A Review on the Effect of Soil Compaction and its Management for Sustainable Crop Production

Md Rayhan Shaheb,Scott A Shearer,Ramarao Venkatesh

doi:10.1007/s42853-021-00117-7

Md Rayhan Shaheb, Scott A Shearer + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-021-00117-7

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Abstract

PurposeSustainable crop production could contribute to feed and fuel for the ever-increasing global population. The use of heavy agricultural machinery has improved the efficiency of farming operations and increased global food production since the 1950s. But their negative impact on soil includes changing soil structure resulting in deteriorating soil productivity and environmental quality is being noticed for several decades. The purpose of this review is to summarize and help to better understand the effect of heavy machinery, tire inflation pressure, and field traffic on soil properties and crop development, yield, and economics of different farming systems published in the last 20 years.MethodsSearch engines such as Google Scholar, Scopus, Science Direct, Springer Link, Wiley Online, Taylor & Francis Online, Academia, and Research Gate platforms were used to collect and review the articles. This review includes indexed journals, conference and symposium proceedings, reports, academic presentations, and thesis/dissertations.ResultsSoil compaction increases bulk density and soil strength and reduces soil porosity and soil hydraulic properties. Stunted plant root growth due to compaction of soil affects crop growth and development, and yield. Soil compaction resulting from heavy machinery traffic caused a significant crop yield reduction of as much as 50% or even more, depending upon the magnitude and the severity of compaction of the soil.ConclusionsHigh gross weight vehicles/machinery traffic damages soil structure and soil environment that are critical for sustainable crop production. The use of heavy machinery such as subsoiling for removing soil compaction results in more fuel use, increased use of energy, cost, and sometimes risks of re-compaction, further deteriorating soil conditions and causing additional adverse environmental consequences. The economics of different farming systems affected by soil compaction, potential soil compaction management strategies, and future research needs have also been discussed.

Highlights

The rapidly increasing global population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, which requires increased food production to meet the demand without overwhelming the available resources
Several studies have shown that soil compaction affects (a) soil properties such as (i) changes soil structure, (ii) increases bulk density (BD), (iii) increases penetrometer resistance (PR), (iv) reduces soil aeration, (v) decreases water infiltration, and (vi) reduces hydraulic conductivity and (b) crop growth by (i) increasing mechanical impediment to root growth, (ii) hampering root architecture, and (iii) decreasing distribution and development of roots (Gan-mor & Clark, 2001; Li et al, 2001; Hamza & Anderson, 2005; Raper & Kirby, 2006; Chan et al, 2006; Radford et al, 2007; Hula et al, 2009; Horn et al, 2019; Keller et al, 2019)
Soil compaction is unfavorable for sustainable agriculture

Summary

Introduction

The rapidly increasing global population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, which requires increased food production to meet the demand without overwhelming the available resources. Despite the benefit of saving money, labor, and timeliness of operation (ECIFM, 2017), heavy farm machinery causes soil compaction that impacts soil structure and decreases crop root growth, overall crop growth and development, and yield (Horn & Fleige, 2003; Chan et al, 2006; McKenzie, 2010). The increased gross weight of agricultural machinery contributes to the increase in wheel loads and enhances the risk of soil compaction (Chamen, 2015; Keller et al, 2019). The increase in the gross weight of the equipment and an increase in the number of passes play significant roles in enhancing soil compaction in many parts of the world (Horn et al, 2019; Keller et al, 2019). Soil compaction substantially impacts crop growth, development, yield, and farm income (Hakansson, 2005; Chan et al, 2006; Botta et al, 2010; Chamen, 2011; Godwin et al, 2017; Shaheb et al, 2018; Colombi & Keller, 2019). The reduction in yield of corn due to compaction was reported to be as much as 50% (Raghavan et al, 1979), 15 to 43% with 11-Mg axle load followed by tillage (Voorhees, 2000), and 17% by the tillage two-wheel passes of 8-Mg axle load and 300-kPa tire inflation pressure (Abu-Hamdeh, 2010)

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