Abstract
Cropping systems and management practices that improve soil health may greatly enhance crop productivity. Four different potato cropping systems designed to address specific management goals of soil conservation (SC), soil improvement (SI), disease suppression (DS), and a status quo (SQ) standard rotation, along with a non-rotation (PP) control, were evaluated for their effects on potato crop growth, nutrient, and yield characteristics under both irrigated and non-irrigated (rainfed) conditions in field trials in Maine, USA, from 2004 to 2010. Both cropping system and irrigation significantly (p < 0.05) affected most potato crop parameters associated with growth and yield. All rotations increased tuber yield relative to the non-rotation PP control, and the SI system, which included yearly compost amendments, resulted in overall higher yields and a higher percentage of large-size tubers than all other systems with no irrigation (increases of 14 to 90%). DS, which contained disease-suppressive green manures and cover crops, produced the highest yields overall under irrigation (increases of 11 to 35%). Irrigation increased tuber yields in all cropping systems except SI (average increase of 27–37%). SI also resulted in significant increases in leaf area duration and chlorophyll content (as indicators of photosynthetic potential) and root and shoot biomass relative to other cropping systems, particularly under non-irrigated conditions. SI also resulted in higher shoot and tuber tissue concentrations of N, P, and K, but not most micronutrients. Overall, cropping systems that incorporate management practices such as increased rotation length and the use of cover crops, green manures, reduced tillage, and particularly, organic amendments, can substantially improve potato crop growth and yield. Irrigation also substantially increased growth and yield under normal field conditions in Maine, but SI, with its large organic amendments, was essentially a substitute for irrigation, producing comparable results without irrigation.
Highlights
Sustainability of crop production systems is dependent on many factors, from the cost/benefit of the many operations involved to the inputs and outputs obtained to the continued health of the soil and overall agroecosystem
Yields for soil conservation (SC) remained relatively low in the early years of the study, by the second rotation cycle (2009–2010), yields for SC averaged greater than both status quo (SQ) and PP systems, by 12 to 23%
Multiple individual soil health management practices were combined into cropping systems with specific management goals of soil conservation, soil improvement, and disease suppression, and effects on crop growth, nutrition, and tuber yield and quality were assessed over up to five full cropping seasons under both non-irrigated and irrigated conditions
Summary
Sustainability of crop production systems is dependent on many factors, from the cost/benefit of the many operations involved to the inputs and outputs obtained to the continued health of the soil and overall agroecosystem. Increasing rotation length from 2 years to 3 or more years between potato crops has been shown to improve productivity, as well as reduce soilborne diseases in multiple studies [6,7,8,9,10] Other practices, such as the addition of cover crops and green manures [11,12], amendments of compost or animal manure [13,14,15], and reduced tillage [6,16], have all shown promise for having positive effects on tuber yield and quality, as well as other benefits to various soil properties and soil health in potato systems. Most previous research has focused on the assessment of individual practices or rotations, and not necessarily on the combined effects of multiple different practices in integrated cropping systems for the total system effects on productivity and plant and soil properties
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