Abstract
Natural farming (NF), an environmentally friendly agricultural practice similar to organic farming, was developed in Japan. Unlike conventional farming, little is known about the influence of NF on soil microbial communities, especially the surface soil. We therefore compared the effect of seven years’ conventional practice (CP), conventional practice without chemicals (CF), and NF on soil properties and microbial community structure at two soil depths (0–10, 10–20 cm) in an experimental cabbage field. Both soil depth and agricultural practice significantly influenced edaphic measures and microbial community structure. NF improved bulk density, pH, electrical conductivity, urease activity, and nitrate reductase activity in topsoil; similar trends were observed in deeper soil. Pyrosequencing demonstrated that the use of pesticides in conventional farming (CP) led to lower microbial abundance and diversity in topsoil than CF. Similarly, NF increased microbial abundance compared to CP. However, distinct taxa were present in the topsoil, but not deeper soil, in each treatment. CP-enriched microbial genera may be related to plant pathogens (e.g., Erwinia and Brenneria) and xenobiotic degraders (e.g., Sphingobacterium and Comamonas). The microbial community structure of NF was distinct to CP/CF, with enrichment of Pedomicrobium and Solirubrobacter, which may prefer stable soil conditions. Network analysis of dominant genera confirmed the more stable, complex microbial network structure of the 0–10 cm than 10–20 cm layer. Flavisolibacter/Candidatus Solibacter and Candidatus Nitrososphaera/Leuconostoc are potentially fundamental taxa in the 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm layer networks, respectively. Overall, we show that NF positively affects soil quality and microbial community composition within sustainable farming systems.
Highlights
Over the last half century, the green revolution has significantly increased agricultural production through the use of fertilizers and agrochemicals, and helped to feed the growing population of the world [1]
Unconstrained principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) analysis showed that the soil properties for each of the three treatments generally clustered into distinct groups
We found that water content, pH, and the C/N ratio were significantly lower at 0–10 cm than 10–20 cm, whereas electrical conductivity (EC), bulk density, NO3−-N, urease activity, and total C and N generally showed the opposite trend in the same system (p < 0.05, Table 2)
Summary
Over the last half century, the green revolution has significantly increased agricultural production through the use of fertilizers and agrochemicals, and helped to feed the growing population of the world [1]. Agricultural intensification mainly involves indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers and agrochemicals and has contributed to negative environmental issues such as global warming, eutrophication of water systems, and soil degradation. Strategies to improve soil health and fertility, conserve soil resources, and establish a sustainable agricultural model, such as no tillage, controlled traffic farming, and organic farming, have recently received growing attention. These farming management techniques have been shown to reduce soil compaction, soil erosion, maintain organic matter, and enhance soil biodiversity, which are beneficial to soil conditions [3,4,5]. The principles of natural farming are focused on environmental biodiversity and soil health and follow the laws of nature in agricultural production [7]
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