Crop Combinations Research Articles

Best Row Ratio Combinations of Agronomic Crops in the Intercropping System: An Overview

The quality of soil and water, as well as the preservation of biodiversity, are negatively impacted by intensive agricultural systems. High biodiversity regulates how intercropping evolves. Contrastingly, monocultures are used in intensive agriculture systems, along with substantial inputs of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. One strategy for boosting diversity in an agricultural ecosystem is intercropping. Intercropping systems improve environmental harmony, increased resource use efficiency, enhance the quantity and quality of goods, and less damage from pests, diseases, and weeds. Leguminosae family plants are preferable for intercropping even though they fix more biological nitrogen, thus enriching soil fertility. Intercropping is significant in many subsistence or low-input/resource-limited agricultural systems, which are on the periphery of modern intensive agriculture. Thus, opting for suitable combinations of crops with an optimum row ratio will be more profitable, ecologically sound, and economically viable.

Biochar–compost mixture and cover crop effects on soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics, yield, and fruit quality in an irrigated vineyard

Effects of biochar–compost (B+Com) mixture and cover crop were assessed on soil and grapevine productivity in an irrigated Merlot ( Vitis vinifera L.) vineyard in Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (BC), Canada, from 2017 to 2020. The experimental design was a factorial arrangement of control, B+Com, cover crop, and combination of cover crop and B+Com (cover crop/B+Com) treatments in alleys with four replications. The B+Com comprised a 1:1 ratio of biochar and compost and was applied at a rate of 22 Mg ha−1 dry weight basis in May 2017 and 2019. The cover crop consisted of a dryland forage mixture and bird’s-foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus L.). B+Com treatment did not affect cover crop biomass or tissue C and N concentrations except for a 12% reduction in 2019 biomass. B+Com and cover crop/B+Com increased soil C content averaged across sampling dates by 11% and 17% ( P < 0.05), respectively, only at the 0–15 cm soil depth compared with the control. Cover crop treatment did not affect ( P < 0.05) soil C content at two soil depths in all sampling dates. Soil N content was not affected by B+Com, decreased by an average of 12.5% at both soil depths with cover crop, and increased with cover crop/B+Com by 4% only at the 0–15 cm soil depth averaged across sampling dates ( P < 0.05). Grape yield was increased by 32% by cover crop/B+Com relative to control only in 2020. The cover crop reduced petiole N and pruning weights in one or two years out of three.

Exploitation of neighbouring subsoil for nutrient acquisition under annual-perennial strip intercropping systems

Little is known how the deep root systems of perennial crops contribute to deeper and better resource use when intercropped with annuals in arable fields. Therefore, we aimed at measuring the capacity of deep-rooted perennials, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and curly dock (Rumex crispus L.) to access nutrients located under neighboring annuals at 1.0 and 2.5 m of soil depth. Alfalfa and curly dock were able to access the tracer sources (15N and Cs) placed at a distance farther than 0.4 m under the annual crop strips. As a result, the reliance on deeper soil layers for nutrient uptake by the crops grown at the borders became greater compared with the crops grown in the mid-strips. Combination of an annual cereal (winter rye) and a perennial legume (alfalfa) having contrasting root systems exhibited higher resource complementarity compared with intercroppings having more similar root systems or in the absence of legumes. Our results demonstrated that the deep-rooted perennials, when intercropped with annuals, can induce vertical niche complementarity, especially at deeper soil layers. This was assumed to be due to the differences in rooting depth and deep root activity the crop components, however, the magnitude of the effects depended on choice of crop combinations, and on types of tracers used in the study.

Intercropping of Radish and Beetroot with Chilli under Prayagraj Agro-Climatic Conditions

A field experiment entitled “Intercropping of Radish and Beetroot with Chilli under Prayagraj Agro-climatic conditions” was conducted from August, 2021 to February, 2022 at the Horticulture Research Farm, Department of Horticulture, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications and 12 treatments. The experiment consisted of six cropping combinations viz., sole chilli, sole radish, sole beetroot, chilli + radish, chilli+ beetroot, chilli + radish + beetroot. The highest yield (green chilli) was obtained from treatment T1 (sole chilli @ 100 % RDN) (13.09 t ha-1). Among the intercropping treatments, the highest chilli yield (12.62 t ha-1) was obtained from treatment T10 (chilli @ 50% RDN + radish @ 50% RDN) whereas the lowest (9.45 t ha-1) was found in treatment T6 (chilli @ 75% RDN + radish @ 12.5% RDN + beetroot @ 12.5% RDN). Intercropping reduced chilli yield but total chilli with intercrop yield increased over sole chilli due to the contribution of companion crops. The highest chilli along with intercrop yield (150.71 t ha-1), gross return (1101506 Rs. ha-1), net return (817969 Rs. ha-1) and benefit cost ratio (3.88) were obtained from treatment T12 (chilli @ 50% RDN + radish @ 25% RDN + beetroot @ 25% RDN). Considering the experimental findings, treatment T12 (chilli @ 50% RDN + radish @ 25% RDN + beetroot @ 25% RDN) found the most suitable combination for higher productivity and economic return under Prayagraj agro-climatic conditions.

Legacies at work: plant-soil-microbiome interactions underpinning agricultural sustainability.

Agricultural intensification has had long-lasting negative legacies largely because of excessive inputs of agrochemicals (e.g., fertilizers) and simplification of cropping systems (e.g., continuous monocropping). Conventional agricultural management focuses on suppressing these negative legacies. However, there is now increasing attention for creating positive above- and belowground legacies through selecting crop species/genotypes, optimizing temporal and spatial crop combinations, improving nutrient inputs, developing intelligent fertilizers, and applying soil or microbiome inoculations. This can lead to enhanced yields and reduced pest and disease pressure in cropping systems, and can also mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and enhance carbon sequestration in soils. Strengthening positive legacies requires a deeper understanding of plant-soil-microbiome interactions and innovative crop, input, and soil management which can help to achieve agricultural sustainability.

Contribution of a Seeded Cover Crop Mixture on Biomass Production and Nutrition Status Compared to Natural Vegetation in a Mediterranean Olive Grove

Intensive agricultural management practices (i.e., the burning of pruning residues, the absence of organic amendments) lead to a reduction in organic matter and nutrients in the soil resulting in agroecosystem vulnerability. Implementing a cover crop would provide soil organic matter while increasing nutrition levels in the soil. A mixture of cover crop trial in sandy loam soils under Mediterranean climatic conditions was conducted in a rainfed olive grove in Western Crete. In this study, the dry biomass, macro- and micronutrition, and carbon status of the seeded cover crops (legume and grass) were compared to natural plants in an olive grove. Seeded cover crops were conducted in two sustainable management systems (cover crops solely, and a combination of compost, pruning residues, and cover crops); natural plants were in a conventional system involving soil tillage. In combination with conservation tillage practices, the addition of carbon inputs may improve soil fertility. Results indicate that the dry biomass production and C content of cover crops under sustainable management systems was significantly higher than that of the control. The higher dry biomass production and C content found in cover crops compared to the natural vegetation indicates not only that this type of management provides enhanced carbon storage, but can also potentially lead to a future increase in soil organic matter through decomposition. Higher dry biomass is important in the context of carbon sequestration, and cover crops facilitated carbon storage in this study. In addition, this study suggests that sustainable agricultural management practices would provide significant benefits in terms of nutrient retention and CO2 fixation, thus improving ecosystems in Mediterranean countries.

Wheat-based Mixed-cropping Evaluation in the River-basin Areas of Far-western Nepal

A study was conducted to find-out the optimum seed rate for wheat-based mixed cropping patterns in the research field of the Directorate of Agricultural Research, Bhagetada Doti. The field experiment was conducted in the two consecutive winters of 2019-20 and 2020-21. The recommended seed rate of wheat (120 kg/ha) was considered a check, and the wheat seed rate was reduced by 20, 30, and 40%, respectively, for pea, lentil, and gram, to generate different mixed cropping combinations. The mixed crops were broadcasted together with wheat during wheat sowing time. Chemical fertilizer was applied at the rate of 80:40:30 kg NPK ha-1 at the time of seed sowing, and no additional fertilizers were supplied to the mixed crops. The results revealed that the combination of lentils (30%) and wheat (70%) were found to be the most profitable and recorded the maximum wheat equivalent yield followed by the combinations of toria (30%) + wheat (70%) and toria (20%) + wheat (80%) in our study.

Soil Structural Quality and Relationships With Root Properties in Single and Integrated Farming Systems

Single farming systems (SFS) such as monocultures may negatively affect soil structural quality. This study tested the hypothesis that integrated farming systems (IFS), i.e., the combination of cropping and forestry and/or livestock farming, improves soil structural quality, root development and soil organic carbon. An experimental area was set up in 2012 at the Canguiri experimental farm belonging to the Federal University of Paraná, Southern Brazil. The soils are predominantly Ferralsols. The experimental treatments representing different farming systems, organized in a random block design with three replicates, were: Forestry (F), Conventional Crop Production (C), Livestock (L), and integrated Crop-Forestry (CF), Crop-Livestock (CL), Livestock-Forestry (LF), and Crop-Livestock-Forestry (CLF). In situ measurements and sampling were carried out in the 0–0.3 m layer during summer 2019/20, and included soil penetration resistance (PR), soil structural quality based on visual evaluation of soil structure (SqVESS scores), root length (RL), root volume (RV) and soil organic carbon content (SOC). Soil structural quality, penetration resistance, root length and volume, and SOC varied between farming systems, but no significant differences were found between single (C, L, F) and integrated farming systems (CF, CL, LF, CLF). The single system Forestry (F) and the integrated systems including forestry (LF, CF, CLF) tended to have higher SqVESS scores, i.e. poorer soil structural quality, and higher PR, which we associate with the generally drier soil conditions that are due to higher soil water uptake and higher interception and reduce the frequency of wetting-drying cycles. Roots were concentrated in the shallow soil layer (0–0.1 m depth), and this was especially pronounced in the Crop (C) single farming system. Based on the measured values, our results suggest an acceptable soil structural quality in all farming systems. Our data revealed strong, significant relationships between soil structural quality, penetration resistance, root growth and SOC, demonstrating that improvements in soil structure results in lower soil penetration resistance, higher root volumes and higher SOC, and vice versa. Soil PR was positively correlated with SqVESS (R2 = 0.84), indicating that better soil structural quality resulted in lower soil mechanical resistance. This, in turn, increased root length and volume, which increases carbon input to soil and therefore increases SOC in the long run.

National characterization of pesticide runoff and erosion potential to put USEPA standard ecological scenarios in context for pyrethroids.

Decision-making for pesticide registration by the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) relies upon crop-specific scenarios in a tiered framework. These standard modeling scenarios are stated to represent "…sites expected to produce runoff greater than would be expected at 90% of the sites for a given crop/use." This study developed a novel approach to compare the pesticide runoff + erosion (SumRE ) mass flux potential of a hydrophobic chemical using 36 of these ecological regulatory scenarios with national-scale distributions of modeled SumRE from over 750 000 USA-wide agricultural catchments to provide real-world context for the simulated transport predictions used for regulatory decision-making. For the standard scenarios and national scale modeling, "edge of field" SumRE mass flux was estimated using regulatory guidance for a hypothetical pyrethroid. The national-scale simulations were developed using publicly available soil, hydrography, and crop occurrence /regional timings databases. Relevant soil and crop combinations identified by spatial overlay along with weather data were used in a regulatory model to generate daily SumRE estimates, which were assigned to the catchments. The resulting average annual total SumRE mass fluxes were ranked to produce distributions to compare with the standard regulatory scenario outputs. These comparisons showed that SumRE flux from 25 of the 36 USEPA ecological regulatory crop-specific scenarios modeled ranked above the 99th percentile of pyrethroid runoff + erosion vulnerability from any catchment growing that crop; SumRE flux from six scenarios was more severe than any catchment. For 12 USEPA regulatory scenarios, the resulting eroded sediment corresponds to highly erodible land (HEL), which the US Department of Agriculture mandates should not be cropped without substantial additional erosion prevention controls for sustainability. Since the pesticide regulatory framework already incorporates many acknowledged assumptions to ensure it conservatively meets protection goals, these HEL observations suggest that the standard scenarios overestimate potential aquatic exposure and that the regulatory process is more protective than intended.Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:175-190. © 2022 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Spatio-temporal design of strip cropping systems

CONTEXTCrop diversification has been proposed as a promising strategy for transitioning towards sustainable agricultural systems by leveraging biological processes and controls present in naturally biodiverse ecosystems. Strip cropping, a form of intercropping where two or more crops are grown adjacent to one another in long and narrow multi-row strips, has been shown to deliver a greater range of ecosystem services compared to sole crop references due to increased interspecific crop interactions, spatio-temporal niche differentiation, and higher in-field habitat diversity. The possibility to adjust the strip width to the working width of farmers' existing machines gives strip cropping of cash crops an important implementation advantage over other intercropping practices. Systematic exploration and evaluation of spatial plans for strip cropping systems, however, is constrained by the lack of spatially-explicit design approaches. OBJECTIVEHere we present a framework to support systematic exploration of spatio-temporal strip cropping configurations for a given farm context and set of objectives. METHODSThe framework comprises six steps: 1) Diagnosis of the current farm situation; 2) Specification of strip cropping system attributes; 3) Temporal strip cropping planning; 4) Spatio-temporal strip cropping planning; 5) Spatio-temporal strip cropping configuration assessment; 6) Strip cropping configuration selection and visualization. We combine two software applications: ROTAT to generate crop rotations and the novel RotaStrip to systematically explore spatio-temporal configurations based on the rotations generated by ROTAT. We illustrate the framework with a case study from the Netherlands using gross margin, habitat score, and spatial crop compatibility score as indicators. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS150 crop rotations were generated. When 6 additional crops were included this was increased to 51,371, and the maximum values of the three indicator scores were also improved. Using the thirteen candidate crops to generate spatio-temporal configurations, we identified 16 Pareto-optimal and 78 anti-optimal configurations, from which the highest and lowest performing configurations were selected. The two contrasting configurations scored 7254 and 6658 €.ha−1.yr−1 for gross margin, 0.88 and 0.75 for habitat score, and 98 and− 58 for crop compatibility score, respectively, illustrating the value of consideration of the spatial aspects. Bridging the current knowledge gaps regarding what constitute good crop combinations, and strengthening the evidence underpinning the evaluation of ecosystem service delivery on the basis of spatial configuration, would further improve the quality of the generated strip cropping plans. SIGNIFICANCEThe framework presented and illustrated in this study provides a basis for systematic spatio-temporal strip cropping systems design and implementation.

The Effects of Soil Improving Cropping Systems (SICS) on Soil Erosion and Soil Organic Carbon Stocks across Europe: A Simulation Study

Healthy soils are fundamental for sustainable agriculture. Soil Improving Cropping Systems (SICS) aim to make land use and food production more sustainable. To evaluate the effect of SICS at EU scale, a modelling approach was taken. This study simulated the effects of SICS on two principal indicators of soil health (Soil Organic Carbon stocks) and land degradation (soil erosion) across Europe using the spatially explicit PESERA model. Four scenarios with varying levels and combinations of cover crops, mulching, soil compaction alleviation and minimum tillage were implemented and simulated until 2050. Results showed that while in the scenario without SICS, erosion slightly increased on average across Europe, it significantly decreased in the scenario with the highest level of SICS applied, especially in the cropping areas in the central European Loess Belt. Regarding SOC stocks, the simulations show a substantial decrease for the scenario without SICS and a slight overall decrease for the medium level scenario and the scenario with a mix of high, medium and no SICS. The scenario with a high level of SICS implementation showed an overall increase in SOC stocks across Europe. Potential future improvements include incorporating dynamic land use, climate change and an optimal spatial allocation of SICS.

Optimal crop combination under soaring oil and energy prices in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia

There is a growing consensus that increasing costs of production, engendered by soaring oil and energy prices, have a negative effect on crop production, productivity, and efficiency. The oil and energy subsidy removal in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) necessitates conducting this study, which aimed to determine optimal cropping patterns under soaring oil and energy prices and to compute the comparative and competitive efficiencies of crop production. The study used combined analytical approaches, namely: linear programming (LP) and policy analysis matrix (PAM). It is perceived that crop production was highly profitable in the prevailing market and soaring oil and energy prices. However, the results of the optimal LP model reveal that returns from the cultivated crops in the study area surpassed the actual one by about four times. Furthermore, subsidy removal has reduced the total consumed amounts of energy and water constraints; however, the resources used are insufficient. On the other hand, all cultivated crops have shown high competitiveness with some crops gaining indirect export support. Thus, to achieve the maximum benefits of subsidy removal from the energy sector, the agricultural authority should adopt good extension programs to improve farmers’ knowledge and skill in the field of farm management practices and efficient use of the resources.

Impact of Natural Farming Cropping System on Rural Households—Evidence From Solan District of Himachal Pradesh, India

Natural farming, popularly known as zero budget natural farming, is an innovative farming approach. It is low input based, climate resilient, and low cost farming system because all the inputs (insect repellents, fungicides, and pesticides) are made up of natural herbs and locally available inputs, thereby reducing the use of artificial fertilizers and industrial pesticides. It is becoming increasingly popular among the smallholder farmers of Himachal Pradesh. Under the natural farming system, 3 to 12 crops are cultivated together on the same area, along with leguminous crops as intercrop in order to ensure that no piece of land is wasted and utilized properly. This article focuses mainly on the different cropping systems of natural farming and comparing the economics of natural farming (NF) with conventional farming (CF) systems. Study shows that farmers adopted five major crop combinations under natural farming system, i.e., vegetables-based cropping system (e.g., tomato + beans + cucumber and cauliflower + pea + radish), vegetables-cereals-based cropping system, and other three more cropping systems discussed in this article. The results indicated that a vegetable-based cropping system has 19.68% more net return in Kharif season and 24.64% more net return in Rabi season as compared to conventional farming vegetable-based monocropping system. NF maximizes land use and reduces the chance of crop yield loss. NF has resulted in increased returns especially in the vegetable cropping system where reduction in cost was 30.73 per cent (kharif) and 11.88 per cent (rabi) across all crop combinations in comparison to CF. It is found in study that NF was cost savings from not using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as higher benefit from intercrops.

Intercropping with service crops provides multiple services in temperate arable systems: a review

Service crops are crops grown to provide services to other cash crops, rather than for production purposes, with the ultimate aim of improving the environmental and production performances of cropping systems. Service crops can be intercropped with cash crops to facilitate interactions between crops and to optimize the use of the cropping season. Many terms exist to describe these practices, which highlights their diversity. However, this diversity of terms may be a source of confusion. Here, we present an overview of the current uses of intercropped service plants in temperate cropping systems, with the main services they provide and their management. (1) First, we show that a limited range of service crop species, mostly from the Fabaceae family, have been studied to date. This finding suggests that the diversity of species and cultivar resources that can be used as service crops has been poorly explored in the literature. In contrast, the combinations of service and cash crops tested appear wider. We address this diversity by defining synchronous intercropping, living mulch and relay intercropping. (2) Then, we show that intercropped service crops can efficiently reduce weed biomass and pest attacks and improve nitrogen cycling, thereby increasing soil fertility and improving crop nutrition. The intensity of these services is positively associated with service crop biomass, but excessive service crop biomass increases the risk of competition with cash crops. (3) The balance between the services and disservices provided can primarily be interpreted in terms of biomass production of coexisting crops. The resulting effect of service crops on cash crop yield is variable and reflects the integration of the effects of the various individual services, together with possible disservices. (4) The diversity in management methods makes it possible to manage this trade-off and to adapt the system to different conditions with a few tested species.

Using spatially-explicit plant competition models to optimise crop productivity in intercropped systems

Intercropping, by capitalizing on positive biodiversity–productivity relationships, represents a promising option to increase agricultural sustainability. However, the complexity and context-dependency of plant–plant interactions can make it challenging for farmers to find suitable crop combinations. Furthermore, intercropping is usually implemented with standard inter-row spacing and plant densities based on monoculture practices, which might not be the ideal configuration to maximize yield.Here we present a spatially-explicit yield analysis method based on plant ecological interaction models that allowed to optimize crop species combinations and spatial configurations for maximal yield in intercropped systems. We tested this method with three crop species, namely oat, lupine, and camelina. In a first step, field experiments in which crop density and adjacent crop type were varied provided us with indications on which species would compete more with each other. The results showed us that oat and camelina strongly competed with each other. In addition, the distance experiments allowed us to understand how the changes in yield associated with the presence of neighbors vary with distance. This allowed us to find the sets of parameters (identity of neighbors, sowing density, distances between individuals) that optimise intercrop yield (measured as Land Equivalent Ratio [LER]) for the three considered species. Specifically, we show that alternating rows of species led to higher LERs than a homogeneous species mixing, and that 3-species combinations are not necessarily more performant than the best 2-species combinations. In addition, we show that increasing the density of oat is generally beneficial for LER, while increasing the density of lupine is not.By modelling crop yield from simple and reproducible density and distance experiments, our results allow to optimize crop mixtures in terms of species combinations and spatial configurations, for maximal crop yield.

A study of sustainable peat cultivation implemented by the community of Tumbang Nusa Village, Central Kalimantan

Peatlands have enormous potential to produce food sources for supporting population growth. Farmers generally prefer plants that can adapt to changing conditions. However, challenges remain, such as limited knowledge of local community about peatlands’ function and management. Local community practices endogenous knowledge to manage peatlands, but it is rarely documented as best practice for peatlands management in Indonesia. This study aims to understand endogenous management implemented by local community for sustainable peat cultivation. The management is currently considered as the best solution to solve problems related to peatlands management. The study was carried out in Tumbang Nusa Village, Pulang Pisau Regency, Central Kalimantan Province, using a semi-participatory approach with a stratified purposive sampling for selecting participants of in-depth interviews and field observations. An investigation of endogenous management related to biophysical aspects that determines sustainability was done by identifying main characteristics of peatlands in the dry season. The data were analyzed qualitatively by using Use Value. The results show that the community applied agroforestry systems interspersed with introduced plants. There were seven patterns implemented by the community, including pineapple-forest crops-seasonal fruit-food based, rubber-forest crops-seasonal fruit/food-based, a combination of forest plants, a combination of forest plants-annual introduced plants, a combination of forest plants-annual/food crops, and a combination of annual crops. The seven patterns based on the local wisdom are suitable for peatlands. It is in accordance with modern peat management which considered as the form of a pure Paludiculture and an intensive semi Paludiculture.

Modeling the Carbon Sequestration Potential of Multifunctional Agroforestry-Based Phytoremediation (MAP) Systems in Chinandega, Nicaragua

Global sustainability challenges associated with increasing resource demands from a growing population call for resource-efficient land-use strategies that address multiple sustainability issues. Multifunctional agroforestry-based phytoremediation (MAP) is one such strategy that can simultaneously capture carbon, decontaminate soils, and provide diverse incomes for local farmers. Chinandega, Nicaragua, is a densely populated agricultural region with heavily polluted soils. Four different MAP systems scenarios relevant to Chinandega were created and carbon sequestration potentials were calculated using CO2FIX. All scenarios showed the potential to store significantly more carbon than conventional farming practices, ranging from 2.5 to 8.0 Mg CO2eq ha−1 yr−1. Overall, carbon sequestration in crops is relatively small, but results in increased soil organic carbon (SOC), especially in perennials, and the combination of crops and trees provide higher carbon sequestration rates than monoculture. Changes in SOC are crucial for long-term carbon sequestration, here ranging between 0.4 and 0.9 Mg C ha−1 yr−1, with the most given in scenario 4, an alley cropping system with pollarded trees with prunings used as green mulch. The adoption rate of multifunctional strategies providing both commodity and non-commodity outputs, such as carbon sequestration, would likely increase if phytoremediation is included. Well-designed MAP systems could help reduce land-use conflicts, provide healthier soil, act as climate change mitigation, and have positive impacts on local health and economies.

Development of Sustainable Production of Rainfed Winter Wheat with No-Till Technologies in Southern Kazakhstan

The production of rainfed crops in arid regions is an extremely difficult task, especially without tillage. In southern Kazakhstan, in 2020–2021, the approbation of various nutrition regimes for winter wheat grown in conditions of no-tillage rainfed lands has been studied. The effect of different doses and terms of application of growth stimulators, micronutrients, bio-fertilizers and mineral fertilizers, as well as their economic efficiency, was studied in ten variables. The use of a combination of growth stimulators and microfertilizers produced the highest grain yield and was the most cost-effective. The greatest value of the nominal net profit of 223.25 euro and 244.10 euro from one hectare was provided and calculated with the recommended target grain yield of 2.0 t/ha dose of mineral fertilizers, respectively; however, the production cost of one ton of grain in these treatments was also highest. Further research is continuing with a wider range and combination of amendments and various crops in a rainfed no-till winter wheat farm in southern Kazakhstan.

A Geographical Analysis of Agricultural Regionalization using of Geographical Information System: A Case Study of Chamarajanagara District, Karnataka State

The present work has been made an attempt to delineate the agricultural regions in the Chamarajangara district with using of 2016-17 period data. It gives information about share of net sown area, different combinations of crop growing regions, crop concentration regions and crop diversification of the study region. The entire study is based on secondary data which all collected from Government departments of Chamarajanagara district. Chamarajanagara District is the southern-most district in the state of Karnataka. Chamarajanagara district is consisting of 4 taluks namely Chamarajanagara, Gundlupet, Kollegala and Yelandur. There are eleven crops were taken to delineate the agricultural regions in the study area. They are namely jowar, food grains, paddy, pulses, oilseed, ragi, maize, fruits, vegetables, cotton and sugarcane. Weaver’s method, Bhatia’s method, Gibbs and Martin index method has been used for this study. In the district five, six and eleven crops combinations can be seen among the four taluks. Five crops were cultivated in Yalandurtaluk, six crops cultivated in Gundlupet and Kollegaltaluk, eleven crops cultivated in Chamarajanagarataluk. Crop diversification has been varied from one region to another. The advantage of this present study helps to do better plan in the agriculture sector and helps to understand the situation of all the taluks.

Cover crops and carbon stocks: How under-vine management influences SOC inputs and turnover in two vineyards

There is a growing awareness surrounding the importance of maintaining and increasing soil organic carbon (SOC, henceforth) stocks in vineyard systems. Increasing SOC positively influences numerous soil properties and has the added advantage of removing atmospheric CO2, thereby helping to mitigate the effects of climate change. Cover crops have long been used to influence soil properties in vineyard mid-rows, including increasing SOC content. Few studies, however, have quantified cover crop influence on SOC stocks and composition in the under-vine area, owing to a general reluctance to adopt under-vine cover crop management. This research aims to quantify SOC stocks and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soils from four treatments of under-vine management practice including two cover crop combinations, a straw mulch and herbicide-managed control across two vineyard sites established in 2014. We sampled soils under-vine to depths of 0–30 cm (stratified; 0–10 cm and 10–30 cm) and quantified both SOC concentrations and bulk density to ascertain SOC stocks. Further to this, we quantified water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) as a measure of the labile carbon stock, and measured heterotrophic respiration in a laboratory incubation as an indication of SOC turnover. We found that cover crop-managed soil under-vine sequesters up to 23% more soil organic carbon (SOC) as the traditional, herbicide practice over a five-year period of growth. Microbial activity increased by more than double in cover crop soils, owing to an increase in DOC and that there is evidence for more resistant C in cover crop soils. These results suggest that cover crop management under-vine is a viable solution to increase SOC stocks within vineyard systems. Taken together, the results of this study indicate that a shift from bare earth to cover crops in the under-vine region has the potential to sequester carbon in vineyard soils.