Soil Health Parameters Research Articles

Evaluation of dredge fines material in manufactured soil blends on soil health parameters

AbstractSolutions are needed to address increasing concerns over degraded land and global food insecurity. One solution is to design soil blends that can restore soil quality and fertility. Dredge material has many soil‐like properties, which makes it a good candidate for the main component of manufactured soil blends. Questions have arisen over contaminants of concern (heavy metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons [PAH]) in dredge fines precluding them from reuse. One approach is to remove the fine fraction of dredge to lower the contaminant concentration; however, it may result in a lower quality soil substitute for land reclamation. In this study, soil blends were designed to compare the use of whole dredge to dredge fines (e.g., dredge with silt and clay fraction) and to assess the benefits of compost material, clay, and fertilizer additions. Dredge fines blends led to increases in soil quality, dry matter growth, plant available water, total and active C, potentially mineralizable N, and micronutrients. The addition of compost material led to better soil quality for a vast majority of the tested parameters. Dredge fines were below regulatory standards for contaminants of concern (e.g., carinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbon and heavy metals), allowing their reuse in soil blends. Removal of fines from dredge decreases the quality of soil blends and should not be removed from dredge material for use as topsoil or in topsoil blends. The 80% (v/v) dredge fines blend with 20% (v/v) additions of compost material resulted in the greatest improvements in the assessed soil health parameters.

Time Matters: A Short-Term Longitudinal Analysis of Conservation Agriculture and Its Impact on Soil Health

Conservation agriculture is seen as a potential solution to modern farming challenges. This paper elucidates its immediate impact by investigating the short-term dynamics of soil health, including the biological constituents, following the implementation of conservation agriculture. We hypothesised that implementing conservation agriculture would lead to changes in soil health. However, these changes will vary across the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil, given that each of these components is likely differently influenced by conservation agriculture. The study site was a multi-year trial in Ottosdal (South Africa) with different crop production systems, including maize monoculture, conservation agriculture (rotation of maize, sunflower, and cover crops), and an uncultivated grassland, which served as a natural reference system. Appropriate statistical methods were used to analyse soil health parameters and their interactions from samples collected during the three consecutive summer growing seasons. The study revealed significant soil health dynamics between the cultivated and uncultivated systems. Total available P, organic matter content, and microbial biomass were key indicators of soil health over the 3 years. Crop sequence influenced these dynamics, while a shift from abiotic to biotic factors was observed as primary system differentiators. Notably, crop rotation and soil structure significantly influenced soil microbial communities. These findings provide valuable insights into the interactions between soils and biota and the resulting effects on soil health dynamics. However, further research is required to fully elucidate the mechanisms involved and optimise sustainable farming practices for diverse environmental contexts.

Comparison of cover crop termination methods for small-scale organic vegetable production: effect on soil fertility and health

Termination methods and the timing of the termination of the cover crops are critical factors determining the efficacy of cover crops in improving soil fertility and quality. We hypothesized that different termination methods will produce varying quantities of organic residue which will affect microbial diversity and thereby nutrient cycling and availability. The objective of this study was to compare termination methods (roller-crimper, flail mowing, rotary mowing, sickle bar mowing, and occultation using black tarps) for fall-grown cover crop combination (hairy vetch-cereal rye) under organic vegetable production. Field experiments were carried out in three consecutive years (2018–2021) and soil samples were collected from 0 to 15 cm and processed for analysis. Soil organic matter content, nutrients, health parameters, enzymes, and microbial diversity were measured. Flail mowing significantly enhanced the potentially mineralizable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and active carbon. Total Phospholipid Fatty Acid (PLFA) analysis showed a 24% increase for flail mowed, 17% for rotary mowed, and 15% for sickle bar mowed termination methods. There was a significant increase in active carbon content which ranged from 38.9% (rotary mowed), 25.4% (sickle bar mowed), 23.5% (flail mowed), 16.4% for crimper rolled method, and with 2.8% (occultation) respectively. Individual termination methods had varying effects on select enzyme activities. Results indicated that integrating cover crops has the potential to modify soil microbial community structure and increase soil enzyme activities. In this study, flail mowing appeared to be a good method for managing cover crops of choice in terms of soil microbial functionality and fertility.

Electrochemical framework for dynamic tracking of Soil Organic Matter

Soil Health parameters serve as excellent surrogate measures towards assessing environmental quality and understanding effects of climate change mitigation via carbon sequestration. Soil Organic Matter (SOM) is a parameter that is synonymous to soil health and understanding SOM is a key metric to building and influencing good soil and agronomic practices by impacting soil aggregation and water withholding capacity. It is a vital regulator of soil nutrient cycling and uptake as well as a factor in the global carbon cycle and is hence more advantageous than just carbon monitoring. While it is understood that soil health cannot be analyzed directly, the use of an efficient indicator that can relay information about the soil physico-chemical and biological characteristics is highly desirable since it offers the ability to analyze soil information over time and build patterns in terms of geographical location.The proposed sensing system offers an in-situ electroanalytical approach to survey various electroactive substances present in the soil matrix. Utilizing this experimental framework- A mechanism of interaction between the RTIL (Room Temperature Ionic-Liquid) modified electrode and the OM functional moieties based on hydrogen bonding and pi-pi interactions captured using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method is utilized to build a first-of-a-kind electrochemical SOM sensor.

Reduction of Nitrate Leaching and Threats to Surface Water Under Conservation Tillage

Highlights Conservation agriculture practice (NT) improved soil organic matter, a principal indicator of soil health, soil health score (SHS) and CO2 respiration, and other soil physical and chemical properties vs. conventional till (CT) practice. Conservation agriculture practice (NT) promoted soil health functions under sufficient precipitation distribution and ample temperature conditions and aided the soil's retention ability to resist nitrate leaching and loads in subsurface drainage discharge systems. Uneven weather conditions, drought, and other variable agronomic practices rendered soil conditions unfavorable to retain nitrate and induced adverse effects by increasing the nitrate leaching and loads in NT vs. CT. The limited experiment period presented significant challenges for the evaluation and synthesizing of soil health motivations and barriers in the NT vs. CT. Abstract. An edge-of-field subsurface drainage discharge system removes excess subsurface water from agricultural fields to improve the conditions of the soil system making them favorable for plant growth. Conversely, edge-of-fields can increase the nitrate (NO3 -) offsite movement to surface water bodies, which ultimately impacts water quality. In St. Johns, MI. Two on-farm large areas were initiated in 2013 for conservation (NT) and conventional till (CT) practices, of which two microscale fields, an area of 4 acres for each, were delineated in 2019 for NT and CT practices under a corn/soybean crop rotation. NT and CT fields were monitored and evaluated through full water years (WYs) 2019-2022. The objective was to use an innovative approach in coupling edge-of-field with soil health assessments to learn how improved soil health functions are influencing nitrate leaching and loads. NT practice enhanced SOM, other physical properties, and soil health parameters, promoting soil health functions compared to CT practice under conditions of adequate precipitation and favorable temperatures. Additionally, it improved the soil's ability to retain and resist nitrate loads in the 2020 water year, with reductions of 9.6 and 18.3 kg/ha, respectively. In 2021, WY nitrate loads reported nearly an equal value in NT vs. CT (4.8 and 4.4 kg/ha, respectively). Factors of uneven weather conditions and drought, variable agronomic practices, and residual nitrogen after corn, rendered soil conditions unfavorable to retain nitrate and induced adverse effects by increasing the nitrate leaching and loads in NT vs CT in 2022 WY (8.1 and 5.8 kg/h, respectively). Therefore, the limited evaluation period (2019-2022 WYs) presented significant challenges and revealed no affirmative evidence that the improved soil health functions under NT reduced the nitrate leaching loads in all WYs of this research. Further research is needed to prove the impact of NT on improving soil health functions to sustainably reduce nitrate leaching and loads in edge-of-fields. Keywords: Conservation no-till (NT), Conventional till (CT), Nitrate load, Soil health functions, Subsurface drainage discharge, Water quality.

Assessment of different level of macro-micro nutrients and rhizobium on soil health parameters and yield of blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) var. Shekhar-2

Assessment of different level of macro-micro nutrients and rhizobium on soil health parameters and yield of blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) var. Shekhar-2

The effect of soil treatment methods against dodder (Cuscuta sp.) in soybean cultivating field

In the paper, it was described the effectiveness of different tillage methods against dodder in soybean field. In the conditions of typical sierozem and sierozem-meadow soils, it was determined that the fight against the dodder gave good results when the soil was plowed with a two- tier plug at a depth of 0-40 cm in the 1st year, 0-24 in the 2nd year, and 0- 32 cm in the 3rd year. In this case, it was observed that the spread of dodder was reduced by 45.3-50.2 % compared to the control in proportion to the soil types, and the efficiency was 95.2-94.7 %. Organic amendments improved soil health parameters but were less effective in controlling dodder, achieving only a 50% reduction. Mechanical tillage was the least effective, with a 30% reduction in dodder density. Soybean yield was highest in chemically treated plots, followed by solarized plots, with organic amendments and mechanical tillage showing marginal yield improvements over the control.

Assessing performance of simplified bioassays for soil-borne pathogens in smallholder systems of western Kenya.

Soil-borne pathogens cause considerable crop losses and food insecurity in smallholder systems of sub-Saharan Africa. Soil and crop testing is critical for estimating pathogen inoculum levels and potential for disease development, understanding pathogen interactions with soil nutrient and water limitations, as well as for developing informed soil health and disease management decisions. However, formal laboratory analyses and diagnostic services for pathogens are often out of reach for smallholder farmers due to the high cost of testing and a lack of local laboratories. To address this challenge, we assessed the performance of a suite of simplified soil bioassays to screen for plant parasitic nematodes (e.g., Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus) and other key soil-borne pathogens (Pythium and Fusarium). We sampled soils from on-farm trials in western Kenya examining the impact of distinct nutrient inputs (organic vs. synthetic) on bean production. Key soil health parameters and common soil-borne pathogens were evaluated using both simple bioassays and formal laboratory methods across eleven farms, each with three nutrient input treatments (66 samples in total). The soil bioassays, which involved counting galls on lettuce roots and lesions on soybean were well correlated with the abundance of gall forming (Meloidogyne) and root lesion nematodes (e.g., Pratylenchus) recovered in standard laboratory-based extractions. Effectiveness of a Fusarium bioassay, involving the counting of lesions on buried bean stems, was verified via sequencing and a pathogenicity test of cultured Fusarium strains. Finally, a Pythium soil bioassay using selective media clearly distinguished pathogen infestation of soils and infected seeds. When examining management impact on nematode communities, soils amended with manure had fewer plant parasites and considerably more bacterivore and fungivore nematodes compared to soils amended with synthetic N and P. Similarly, Pythium presence was 35% lower in soils amended with manure, while the Fusarium assays indicated 23% higher Fusarium infection in plots with amended manure. Our findings suggest that relatively simple bioassays can be used to help farmers assess soil-borne pathogens in a timely manner, with minimal costs, thus enabling them to make informed decisions on soil health and pathogen management.

Growth and Performance of Baby Spinach grown under different Organic Fertilizer

This study investigates the effects of several organic fertilizers on baby spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) cultivation’s growth, productivity, and sustainability. A randomized complete block design was employed to assess six organic fertilizer treatments, including vermicompost, farm yard manure (FYM), poultry waste, Azotobacter + poultry waste + FYM, Azotobacter + vermicompost, and a control (no fertilizer application). Plant growthparameters, nutrient content, pest resistance, soil health indicators, and environmental implications were evaluated to understand the effectiveness of organic fertilizers in promoting sustainable spinach production. Results indicate that treatments incorporating Azotobacter inoculants, particularly those combined with poultry waste or vermicompost, demonstrated superior performance in terms of production, biomass accumulation, plant height, leaf area, and nutrient content. These findings underscore the potential of bioinoculants in organic farming to increase soil fertility and ecological resilience, decreasedependency on synthetic inputs, and increase crop output. Moreover, organic fertilizers significantly influenced soil health parameters, with treatments exhibiting higher soil pH, organic matter content, and microbial activity contributing to improved soil fertility. Environmental implications of organic fertilizer use were also assessed, revealing varyinglevels of nutrient runoff and greenhouse gas emissions across different treatments. While Azotobacter-inoculated treatments showed higher greenhouse gas emissions, they also exhibited greater nutrient retention, indicating complex trade-offs between nutrient cyclingand environmental impact

Electrochemical Framework for Dynamic Tracking of Soil Organic Matter (SOM)

Soil Health parameters serve as excellent surrogate measures towards assessing environmental quality and understanding effects of climate change mitigation via carbon sequestration. Soil health monitoring in the near past has been highly qualitative and speculative with more recent advancements still trying to fill the void of determining a holistic soil profile through phantom based measurements. In fields and crop-circles, testing methods to perform in-situ profiling however from one lab is likely to vary with another and hence results are not universally compatible. Additionally, these normalized techniques ideally involve empirical approaches, extensive sample preparation which adds on to a temporal factor along with equipment for extraction and subsequently-analysis. Even with the upcoming research breakthroughs in non-destructive approaches like spectroscopy and tomography-based models, there is a barrier in-terms of equipment complexity and availability as well as high costs and high logistical overhead.There are a wide number of redox systems present in soil that exist in reduced state under ideal conditions (submerged). While Carbon monitoring would be highly beneficial in the field, an overall sense of the organic matter nutrients present in soil denoted as soil organic matter understanding would offer a wholistic manner of surveying soil and environmental health. In this work, faradaic and non-faradaic measurements are utilized to determine threshold changes in soil electrochemical activity due to presence of various electroactive substances present in the matrix. First, a galvanostatic approach using the chronopotentiometry modality was applied to a soil slurry system- ‘test’ sample to which different levels (w/v %) of the following amendments were added to see how the effective charge modulation can be visualized. Utilizing this experimental framework as preliminary information- A hypothesized mechanism of interaction between the RTIL (Room Temperature Ionic-Liquid) modified electrode and the OM functional moieties based on hydrogen bonding and pi-pi interactions captured using charge-based (chronocoulometry) and interfacial mapping-based (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) method is utilized to design and test a first-of-a-kind electrochemical soil organic matter (SOM) sensor. Figure 1. Chronopotentiometric characterization of soil organic matter using an RTIL modified electrode. Figure 1

Evaluating growth attributes and soil heath under long term implementation of organic farming in fodder cowpea

A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of organic and conventional production system on fodder cowpea growth and soil health. This study was conducted in a farmers field of Erode, Tamil Nadu in a randomized block design with three replications. For the study, six farmers' fields involving organic (ORG) practices and one conventional (CON) production system were selected. Soil and plant samples were collected at the time of harvest and analyzed for growth, and soil health parameters. The results revealed that significant differences were found in the growth parameters of fodder cowpea among the organic and conventional production system. The analyzed chemical properties ., soil reaction, electrical conductivity viz(EC), macro nutrients, and biological indicators ., soil organic carbon (SOC), organic matter (SOM), vizmicrobial biomass carbon (MBC), culturable microbes, and yield were found to be higher in organically managed soils than the conventional farming method

Soil health and root‐zone enrichment characteristics between paired grassland and cropland fields in the southeastern United States

AbstractBackgroundSoil organic C and N data from privately managed pastures in the southeastern United States are relatively scant.MethodsA paired‐farm approach was deployed to determine how a variety of soil health parameters related to nutrient and water cycling might be altered under grazed, botanically diverse perennial pastures compared with annual monoculture croplands in three Major Land Resource Areas of the southeastern United States.ResultsSoil stability index averaged 0.64 and 0.91 mm mm−1 under cropland and grazed pasture, respectively, suggesting that pastures had a more stable soil surface that was resistant to erosion and allowed rapid water infiltration. Surface‐soil organic C and N fractions (i.e., total, particulate, and mineralizable fractions at 0–10 cm depth) were greater under pasture than under cropland. Across locations, root‐zone enrichments (0–30 cm depth) of organic C and N fractions were greater under pasture than under cropland. Within locations, root‐zone enrichment of total soil N was greater (p < 0.05) under pasture than under cropland in the Blue Ridge (2.87 vs. 1.10 Mg N ha−1, respectively) and the Piedmont (2.80 vs. 2.10 Mg N ha−1), but not in the Blackland Prairie (2.40 vs. 2.12 Mg N ha−1).ConclusionsThis study provides evidence that rotationally grazed, perennial grasslands can store more soil organic C and N and improve soil surface stability conditions compared with neighboring croplands producing commodity feed grains for feedlot finishing.

Towards a cost-effective framework for estimating soil nitrogen pools using pedotransfer functions and machine learning

Globally, the strategic use of nitrogen (N) is important in optimizing economic returns and reducing soil nitrogen losses to the environment. Incorporating reliable estimates of nitrogen (N) mineralized over a growing season (GSN) into N-fertilizer rate prescriptions is critical, but may often lack a direct measurement. For this purpose, Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) of total nitrogen (TN) – representing the stable pool from which N is mineralized and biological nitrogen availability (BNA) – representing the labile pool of N mineralization were used to estimate GSN. GSN was calculated based on TN and BNA results from a soil health database (SHD), which also includes a suite of related soil health parameters (n = 2222). Using a process of recursive feature elimination (RFE) and cost-benefit feature elimination (CBFE), the best predictors of TN, BNA, and GSN were identified using a suite of machine learners (MLs) and regression analysis. For TN, RFE revealed that BNA, active carbon (AC), sand (Sa), and soil organic matter (OM) were the best predictors yielding a Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient (CCC) of 0.80 and a reduction in theoretical cost of 41 % compared to the control. CBFE resulted in AC, soil respiration (SR), clay, Sa, and OM as the most cost-effective predictors of TN with a CCC of 0.79 and a theoretical cost savings 49 % below the cost of using all appropriate soil health parameters in the SHD. With respect to BNA, the best predictors from RFE were aggregate stability (AS), AC, SR, and TN with a CCC of 0.78 and a theoretical cost reduction of 23 %. CBFE retained AC, SR, S, TN, OM and pH as predictors of BNA with a CCC of 0.78 and reduction of 29 % in theoretical cost. Finally, GSN results from RFE identified AS, AC, SR, OM and pH as the best predictors with a 0.82 CCC and 17 % reduction in theoretical cost. CBFE, on the other hand, identified AC, SR, sand, OM, and pH as the most cost-efficient predictors while maintaining a CCC of 0.82 and theoretical cost reduction of 29 %. Of the MLs used for pattern recognition (i.e., cubist, random forest, support vector machine, and stochastic gradient boosting), cubist model outperformed the others for the majority of iterations of the RFE and CBFE processes. The cost-effective framework, and the N-related PTFs developed in this study will greatly enhance our ability to predict of soil N-pool dynamics and the ability to incorporate GSN estimates into N-fertilizer recommendations for producers worldwide. Improvements in predictive strength could be achieved by incorporating climate and soil management practices into PTF development. Another area for improvement and future study would include addition of spatial and landscape variability related to N-measures via digital soil mapping applications.

Ecological monitoring using Collembola metabarcoding with extremely low bycatch amplification

Collembola are used widely to monitor soil health and functional parameters. Recent developments in high throughput sequencing (especially metabarcoding) have substantially increased their potential for these ends. Collembola are especially amenable to metabarcoding because of their small size, high abundance, and ubiquity in most habitat types. However, most Collembola sampling protocols collect a substantial and highly varied bycatch that can be a considerable impediment to metabarcoding, especially because of data lost to non-target species. We designed a primer set amplifying the D2 expansion segment of ribosomal DNA that is highly conserved across Collembola and successfully excludes from amplification nearly all other invertebrate taxa. We tested the diagnostic power of the primer set by clearly distinguishing Collembola communities between forest sites with differing habitat qualities in São Paulo State, Brazil. The oligos amplified all Collembola orders previously encountered in the sampling locations, with no non-target amplification, and also excluded the closely related Protura and Diplura. Alpha diversity (OTU count) and phylogenetic diversity was significantly higher in high quality habitats. Moreover, the beta diversity indices successfully differentiated high and low-quality habitats. This new addition to the biomonitoring toolbox greatly increases the accessibility of Collembola metabarcoding for various types of habitat assessments.

Mapping crop evapotranspiration with high-resolution imagery and meteorological data: insights into sustainable agriculture in Prince Edward Island

Soil moisture variability caused by soil erosion, weather extremes, and spatial variations in soil health is a limiting factor for crop growth and productivity. Crop evapotranspiration (ET) is significant for irrigation water management systems. The variability in crop water requirements at various growth stages is a common concern at a global level. In Canada’s Prince Edward Island (PEI), where agriculture is particularly prominent, this concern is predominantly evident. The island’s most prominent business, agriculture, finds it challenging to predict agricultural water needs due to shifting climate extremes, weather patterns, and precipitation patterns. Thus, accurate estimations for irrigation water requirements are essential for water conservation and precision farming. This work used a satellite-based normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) technique to simulate the crop coefficient (Kc) and crop evapotranspiration (ETc) for field-scale potato cultivation at various crop growth stages for the growing seasons of 2021 and 2022. The standard FAO Penman–Monteith equation was used to estimate the reference evapotranspiration (ETr) using weather data from the nearest weather stations. The findings showed a statistically significant (p < 0.05) positive association between NDVI and tabulated Kc values extracted from all three satellites (Landsat 8, Sentinel-2A, and Planet) for the 2021 season. However, the correlation weakened in the subsequent year, particularly for Sentinel-2A and Planet data, while the association with Landsat 8 data became statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Sentinel-2A outperformed Landsat 8 and Planet overall. The Kc values peaked at the halfway stage, fell before the maturity period, and were at their lowest at the start of the season. A similar pattern was observed for ETc (mm/day), which peaked at midseason and decreased with each developmental stage of the potato crop. Similar trends were observed for ETc (mm/day), which peaked at the mid-stage with mean values of 4.0 (2021) and 3.7 (2022), was the lowest in the initial phase with mean values of 1.8 (2021) and 1.5 (2022), and grew with each developmental stage of the potato crop. The study’s ET maps show how agricultural water use varies throughout a growing season. Farmers in Prince Edward Island may find the applied technique helpful in creating sustainable growth plans at different phases of crop development. Integrating high-resolution imagery with soil health, yield mapping, and crop growth parameters can help develop a decision support system to tailor sustainable management practices to improve profit margins, crop yield, and quality.

Eggplant growth in wheat straw-, wheat straw biochar- and compost-amended soils: a field study of CO2 emission dynamics, soil physicochemical, microbial, and nutrient effects

The growth of eggplant (Pusa Safed Baingan-1) was studied during the semi-arid (March to June) and humid sub-tropical (July to September) seasons of New Delhi, India. The individual effects of wheat straw biomass (WSBM), wheat straw biochar (WSBC) and compost versus the combined effect of WSBM plus compost and WSBC plus compost were determined under field conditions. The amendments were made at two different application rates: 1 wt% and 2 wt%. WSBC was successfully prepared in a proprietary kachcha reactor (Indian patent no. 380921), designed using locally sourced clay. Amendments were characterized using elemental analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron (TEM) microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-Ray diffraction (XRD). The field study was conducted in 11 (1x1-meter) plots with two replicates. Basic soil health parameters including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), water holding capacity (WHC), bulk density (BD), cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil total nitrogen (STN), soil available nitrogen (SAN), soil organic carbon (SOC), soil available phosphorus (SAP), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and mineral contents are analyzed. Observable plant growth characteristics (germination percentage, height, number of leaves, fruits, and plant biomass) were also recorded. Biochar amendment was most beneficial for enhancing the majority of these parameters. With respect to the control, a 20% decrease in bulk density, a 30% increase in water holding capacity, a 122% increase in organic carbon, a 175% increase in total nitrogen, a 23% increase in available nitrogen, and a 473% increase in available phosphorus were recorded. Furthermore, with respect to the control, a 115% increase in CEC was recorded using the compost amendment vs 84% with WSBC. Synergism between biochar and compost was reflected by high germination percentage (44%), number of fruits (600%), plant biomass weight (243%) and soil microbial biomass carbon (286%). Biomass amendment failed to show any positive influence. In summary, biochar emerges as a superior choice compared to both biomass and compost when it comes to soil amendments.

Assessment of Physico-Chemical Properties of Soil from Different Villages of Sundar Nagar Block of Mandi District of Himachal Pradesh, India

One of the most popular phrases in agriculture is the term “Soil Health and Soil Quality.” Agricultural sustainability is being dependent on soil health. Soil quality assessment is of paramount importance to know the appropriate management practices to be adopted for sustainable crop production. Soil samples were collected from Sunder Nagar block of Mandi district on Oct. 2022 in three depths viz. 0-15,15-30 and 30-45 cm and analysed for their Physico-chemical parameters by using standard laboratory techniques. Soil health parameters were analyzed and the founding state that, texture of soil is sandy loam. Soil reaction was neutral to slightly alkaline with soil EC mostly below <1.0 dS m-1 significantly affect for better crop production. In the case of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content of research area was found to be slightly low to medium while the range of potassium range was medium to high. The concentration levels of certain micronutrients were analyzed and the results indicate that zinc levels were low to slightly medium, copper levels were low to medium, iron levels were medium to high and manganese levels were medium to slightly high. For promoting the soil health and soil quality use of organic manure is recommended for fertilizer management.

A Soil Screening Study to Evaluate Soil Health for Urban Garden Applications in Hartford, CT

Urban agriculture is a sustainable practice for communities to have access to healthy and affordable produce by reducing the energy costs of food production and distribution. While raised beds are often used in community gardens to ensure that soil quality meets proper standards, the use of existing urban soils is desired for economic and sustainability purposes. The main objective of this study is to evaluate a methodology to test soil health parameters using in situ screening methods. Soil testing was conducted at three urban lots in Hartford, CT, that were candidates for community gardens. In situ measurements of metals were taken with a pXRF instrument in all three lots, and an additional 30 samples were tested in the laboratory, both on pressed pellets via pXRF and with acid digestion and ICP-MS analysis. Ultimately, in situ pXRF measurements were comparable to pelletized pXRF and ICP-MS measurements for elements of interest, and pXRF is shown to be a reliable screening tool to evaluate exceedances for metal regulatory thresholds exceeding 100 ppm (e.g., Pb, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Se), although soil moisture content exceeding 5% is shown to have a dilution effect on in situ results up to about a 30% difference. The current study serves as a case study in Hartford, CT, for the evaluation of in situ pXRF analysis as a rapid soil screening tool, and further research will be needed to extend the current recommendations to a general rapid soil assessment methodology.

Impact of fertilizer source on the dynamics of carbon and nutrients in a podzol designated for land‐use conversion

AbstractBoreal lands have long been considered unsuitable for agriculture. Climate change projections support a shift towards increased agricultural production in boreal ecosystems via land use conversion. Depending on the conversion protocol, the new plough layer may variably reflect the properties of different soil depths. This study assessed how adding mineral or organic fertilizer sources to distinct soil layers within ploughing depth (0–15 cm [topsoil] or 15–30 cm [subsoil]) affects nutrient uptake and crop productivity. Locally relevant organic waste fertilizers (dairy manure [DMN], recirculating aquaculture system supernatant [SUP] and slurry [RAS]), were compared against mineral fertilizer. Tall fescue was used to verify agronomic responses. Starting available nutrient concentrations were balanced as necessary with mineral N and P fertilizers. Except for NH4‐nitrogen, both soils were of apparent similar fertility (total C < 1%); unfertilized, neither could support significant plant growth. Subsoil‐based growth was fast but limited in time reflecting immediately available nutrients. Topsoil led to delayed, extended growth. This might be due to dichotomous priming effects: during the duration of the experiment up to 36% of subsoil carbon was lost, while the topsoil gained up to 49% carbon, most apparent for DMN. While RAS led to the greatest N and P acquisition efficiencies for topsoil, it had no such effect for subsoil, suggesting distinct fixation and mineralization processes. Dissimilar C cycling and nutrient acquisition for the two soil depths indicates that site‐specific considerations that include soil health parameters with commonly tested available nutrients are needed where podzols are farmed after land‐use conversion.

Leaf nutrient status and soil properties in Khasi mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) cultivation as influenced by bio-fertiliser enriched organic amendments

ABSTRACT Intensive use of synthetic fertilisers in fruit crops has resulted in negative impacts on the environment and biodiversity. The use of organic nutrient regimes is regarded as an alternative solution for agricultural sustainability and human health. This case study investigated effects of organic nutrient regimes on soil properties and nutrient status of leaves of Khasi mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) at Mizoram University, Aizawl, India. The experiment included 13 treatments: T1: farm yard manure (FYM); T2: vermicompost (VC); T3: pig manure (PM); T4: mustard oil cake (MOC); T5: FYM +Azospirillum + phosphate solubilising bacteria (PSB) + potash solubilising bacteria (KSB); T6: VC + Azospirillum + PSB + KSB; T7: PM + Azospirillum + PSB + KSB; T8: MOC + Azospirillum + PSB + KSB; T9: FYM + Azotobacter + arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) + KSB; T10: VC + Azotobacter + AMF + KSB; T11: PM + Azotobacter + AMF + KSB; T12: MOC + Azotobacter + AMF + KSB and T13: Control (RDF). The results demonstrated that the application of organic amendments and bio-fertilisers enhanced leaf nutrient status as well soil health parameters. The highest concentrations of total N, K, Fe and Zn in the leaves and concentrations of organic, inorganic and total carbon, total N, available N, K, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn and abundance of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes in the soil were recorded with T10. Thus, T10 was considered the most effective in terms of increasing leaf nutrient status and soil physico-chemical properties in the Khasi mandarin production system.