Soil organic matter quality as influenced by tillage, lime, and phosphorus

Abstract

In Eastern Canada, cereal yields are often restricted by soil acidity and low fertility. Continuous cereal production can also lead to soil structural degradation. The addition of lime and fertilizers and the adoption of conversation tillage practices are proposed solutions which may have a positive impact on soil quality. The objective of the present work was to assess the impact of 3 years of different tillage practices and P additions, and of a single lime addition on organic C and total N, microbial biomass C, and on N mineralization at the surface layer (0–7.5 cm) of a Courval sandy clay loam (Humic Gleysol). The easily mineralizable N, total amount of N mineralized in 22.1 weeks, the rate of N mineralization, and microbial biomass C were significantly greater in the minimum tillage than in the moldboard plow treatment. Chisel plow treatment showed intermediate values. The ratios of potentially mineralizable N and of easily mineralizable to total soil N were also significantly larger under minimum tillage and chisel plowing than under moldboard plowing. The lime and P treatments had no significant effect on the measured soil quality parameters. The total amount of N mineralized per unit of biomass C decreased as the tillage intensity increased, suggesting a decrease in the efficiency of the biomass in transforming organic N into potentially plant-available forms and thus a loss in soil organic matter quality. The results of this study indicate that conservation tillage practices such as rototilling and chisel plowing are efficient ways of maintaining soil organic matter quality when old pastures are brought back into cultivation.