Effects of Wheat and Rapeseed Production on Soil Water Storage in Mongolian Rangeland

Katori Miyasaka,Takafumi Miyasaka,Jumpei Ota,Siilegmaa Batsukh,Undarmaa Jamsran

doi:10.3390/agriculture11090888

Abstract

In recent years, Mongolia has witnessed an increase in not only wheat fields, which have been present for a long time, but also rapeseed fields. This has led to increasing concerns about soil degradation due to inappropriate cultivation. This study aims to determine the impacts of rapeseed production on soil water storage in Mongolia. The soil water content and matric potential were measured in wheat and rapeseed fields and adjacent steppe rangeland for five years, including crop production and fallow years, and the soil water storages in the fields were compared. The results demonstrated that the matric potential below the root zone in the rapeseed field and both rangelands was drier than the wilting point, whereas the potential in the wheat field was usually almost the same or wetter than this point. The comparison of the amount of soil water storage during the fallow year with that of the adjacent rangeland showed it to be 5–10% higher for the wheat field and almost equal for the rapeseed field. Field management must consider the fact that rapeseed fields use more water than is required by wheat fields and that less water is stored during fallow periods.

Highlights

IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Among the effects of rapeseed production on soil environment, this study focuses on soil water storage and aims to clarify the effects of rapeseed production, which has been increasing in recent years, on soil water content and matric potential, and demonstrate how rapeseed production differs from the production of wheat, which has been produced in Mongolia over a long time
The soil water content and matric potential were measured in wheat and rapeseed fields, as well as two rangelands adjacent to these fields

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The Mongolian steppe, located in cold and dry areas, is unfit for crop farming because of the short growing season for plants and the low amounts of precipitation. Nomadic livestock farming, i.e., moving from place to place with livestock such as camels, horses, cattle, sheep, and goats, in search of water and grass, has been the main agricultural approach since ancient times. With the introduction of the Virgin Lands campaign of the Soviet Union in 1959, Mongolia intensified its efforts to expand crop production

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