    • Booker, F. L.
    • Burkey, K. O.
    • Tu, C.
    • Shew, H. D.
    • Rufty, T. W.
    • Fiscus, E. L.
    • Deforest, J. L.
    • Hu, S. J.
  • Source: PLOS ONE
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Climate change factors such as elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2) and ozone (O 3) can exert significant impacts on soil microbes and the ecosystem level processes they mediate. However, the underlying mechanisms by which soil microbes respond to these environmental changes remain poorly understood. The prevailing hypothesis, which states that CO 2- or O 3-induced changes in carbon (C) availability dominate microbial responses, is primarily based on results from nitrogen (N)-limiting forests and grasslands. It remains largely unexplored how soil microbes respond to elevated CO 2 and O 3 in N-rich or N-aggrading systems, which severely hinders our ability to predict the long-term soil C dynamics in agroecosystems. Using a long-term field study conducted in a no-till wheat-soybean rotation system with open-top chambers, we showed that elevated CO 2 but not O 3 had a potent influence on soil microbes. Elevated CO 2 (1.5 * ambient) significantly increased, while O 3 (1.4 * ambient) reduced, aboveground (and presumably belowground) plant residue C and N inputs to soil. However, only elevated CO 2 significantly affected soil microbial biomass, activities (namely heterotrophic respiration) and community composition. The enhancement of microbial biomass and activities by elevated CO 2 largely occurred in the third and fourth years of the experiment and coincided with increased soil N availability, likely due to CO 2-stimulation of symbiotic N 2 fixation in soybean. Fungal biomass and the fungi:bacteria ratio decreased under both ambient and elevated CO 2 by the third year and also coincided with increased soil N availability; but they were significantly higher under elevated than ambient CO 2. These results suggest that more attention should be directed towards assessing the impact of N availability on microbial activities and decomposition in projections of soil organic C balance in N-rich systems under future CO 2 scenarios.
  • Authors:
    • Hannachi, A.
    • Touahria, O.
    • Fellahi, Z. E. A.
    • Makhlouf, M.
    • Bouzerzour, H.
    • Chennafi, H.
  • Source: Advances in Environmental Biology
  • Volume: 5
  • Issue: 10
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: A field study was conducted during two cropping seasons (2009/10 and 2010/11) at the Institute of Field Crop-Agricultural Research Station of Setif (eastern Algeria) to compared the effect of tillage (no till and conventional tillage) and residue management (0, 30 and 60% soil cover) on the growth and grain yield of durum wheat. The cumulative growing season precipitations were 427.7 and 312.1 mm. Soil water storage to a depth of 0.4 m was higher under CT in the first year and no significant differences existed between NT and CT during the second year. Above-ground biomass was higher under CT, while grain yield, spikes m -2 and number of kernels m -2 were higher under NT. Residue rate affected positively all measured traits, suggesting the necessity to maintain residue cover to avoid reducing yield under NT management system. Averaged over residue rates, Transpiration was higher under CT than under NT, in 2009/10, but not significant difference was noted in 2010/11. The opposite was noted for evaporation. Transpiration increased as residue rates increased during both seasons. CT showed higher WUE BIO and WUE GY in the first year, while during the second year, NT expressed higher WUE BIO and WUE GY. WUE BIO and WUE GY increased as residue rate increased, during both cropping seasons. The results of the present study indicated that with adequate residue cover, no-till did not decreased grain yield, which suggested that durum wheat can be grown under NT with the expectation that gain yield will be higher or at least equal to CT grain yield.
  • Authors:
    • Cociu, A. I.
  • Source: Romanian Agricultural Research
  • Issue: 28
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: This research was aimed to identify the most suitable tillage systems for sustainable winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) yield levels, with best economic efficiency, assuring at the same time high quality soil physical and mechanical properties. The field experiments were carried out at Fundulea on a cambic chernozem soil type. Four tillage systems were tested to determine their influence on soil water content, soil macro-aggregates, resistance to soil penetration, wheat grain yield and its components, and crop economic efficiency. The following tillage systems were studied: traditional, with moldboard plough (TS); chisel plough tillage - primary tillage executed with chisel implement type without furrow over throwing (CS); disc/sweep tillage, providing a combined effect of vegetal remnants chopped with disc implements along with soil work with arrow type tools, without furrow over throwing (DS); No till (NT) - without any tillage work. In comparison with TS variant, soil conservation tillage systems (SCTS), as CS, DS and NT, increased the soil water content, recorded at seeding time, with 0.8%, 3.9%, and 4.1%, respectively. Soil water content, recorded at harvest time for CS and NT variants was 1.3% and 2.5% higher than in the case of TS (P2 mm with 5.5%, and the mean weighted diameter of soil particles resulted by dry sieving, with 5.5% and 10%, respectively. Yield components recorded for soil conservation tillage systems (CS, DS, and NT) did not differ significantly from those evaluated for traditional system (TS), but the superior values of 1000 kernels weight and spike density suggest that these components contributed more to higher yields, obtained with SCTS, than grain weight per spike, number of grain per spike, and number of grains per square meter. With regards to economic efficiency, the outputs of all tested SCTS were significantly greater than the TS. The present study, revealing important advantages of soil conservation tillage systems over the traditional one, revealing the improvement of soil physical and mechanical properties, higher winter wheat yield levels and higher crop economic efficiency, invites farmers from South Plain of Romania to adopt soon these new progressive systems.
  • Authors:
    • Cociu, A. I.
    • Alionte, E.
  • Source: Analele Institutului National de Cercetare-Dezvoltare Agricola Fundulea
  • Volume: 79
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Grain yields of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize ( Zea mays L.), and soybean [ Glycine max. (L.) Merr], in rotation were significantly influenced by soil deep loosening and tillage system, depending on water supply (irrigation application). Scientific literature regarding the influence of these agronomic factors on the yield quality of the respective three crops, in rotation, is quite limited. For this study, a field experiment was carried out at Fundulea, which is located in the eastern part of the Danube Plain, on a cambic chernozem soil type. One of the main objectives was to determine how the grain yield quality of winter wheat, maize and soybean is influenced by different reduced tillage systems, in comparison with the traditional (conventional) one, as well as by the direct seeding in non-worked ground, or in strip till, with and without soil deep loosing, under different irrigations. Regarding the maize, the water provisioning * tillage system interaction was very significant (P0.05). Under the three water provisions applied, protein content had values between 40.0%, recorded when the normal irrigation rate was used, at no till system, and 41.5%, recorded for the dry conditions, also at no till system. The 1,000 kernel weight varied between 120 g, registered for the dry conditions at no till variant, and 159 g, registered for normal irrigation rate, also at no till system. The results of this research do not make evident a certain tendency of protein content, but show clearly that the fat content increases concomitantly with grain yield growing. As concerns the winter wheat crop, the water provisioning * tillage system interaction was not significant (P>0.05). Protein content was comprised between 13.2%, registered when the normal irrigation rate was applied at no till system variant, and 15.7%, under dry conditions, at the traditional tillage system. The minimum value of 1,000 kernel weight was 37 g, recorded for dry conditions at chisel tillage variant, and the highest value, of 47 g, was obtained when normal irrigation rate was applied to no till variant.
  • Authors:
    • Alionte,E.
    • Cociu,A. I.
  • Source: Romanian Agricultural Research
  • Issue: 28
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Previous research revealed that winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.), maize ( Zea mays L.), and soybean [ Glicine max (L.) Merill] respond more or less to the soil deep loosening work and different tillage systems, depending on the environment. The few data available showed that these agricultural practices also have a certain influence on nutritive values and physical properties of the harvested products. A three year (2008-2010) winter wheat, maize and soybean field experiment was carried out at Fundulea, Romania, on a cambic chernozem type, with the objective of evaluating the influence of different conservative tillage systems (chisel till, disc till, strip till and no till), with and without deep soil loosening, on yield and some important quality parameters. This research revealed that for winter wheat, the tillage systems and climatic conditions which favored grain yield were unfavorable for protein content. Deep soil loosening and tillage systems had a similar influence on protein and grain yields. 1000 kernels weight and test weight were not influenced significantly by the deep soil loosening and tillage systems. For maize, the application of no till resulted in a significant grain yield increase. Conservation tillage systems may influence negatively grain protein content, depending on the climatic conditions. Protein, fat and starch yields were significantly influenced by tillage systems, year and their interaction. These influences were caused mainly by the magnitude of grain yields differences. 1000 kernels weight and test weight were not significantly influenced by the deep soil loosening and tillage system. For soybean, climatic conditions and tillage systems which influenced the grain yield, affected in a similar way the protein and fat contents. Deep soil loosening had a significant influence only on the grain yield and protein content. Deep soil loosening, tillage system and climatic conditions which influenced the grain yield affected similarly the protein yield. In the case of fat yield, these effects are more or less the same only for deep soil loosening and years, but not for tillage systems.
  • Authors:
    • Costa, M. S. S. de M.
    • Pivetta, L. A.
    • Steiner, F.
    • Costa, L. A. de M.
    • Castoldi, G.
    • Gobbi, F. C.
  • Source: Revista Brasileira de Ciencias Agrarias
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2011
  • Summary: Crop systems and fertilization sources can affect the chemical properties of the soil and, consequently, its fertility. With the aim of evaluating the effect of such management practices, soil samples collected at 0.0-0.10; 0.10-0.20; and 0.20-0.40 m in depth were collected and analyzed in the second year of an experiment installed in 2006 in a Rhodic Hapludox under no-till farming, located in the Agronomic Experimental Station of UNIOESTE, in the city of Marechal Candido Rondon, Parana, Brazil. The experiment consisted of two crop systems (with and without rotation of cover crops) and three fertilization sources (mineral, organic and mineral+organic). The organic and mineral+organic fertilizations consisted of the application of animal manure alone and animal manure mixed with mineral fertilizer, respectively. The values of pH, exchangeable potassium (K +) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were not affected by the different crop systems, related to the application of different fertilization sources. However, they did influence the organic matter contents (OM), potential acidity (H ++Al 3+), exchangeable aluminum (Al 3+), phosphorus (P), calcium (Ca 2+), magnesium (Mg 2+), and the bases sum and saturation (V%). The organic and mineral+organic fertilizations, with animal manure promoted the highest increase in soil Ca and Mg.