Abstract
In Mediterranean environments the adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA) would allow growers to achieve environmental, agronomic and economic sustainability. We investigated the effect of different combination of crop establishment treatments and crop sequence (conventional tillage (CT) and durum wheat monocropping (WW); conventional tillage (CT) and durum wheat following faba beans (WF); zero tillage (ZT) and durum wheat monocropping (WW); zero tillage (ZF) and durum wheat following faba beans (WF) on yield, grain quality traits as well as on disease incidence and severity in durum wheat (var. Saragolla). The results of two years of data of a long-term experiment (seven-year experiment; split-plot design) are discussed. The CA approach (ZT + WF), which always induced the highest grain yields (6.1 t ha−1 and 3.3 t ha−1 in 2016 and 2017) thanks to an increased number of spikes m−2 (296 vs. 269 and 303 vs. 287 spikes m−2 in 2016 and 2017, respectively) as well as a more pronounced ear length, demonstrated significantly positive influences in terms of grain quality. It promoted grain protein accumulation (12.1% for ZT + WF vs. 11.4% for ZT + WW and 12.4% for ZT + WF vs. 10.6% for ZT + WW in 2016 and 2017) and improved the gluten quality (in terms of sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) sedimentation test) and colour of the grain. The abundance of crop residues determined a higher incidence and severity of Zymoseptoria tritici leaf symptoms under the CA system; nevertheless, the late appearance of infection was the main reason for not affecting yield and quality traits. The presence of faba beans (WF) in the rotation significantly reduced leaf symptoms in Z. tritici.
Highlights
The farms of the inner hilly, not irrigated Mediterranean environments, are characterized by low and erratic rainfall distribution, with high temperatures often occurring at the beginning of May.Here farmers typically rely exclusively on durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf.)Husn.) monocropping or short rotations of durum wheat-sunflower or durum wheat-barley
Several studies have demonstrated that the balance between CO2 emitted and captured is optimized [9,10], soil organic matter, edaphic biodiversity and water retention are increased [11,12], and the bioavailability of nutrients as well as the whole fertility of soil are improved [13] with a consequent reduction of management costs [14]
Our work indicates that residue management and crop establishment treatment significantly affect GPC and protein quality, limited and controversial results are found in the literature; Carr et al [38] reported no effect, while López-Bellido et al [41]
Summary
The farms of the inner hilly, not irrigated Mediterranean environments, are characterized by low and erratic rainfall distribution, with high temperatures often occurring at the beginning of May.Here farmers typically rely exclusively on durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf.)Husn.) monocropping or short rotations of durum wheat-sunflower or durum wheat-barley. Crop establishment treatment is characterized by the sole application of a conventional approach, characterized by several tillage applications for seed-bed preparation, including deep ploughing to 0.45 m Such agronomic management has led to severe soil loss, organic matter depletion, CO2 release and biodiversity constraints, as demonstrated by several studies [1,2,3]. A way to merge economic with social and environmental sustainability is represented by the adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA), an agronomic system developed to prevent soil erosion and compaction, and to lower the costs of cultivation practices [5] It includes zero tillage, maintaining crop residues in the field, and adoption of the use of cover crops as well as crop rotation [6,7]: as a result, soil layers are not reversed and crop residues and organic fertilizers are not incorporated in the processed layer [8]. Several studies have demonstrated that the balance between CO2 emitted and captured is optimized [9,10], soil organic matter, edaphic biodiversity and water retention are increased [11,12], and the bioavailability of nutrients as well as the whole fertility of soil are improved [13] with a consequent reduction of management costs [14]
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