Deep Ploughing Research Articles

Improved water-management practices and their impact on food security and poverty: empirical evidence from rural Pakistan

Abstract Using a comprehensive data set collected through field survey of 950 farmers across Pakistan, the current study evaluates water-management practices and their impact on food security and poverty. The results show that rural households mainly adopted four water-management practices (bund making, deep plowing, the adoption of stress-tolerant varieties, and irrigation supplements) and that the wealth, education, and gender of the farmer (male) positively influences the adoption of improved water-management practices. The propensity score matching approach shows that the adoption of improved water-management practices improves wheat and rice yields, household income and food security levels, and reduces poverty levels. The food security levels of households adopting improved water-management practices are higher: in the range of 3–12%. Higher wheat yields are in the range of 26.8–70.4 kg/acre and higher rice yields are in the range of 48.4–85.2 kg/acre. Higher household income levels are in the range of rupees 2,573–4,926 and the lower poverty levels are in the range of 2–7%. Hence, agricultural policy should promote improved water-management practices among rural households.

Effectiveness of foliar feeding puffiness of sugar beets on dark gray podzolic soils of Western Forest-steppe

It is determined that under western Forest-Steppe of Ukraine conditions methods of soil tillage did not have a significant influence on the dynamics of the mass increase of sugar beets plants on dark grey podzolic light loamy soils. The processes of forming the mass of root crops and leaves during the growing season depended more heavily on the phases of growth and development of sugar beet and almost did not depend on the methods of cultivating the soil such as traditional deep plowing on 28–30 cm and shallow no-plow tillage on 14–16 cm. On July 15 we marked intensive growth of the mass of the leaves. Depending on the method of the main cultivation of soil and leaf feeding, the weight of the leaves was 1.6 times greater than the weight of the root crops. On August 15, the weight of the leaves reached its maximum, the ratio of the leaves to the root, depending on the method of soil cultivation and foliar feeding was within the range of 1.0–1.1. The record keeping of September 15 shows that the ratio between the leaves and the root crop, depending on the method of soil cultivation and leaf feeding, was within the range of 0.7. Significant differences in indicators, depending on the cultivation of the soil, were not recorded, the plants developed approximately at the same level. The foliar feeding is a measure that promotes the mass increase of root crops and assimilation leaf surface. The optimum is the use of a mixture of carbamide N4.62 kg a.i. + magnesium sulfate 1,67 кg. a.i. + microelements Crystallon, which provided the largest mass of root crops: on July 15 — 133–126 g, on August 15 — 239–233 g, on September 15 — 291–299 g, while harvesting — 312–303 g and joints respectively: 221–205 g, 258–240 g, 204–203 g, 178–176 g.

The effects of agrogenic transformation on soil profile morphology, organic carbon and physico-chemical properties in Retisols of Western Lithuania

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to determine changes in the morphological, physical and chemical properties of Retisols caused by their agrogenic transformation. The study carried out on Retisols on relatively natural and agrogenically affected land in 2016. Soil samples taken from the genetic horizons of all profiles to measure soil organic carbon, pH, hydromorphic and physical properties. Due to long-term, deep ploughing, the sequence of soil horizons in the Retisol profile had changed from O–Ah–El–ElBt to Ahp–ElBt. Intensive soil liming changed chemical properties and morphological features of Retisol. The clay and silt particles leached out of from the Ah and El horizons to the deeper layers due to illuviation and podsolization. The content of SOC in the 0–30 cm layer of the Ah horizon of agrogenically affected Retisol was 1.0%, and in the forest Retisol – 1.7%; however, forest Retisol was more acidic. Ploughing and no tillage management caused a reduction in total porosity, water holding capacity and plant available water content compared with the other land-uses. We conclude that the use of ploughless tillage on Retisol is not identical to the conditions of natural soil formation and soil fertility maintenance.

Soil interpretation in the context of anthropedogenic transformations and pedotechniques application

Following a long and vigorous study carried out by the International Committee on Anthropogenic Soils (ICOMANTH), the Soil Taxonomy (ST) classification system recently incorporated a number of changes to include Human-Altered and Human-Transported soils, generally called anthropogenic soils. These changes underwent careful scrutiny as they affect the current classification of existing soil series, and as the proposals and logics are as yet untested against existing data and descriptions. Particular attention was given to the diagnostic characteristics of the anthropogenic soils and to the Subgroups for Human-Altered and Human-Transported soils.In this study, we consider a frequent occurrence in many areas of Southern Italy, and particularly so in Sicily, where farmers apply pedotechniques to tailor soils to suit the growth of table grapes in order to increase income. Over the last two decades, these processes have expanded to cover >40,000 ha. In classifying these soils according to the Soil Taxonomy it became apparent that none of the new subgroups proposed by the ST fitted morpho-descriptive and analytical features. With reference to two case studies, we propose the introduction of a new ST subgroup for Human-Altered and Human-Transported soils, i.e. the “Anthroportaltic” (modified from Greek anthropos, human, and Latin portāre, to carry, and Latin alterāre, to change). The above-proposed subgroup refers to soils that are formed in 50 cm or more of human transported material (HTM). This descriptor could be used primarily for soils that are formed in human-transported material where ripping or deep ploughing has fractured, displaced and incorporated diagnostic horizons belonging to soils subsequently covered by HTM. Moreover, we stress that the use of subgroups to identify distinct groups of Human-Altered and Human-Transported soils, should be independent from soil moisture regimes. Indications on the surveyed soils are also given following the World Reference Base (WRB).

INFLUENCE OF THE DIFFERENT SOIL PREPARATION METHODS ON THE PEA YIELD

The article assesses the relationships between the morphological properties of agrochernozems and yield of peas on the plots, experience with different methods of basic treatment (moldboard plowing at the depth of 20 - 22, 25 - 27 and 14 - 16 cm, moldboard plowing to a depth of 14 - 16 cm, combined midwater moldboard, mid-water subsurface, surface to a depth of 6 - 8 cm and zero tillage) is inherent in V.V. Dokuchaev Research Institute of Agriculture of the Central Black Earth strip, in the fall of 2014. The research was conducted in 2015 - 2016, with the application of mineral fertilizers (N60Р60К60) and unfertilized background. The highest pea yields in the fertilized as the background, and without the use of fertilizers was observed in dumping plowing and especially in the variant with deep moldboard plowing, which creates in comparison with other ways of handling the best conditions for the growth and development of peas. The lowest yield of pea was obtained with zero processing. Apparently legalistic migrational-mizelial agrochernozems the Central Chernozem zone of minimum tillage in the cultivation of peas are not effective, what is evident already in the first year after the laying of experience with different basic treatments. As shown by the results of applying multifactor analysis of variance studied the mapping properties of the soil can have the same significant impact on the yield of agricultural crops, as options for the field experiments aimed at assessing the impact of various treatments on yield.

Агроекологічні основи контролювання забур’яненості та поширення вовчка в посівах соняшнику Степу України

<p>Due to the violation of the technology of sunflower growing in Ukraine and the disbalance of scientifically grounded crop rotation, or their complete absence, with the expansion of sunflower seeds in the structure of crops to 40% and more, and the simplification of the system of basic cultivation of arable land, accompanied by a sharp increase in perturbation of crops by autotrophic and parasitic weeds. To determine the impact of agrotechnical measures, saturation of sunflower seeds, soil tillage systems, and fertilization on the number and species composition of various agrobiological groups of weeds in sunflower crops, including <em>Orobahche cumana</em> Walls. To reduce the herbicide (chemical) loading in agrophytocoenoses of oilseed crops, and ecologization of protection from weeds it was supposed to reveal optimal and environmentally friendly parameters of modern elements of sunflower cultivation technology. The scheme of the experiment included two grains–steam–breeding and grain–seed crop rotations with saturation in the structure of sunflower seeding 12.5%, 20% and 33.3%; three cardinally different systems of basic cultivation of the ground (filed plowing, differentiated and systems of mulching and no-till); two fertilizer systems (no fertilizers + post–harvest residues, N30–60P30–45K30–45 + post–harvest residues). All other elements of agrotechnics were standard and generally accepted for the steppe zone. The accounting of obstinacy was carried out by quantitative–weight and species–specific methods. A tendency has been observed to increase the number of weeds before the first inter–row treatment for mulching and no-till and direct sowing (10.4–15.1 pcs/m<sup>2</sup>) in 1.3–1.5 times compared with the filed plowing (7, 1–12.4 pc. /m<sup>2</sup>). At the time of harvesting in comparison with the spring definition, the infestation of oilseed crop under fertilized background decreased by 1.6–4.2 times; and their quantitative values were 2.6–5.2 pcs/m2 (field plowing), 4.1–8.1 (differentiated tillage), 5.5–12.4 pcs/m<sup>2 </sup>(no-till), indicating the preservation of regularities inherent in the spring period. It was established that the air–dry weight of weeds (within the limits of individual terms of the definition) varied in versions directly proportional to the change in quantitative values, and on average slightly higher for mulching and no-till (3.8–15.7 g/m<sup>2</sup>) than filed plowing (1.8–12.3 g/m<sup>2</sup>). It was proved that the degree of manifestation of the active biological phase of the vaginal parasitism naturally increased with the reduction of the time interval of sunflower return in crop rotation, especially in 3–way crop rotation (33.3% sunflower) – 6.9–12.7%, that is, each sunflower field in the crop rotation – an additional resource for the accumulation of Broomrape in the soil. The increase in the degree of sunflower damage with sunflower wool (up to 11.0–12.7 pcs/100 plants) was observed on the background of deep plowing and decreased with a decrease in the depth of main cultivation in shallow and direct sowing by 6.9–7.8%, or 1.6 times as a result of the localization of the Broomrape in the ground beside the sunflower roots, which provokes its germination with its root secretions, while the seeds of Broomrape for mulching and no-till are located on the top of the soil, soil surface or plant residues, that make impossible its germination in a more dense soil in the absence of the root system of host plant (sunflower). Maximum seed yield (2.35–2.82 t/ha) was obtained in 8–crop rotation at the concentration of sunflower in the seed structure of 12.5%. Extension of the sown area to 25% and 33.3% contributed to a decrease in yields of 2.14–2.67 and 2.10–2.56 t/ha, or 8.9–5.3% and 10.0– 9.2% due to the increase in the degree and intensity of damage to plants by Broomrape. Thus, the expansion in the structure of sunflower crops to 33.3% and the minimization of the main cultivation of the soil leads to an increase in perishability by autotrophic weeds in 1.3–1.5 times, and the degree and intensity of damage by Broomrape, on the contrary, decreases on the finely treated agrofons regarding the localization of seeds in the upper layer of soil or on plant residues, which makes it impossible to germinate.</p>

Forecasting tillage and soil warming effects on earthworm populations

Abstract Healthy soils are crucial for sustainable food production, but tillage limits the biological regulation of essential ecosystem services. Better understanding of the mechanisms driving management effects on soil ecosystem engineers is needed to support sustainable management under environmental change. This paper presents the Energy–Environment–Earthworm (EEEworm) model, a mechanistic individual‐based model of Lumbricus terrestris populations. Lumbricus terrestris is a dominant earthworm species in undisturbed habitats and is closely associated with numerous ecosystem services such as water flow regulation, soil structure and crop production. In reduced tillage agriculture, a decline in mechanical disturbance allows for L. terrestris proliferation, whilst the activities of L. terrestris can replace many of the soil functions provided by tillage. Extensive EEEworm validation with eight published studies (average R2 = .84) demonstrates a mechanistic approach which can extrapolate between diverse soil, management and weather conditions. EEEworm simulation experiments elucidate that a combination of direct and indirect tillage effects leads to population declines in tilled fields, with litter removal from the soil surface being the main driver. We investigate the effects of different tillage intensities under historical and projected soil warming conditions and find that future warmer and drier soils in our simulation exacerbate the effects of deep ploughing on L. terrestris population declines. These effects result from warmer and drier soil conditions increasing individual metabolic rates and tillage reducing food availability to meet energy demands. Synthesis and applications. Pre‐emptive strategies to mitigate climate change impacts on soil health in agroecosystems should focus on decreasing tillage intensity and retention of crop residues following tillage. Energy–Environment–Earthworm (EEEworm) has the potential to benefit land managers, policy makers, risk assessors and regulators by providing a tool to forecast how soil systems respond to combinations of land management and environmental change. To allow better cost–benefit analysis of contrasting land management systems, a future aim of mechanistic models like EEEworm is to incorporate the links between earthworm populations, soil functions and ecosystem services.

Effects of soil erosion by water under different tillage treatments on distribution of soil chemical parameters

Soil losses by water erosion were studied under six different tillage treatments, which differ in depth and direction of tillage and planting during a twenty-year period (1995–2014) on Stagnosols in central lowland Croatia. Studied tillage treatments were: control plot (bare fallow-BF), ploughing up and down the slope to 30 cm (PUDS), no-tillage (NT), ploughing across the slope to 30 cm (PAS), very deep ploughing across the slope to 50 cm (VDPAS), and subsoiling to 50 cm + ploughing to 30 cm across the slope (SSPAS). The paper presents the following chemical parameters: soil pH, soil organic matter (OM), plant available phosphorus (P-P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>), plant available potassium (K-K<sub>2</sub>O), total carbon content (C<sub>tot</sub>), total nitrogen content (N<sub>tot</sub>) and CN ratio of non-eroded soil and soil loss from studied treatments. All soil sediments had significantly higher content of the studied parameters compared to non-eroded soil. The overall respective levels of OM, C<sub>tot</sub>, N<sub>tot</sub>, P-P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> and K-K<sub>2</sub>O loss by eroded soil were as follows: 0.86 (NT) − 10.86 (BF) t/ha, 0.10 (SSPAS) – 2.60 (BF) t/ha, 0.015 (SSPAS) – 0.392 (BF) t/ha, 0.012 (NT) − 0.173 (BF) t/ha and 0.017 (SSPAS) − 0.158 (BF) t/ha. No-tillage and treatments with tillage across the slope (PAS, VDPAS, SSPAS) proved to be much more efficient in storing investigated soil nutrients.

Long-term evaluation of tillage methods in fallow season for soil water storage, wheat yield and water use efficiency in semiarid southeast of the Loess Plateau

Fallow tillage methods play a major role in improving soil water storage, water use efficiency and hence grain yield in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cropping system in southeast Loess Plateau. However, the efficacy and stability of such methods need to be further validated in long-term field observation. From 2009–2015, a 7-year filed experiment was established in winter wheat fields at Wenxi Agriculture Station, semiarid southeast Loess Plateau. The objectives were to determine the responses of soil water storage, utilization and yield formation to three different tillagemethods: including deep ploughing, subsoiling and no-tillage. Our results indicated that compared to no-tillage, the soil water storage (0–300 cm depth) was averagely increased by 7.8% and 6.0% during fallow season, 13.7% and 9.8% in growing season under deep ploughing and subsoiling respectively. Furthermore, the increasing magnitude in soil water due to deep ploughing and subsoiling was, on average, 10.1% and 5.5% higher in dry season than that in wet one. Improved soil water condition under deep ploughing and subsoiling significantly increased the ear number and grain yield by 20.2% and 15.9%, 30.8% and 25.8% respectively, but did not affect seed number and weight of thousand seed over the experimental seasons. Moreover, grain yields under deep ploughing and subsoiling were averagely increased by 35.2% and 24.8% in dry season, 28.7% and 20.6% in wet season respectively. Accordingly, water use efficiency and precipitation use efficiency were increased by 12.1% and 31.9% under deep ploughing, 11.1% and 25.0% under subsoiling respectively. Critically, we found that with an increase of 10% water storage efficiency during fallow season, ear number, grain yield and WUE could be increased by 0.2 million ha−1, 241.1 kg ha−1 and 0.6 kg ha−1 mm−1 respectively. Our study clearly indicated that deep ploughing in fallow season should be adopted as a promising strategy to retain soil water availability and hence boost wheat productivity in semiarid southeast Loess Plateau.

Water Stress in Maize Production in the Drylands of the Loess Plateau

Core Ideas HYDRUS‐1D was successfully used to simulate the change in soil water in a 0–200‐cm soil profile. We quantified the process of soil water balance in detail during the maize growing season. This study indicated the plow pan's effect on soil water storage. Water stress during two maize (Zea mays L.) growing seasons (2013 and 2014) was investigated in a semiarid region of northwest China. The HYDRUS‐1D model gave good simulation of the soil water content in different layers throughout a 0‐ to 200‐cm depth during the maize growing season, with R2 values of 70.6 and 77.0% for the calibration and validation periods, respectively. Water stress for maize production was observed in June of 2013 and in July of 2014. The soil water storage (SWS) decreased significantly during the early stage of the maize growing season, especially in 2014. The root depth and crop height were 20 cm deeper and 100 cm higher, respectively, in 2014 than in 2013 at the early stage. These results suggest that in the early stage of the maize growing season, pre‐seeding SWS can alleviate crop water stress effectively via deep roots. Model simulation showed that the plow pan layer (at a depth of 20–40 cm), with high soil bulk density and a lower soil water retention curve, significantly reduced infiltration. High evapotranspiration and low precipitation result in a temporary dry layer during the early stage, highlighting the plow pan as the sensitive layer for water stress during the drought period. Effective management practices such as deep plowing, plastic film mulching, or water conservation treatments in the fallow period are needed to avoid the formation of this temporary dry layer during the drought period at the early stage and thus improve maize production in rainfed agriculture on the Loess Plateau of China.

Epitope-Based Vaccine Design against the Outer Membrane Glycoprotein of HCMV

Palestine (West Bank and Gaza) has been considered as an important center of plant diversity and speciation in the Mediterranean region. However, several species are threatened by numerous factors including human activities, e.g., conversion of traditional to intensive agriculture, accompanied by deep ploughing and the application of pesticides, overgrazing, and urban development and construction; and global climatic change. In this study, the “rednumber” procedure was applied, with a few modifications, to Palestinian plants and a red list with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categories conservation priorities was constructed, as quantified by the red numbers. The same procedure was applied to extinct plants. One hundred and two species that received red numbers of 3 or above were entered in the updated “red list” of the endangered plants. This study also shows a high extinction risk to the Palestinian threatened wild flora, with 76.4% of the threatened species were critically endangered 39.2%, and endangered 3.72% only 19.6% were vulnerable. The Palestinian flora is thus of conservation concern. The study provides an updated national IUCN Red List for a large group of Palestinian plants, and thus offers an overview of the threatened Palestinian flora. This Red List is an important prerequisite towards the recognition of the danger to Palestinian biodiversity hotspots, conservation of threatened species and the raising of public awareness at national and international levels.

Method and System of Plowing Depth Online Sensing for Reversible Plough

The reversible plough is a quite useful farm machinery for deep tillage, which is directly mounted to the tractor. It works on both the left and right side with bilateral turnover mechanism and automatically reverses the position. According to its structure characteristic, based on deviation correction method, a depth online sensing model was proposed firstly by integrated attitude data from tractor and reversible plough. In this model, plowing depth was obtained by calculate the pitch attitude of the lower link which suspended at the back part of a tractor and reversible plough. Then, on the basis of this model, developed ARM embedded microprocessor based plowing depth detection sensors and deep plough online sensing system. This system which integrated the Global Positioning System(GPS), the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and SD Card, was designed for real-time collecting the operation information from tractor and reversible plough, such as deep plough, position, velocity and heading. In the meanwhile, all the collected information stored in terminal device of this system and simultaneously transmitted to remote data center for further fusion data processing and comprehensive evaluation of operation quality. This calibration tests result conformed that the system calibration absolute error was -3.61mm, which indicated the system had high accuracy in static condition. The field experiments result showed that maximum absolute error was 15.76mm, the maximum relative error was 8.46%, RMSE was less than 12.07mm, and the maximum coefficient of variation was 0.06. Result showed that this developed plowing depth online sensing system has a high measuring accuracy and reliable performance. It is worthwhile to spread its application.

Изменение агрофизических свойств почвы и урожайности яровой пшеницы в зависимости от систем обработки почвы и удобрений в Волго-Вятском регионе

Studies were conducted in 2016-2017 in Nizhny Novgorod region on gray forest soil in a link of "soybeans -spring wheat" crop rotation. The scheme of field experiment included 5 soil tillage systems: 1. Traditional moldboard tilling based on autumn plowing with PN-3-35 at 20-22 cm (control); 2. Non-moldboard "deep" cultivation -autumn plowing with PN-3-35 (without moldboard) at 20-22 cm; 3. Non-moldboard "shallow" cultivation with the Pottinger stubble cultivator to a depth of 14-16 cm; 4. Minimal tillage with the disc harrow XM 44660 NOTHAD to a depth of 10-12 cm; 5. Zero tilling (No-till) with the Sunflower 9421-20 drill. For each soil tillage system, the effectiveness of the action of mineral fertilizers (N60P60K60) and straw in combination with StiMiX®Niva biological preparation (2 l/ha) and mineral nitrogen (10 kg of active matter per 1 ton of straw) was studied. Optimal density of the arable layer of gray forest soil for the growth and development of spring wheat was formed after autumn plowing for all years of the study (2014-2017). By the time of sowing, the bulk weight of the soil in all the studied cultivation technologies under spring wheat in crop rotation increased to 1.41-1.50 g/cm3 in the arable (0-20 cm) soil layer. Soil cultivation regulated the conditions for seeds germination in 0-10 cm soil layer to optimal values (1.29-1.34 g / cm3). No-till technology led to the compaction of gray forest soil both in the initial period of spring wheat vegetation (1.43 g/cm 3 ) and at the end of vegetation (1.48 g/cm 3 ). It negatively affected the growth and development of spring wheat and, as a result, its yield. A higher moisture content in the arable layer of the soil (0-20 cm) at the beginning of spring wheat sowing accumulated in the zero-tilling variant (19.9%). Variants with shallow plowing and minimum tillage with a disc harrow occupied an intermediate position between deep plowing and "direct" sowing as to the content of moisture in the soil. The highest yield of spring wheat of the Ester variety (3.99 t /ha) was obtained against the background of non-moldboard "shallow" tillage by the combined use of mineral fertilizers (N60P60K60) and ammonium nitrate (N10) applied for the decomposition of post-harvest plant residues.

Technological minimization main soil processing

The article presents data on the effect of chisel processing using the ROPA working organ on the area of the loosening profile of the soil, given by 1 m of the width of the tool. The dependence of the height of the zone of continuous processing on the depth of chilling and the location of attachment of the horizontal knife is also presented. The use of a chisel ripper to a depth of 25-40 cm allows to increase the quality of the treated layer and provide a zone of continuous loosening of 0,6-0,12 m, which is necessary for cereals and high-growth tilled crops. The article presents the working organ ROPA, designed for minimum soil cultivation with a strip deepening. In it functions of a chisel inclined rack and a standard deep plow are functionally combined. The curved bar has an intrasoil bend in the direction of the field cut at an angle of 45 degrees and is equipped with a flat-cutting foot, a knife and a shoe with an overlaid chisel. The technology of minimal tillage with a strip recess is provided in a constructive way - by the ratio between the lengths of the horizontal component of the horizontal projection of the knife and the blade - the feet on the transverse vertical plane, which are respectively 1/4 and 1/2 between the tracks.

Runoff initiation, soil detachment and connectivity are enhanced as a consequence of vineyards plantations

Rainfall-induced soil erosion is a major threat, especially in agricultural soils. In the Mediterranean belt, vineyards are affected by high soil loss rates, leading to land degradation. Plantation of new vines is carried out after deep ploughing, use of heavy machinery, wheel traffic, and trampling. Those works result in soil physical properties changes and contribute to enhanced runoff rates and increased soil erosion rates. The objective of this paper is to assess the impact of the plantation of vineyards on soil hydrological and erosional response under low frequency – high magnitude rainfall events, the ones that under the Mediterranean climatic conditions trigger extreme soil erosion rates. We determined time to ponding, Tp; time to runoff, Tr; time to runoff outlet, Tro; runoff rate, and soil loss under simulated rainfall (55 mm h−1, 1 h) at plot scale (0.25 m2) to characterize the runoff initiation and sediment detachment. In recent vine plantations (<1 year since plantation; R) compared to old ones (>50 years; O). Slope gradient, rock fragment cover, soil surface roughness, bulk density, soil organic matter content, soil water content and plant cover were determined. Plantation of new vineyards largely impacted runoff rates and soil erosion risk at plot scale in the short term. Tp, Tr and Tro were much shorter in R plots. Tr-Tp and Tro-Tr periods were used as connectivity indexes of water flow, and decreased to 77.5 and 33.2% in R plots compared to O plots. Runoff coefficients increased significantly from O (42.94%) to R plots (71.92%) and soil losses were approximately one order of magnitude lower (1.8 and 12.6 Mg ha−1 h−1 for O and R plots respectively). Soil surface roughness and bulk density are two key factors that determine the increase in connectivity of flows and sediments in recently planted vineyards. Our results confirm that plantation of new vineyards strongly contributes to runoff initiation and sediment detachment, and those findings confirms that soil erosion control strategies should be applied immediately after or during the plantation of vines.

Straw return and appropriate tillage method improve grain yield and nitrogen efficiency of winter wheat

AbstractStraw return is an important management tool for tackling and promoting soil nutrient conservation and improving crop yield in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, China. Although the incorporation of maize straw with deep plowing and rotary tillage practices are widespread in the region, only few studies have focused on rotation tillage. To determine the effects of maize straw return on the nitrogen (N) efficiency and grain yield of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), we conducted experiments in this region for 3 years. Five treatments were tested: (i) rotary tillage without straw return (RT); (ii) deep plowing tillage without straw return (DT); (iii) rotary tillage with total straw return (RS); (iv) deep plowing tillage with total straw return (DS); (v) rotary tillage of 2 years and deep plowing tillage in the 3rd year with total straw return (TS). Treatments with straw return increased kernels no. ear−1, thousand-kernel weight (TKW), grain yields, ratio of dry matter accumulation post-anthesis, and nitrogen (N) efficiency whereas reduced the ears no. ha−1 in the 2011–2012 and 2012–2013 growing seasons. Compared with the rotary tillage, deep plowing tillage significantly increased the grain yield, yield components, total dry matter accumulation, and N efficiency in 2013–2014. RS had significantly higher straw N distribution, soil inorganic nitrogen content, and soil enzymes activities in the 0–10 cm soil layer compared with the DS and TS. However, significantly lower values were observed in the 10–20 and 20–30 cm soil layers. TS obtained approximately equal grain yield as DS, and it also reduced the resource costs. Therefore, we conclude that TS is the most economical method for increasing grain yield and N efficiency of winter wheat in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain.

Long-term agricultural activity affects anthropogenic soil on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Anthropogenic activities largely influence the soil quality of agricultural fields and the composition of soil. Samples of typical anthropogenic Loutu soil in the Guanzhong area of the Loess Plateau, Shaanxi Province, China were collected and measured for soil compaction, bulk density, total organic carbon (TOC), active organic carbon (AOC), and soil enzyme activities to investigate spatial variations in soil quality. The results indicate that soil compaction and bulk density increased with increasing distance from the farm village, whereas soil TOC, AOC, and soil enzyme activities firstly increased and subsequently decreased with increasing distance from the farm village. All of the tested parameters presented clear concentric distribution. Vertically, soil compaction and bulk density in the topsoil were lower than those in the subsoil, but all other tested parameters in the topsoil were significantly higher than those in the subsoil. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between organic carbon content and enzyme activities, confirming that the spatial distribution of Loutu soil characteristics has been affected by long-term anthropogenic activities to some extent. The results of this study imply that the use of farmyard manure and appropriate deep plowing are important and effective ways to maintain and improve soil quality.

Stability of buried carbon in deep-ploughed forest and cropland soils - implications for carbon stocks

Accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) may play a key role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. In particular, subsoil provides a great potential for additional SOC storage due to the assumed higher stability of subsoil SOC. The fastest way in which SOC reaches the subsoil is via burial, e.g. via erosion or deep ploughing. We assessed the effect of active SOC burial through deep ploughing on long-term SOC stocks and stability in forest and cropland subsoil. After 25–48 years, deep-ploughed subsoil contained significantly more SOC than reference subsoils, in both forest soil (+48%) and cropland (+67%). However, total SOC stocks down to 100 cm in deep-ploughed soil were greater than in reference soil only in cropland, and not in forests. This was explained by slower SOC accumulation in topsoil of deep-ploughed forest soils. Buried SOC was on average 32% more stable than reference SOC, as revealed by long-term incubation. Moreover, buried subsoil SOC had higher apparent radiocarbon ages indicating that it is largely isolated from exchange with atmospheric CO2. We concluded that deep ploughing increased subsoil SOC storage and that the higher subsoil SOC stability is not only a result of selective preservation of more stable SOC fractions.

Maize root morphology responses to soil penetration resistance related to tillage and drought in a clayey soil

SUMMARYCrops often experience combined soil stresses. Root responses to soil penetration resistance (PR) and drought stress can be an important basis for crop management. In 2013/14, a 2-year experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of tillage treatment and drought stress (no irrigation for 4, 12 and 20 days during the V10–V16 growth stage) on the root length, diameter, cortex and cortical cell, and grain yield of maize (Zea mays L.) in a clayey red soil in southern China. Total root length and average root diameter were significantly correlated with soil PR and moisture. The cortical cell file number increased with soil PR and drought stress, while cortical cell size increased only with soil PR. Soil PR and moisture played different roles in maize root morphology modifications, but were both affected by tillage practices. Deep ploughing and conventional tillage increased soil moisture under severe drought stress conditions, whereas soil compaction and no-till significantly increased soil PR. The results indicate that high PR in clayey red soil was responsible for a decrease in maize root size and grain yield under drought conditions.

Influence of tillage systems on short-term soil CO2 emissions

Agricultural ecosystems can play a significant role in greenhouse gas emissions, specifically, carbon dioxide. Tillage management can increase atmospheric CO2concentrations and contribute to global warming but it is uncertain to which extent tillage enhances the transfer of soil CO2 to the atmosphere. Our objectives were (1) to determine short-term, tillage-induced soil CO2 emissions; (2) to determine the effect of different tillage systems and time after tillage operation on soil CO2emissions and soil microclimate and (3) to examine the relations between short-term soil CO2 emissions and microclimate (soil temperature, soil water content; air temperature and relative air humidity). Soil CO2 concentrations were measured on Stagnic Luvisols, in a temperate continental climate of the central lowland Croatia in October 2013 before, zero and three hours after tillage operations with in situ closed static chamber method. The four tillage systems were no-tillage (NT), ploughing to 25 cm (P25), very deep ploughing to 50 cm (P50) and subsoiling to 50 cm (PS50). The study showed that tillage has impact on soil CO2 emissions and soil microclimate. Tillage has accelerated the transfer of soil CO2 to the atmosphere but soil CO2 emissions declined sharply within three hours after tillage operations. Soil temperature has decreased after tillage operation and afterwards continued to rise while soil water content has been decreasing during whole study period. Correlations between soil CO2 emissions and microclimatic factors were mostly weak or modest while best type of studied correlations between soil CO2emissions and microclimate showed to be the second order polynomial correlation.