Long-Term Cropping Effects on Agricultural Sustainability in Alar Oasis of Xinjiang, China

Lu Gong,Guixiang He,Weiguo Liu

doi:10.3390/su8010061

Lu Gong, Guixiang He + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su8010061

Copy DOI

Abstract

Agricultural sustainability has become a major concern in arid regions of China. In order to better understand the influence of continuous cropping on soil quality, six experimental fields were established in the Alar Oasis of Xinjiang, including uncultivated land (as a zero year treatment duration) and five different continuous cropping years on cotton fields, with different cropping durations (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 years, respectively). Thirteen soil indicators were selected including soil physicochemical properties, nutrient properties and enzymatic activities. The results show that duration of continuous cropping of cotton fields significantly influences a number of soil properties. Cultivation durations ranked according to soil quality indexes (SQI) are as follows: 15 years (0.828) > 20 years (0.816) > 10 years (0.668)> 5 years (0.548) > 25 years (0.377) > 0 years (0.205), and sustainable yield index (SYI) are as follows: 10 years (0.830) > 15 years (0.777) > 20 years (0.667) > 5 years (0.586) > 25 years (0.159).

Highlights

Sustainable agriculture has become a severe problem in many areas, especially arid regions in China
Inappropriate long-term land use and cultivation pattern result in the depletion of organic matter and soil erosion, which results in permanent soil gradation and productivity decreases [1,5]
Issues of agricultural sustainability are related to soil quality (SQ) and assessment, and the direction of change of SQ with time is a primary indicator of whether agriculture is sustainable [6,7]

Summary

Introduction

Sustainable agriculture has become a severe problem in many areas, especially arid regions in China. According to Ramos [1], the increase in yields in the past half-century is due to the intensification of soil cultivation practices, the development of high yielding crop varieties, and the increasing use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation and mechanization. Long-term cropping often results in differences in physical, chemical and biological properties of soil which, in turn, lead to changes in the functional quality of soil [2,3,4]. Inappropriate long-term land use and cultivation pattern result in the depletion of organic matter and soil erosion, which results in permanent soil gradation and productivity decreases [1,5]. Agricultural sustainability has become a major concern. Issues of agricultural sustainability are related to soil quality (SQ) and assessment, and the direction of change of SQ with time is a primary indicator of whether agriculture is sustainable [6,7]

Objectives

Methods

Results