Effects of 10 years of conservation tillage on soil properties and productivity in the farming–pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia, China

He, Jin; Kuhn, N. J.; Zhang, X. M.; Zhang, X. R.; Li, H. W.

doi:10.1111/j.1475-2743.2009.00210.x

Cited by 96 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The findings of this study showed that no tillage with straw retention significantly decreased soil bulk density and boosted soil moisture content compared to conventional tillage with straw removed and no tillage with straw removed at the top soil depth (0-30 cm), and significantly affected the root length, root surface area, root diameter and root volume through the 0-50 cm soil profile. Many studies have demonstrated that excessive soil tillage increases soil bulk density (Fabrizzi et al, 2005;Yeboah et al, 2016), and reduces soil moisture (He et al, 2009;Yeboah et al, 2017). Long-term no tillage treatments has been reported to decreased soil bulk density in the surface layer (Yeboah et al, 2016) and that explained it as a direct consequence to the mulch layer on top of NT soils that provide soil organic matter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation Tillage Practices Optimizes Root Distribution and Straw Yield of Spring Wheat and Field Pea in Dry Areas

Yeboah¹,

Lamptey²,

Zhang³

2017

JAS

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of conventional tillage with straw removed (T), no tillage with straw removed (NT), no tillage with straw retained on the soil surface (NTS) and conventional tillage with straw incorporated (TS) on soil moisture, root growth and straw yield under rain-fed conditions. Findings of this research show that NTS and to a lesser extent, TS decreased soil bulk density in the 0-10 cm soil depth by approximately 3.35% and 2.75% compared to T and NT in spring wheat and field pea plots respectively. No tillage with straw retained (NTS) had greater soil moisture content (0-30 cm) at jointing, anthesis and milking stages compared with NT and T treatments with average 18.57% and 29.67% increase (P < 0.05) in spring wheat and field pea respectively. Compared with T and NT, root length, root surface area, root diameter and root volume at 0-50 cm soil depth under straw treated soils, especially with no tillage were significantly increased. Root length, surface area and root diameter in the 0-80 cm differed among the treatments in the order of NTS > TS > NT > T at all the sampling stages in both crops. No tillage with straw retention had the greatest straw yield of 4897 kg ha -1 in spring wheat and 2759 kg ha -1 in field pea, representing a significant increase of 20.61% and 22.74% compared to NT and T respectively. These results suggest that NTS could enhance spring wheat and field pea yield and water uptake via stimulating root growth, and therefore a practical way to improve crop productivity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation Tillage Practices Optimizes Root Distribution and Straw Yield of Spring Wheat and Field Pea in Dry Areas

Yeboah¹,

Lamptey²,

Zhang³

2017

JAS

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“…These changes can result in cost savings to farmers, which combined with yield increases, may translate to significant financial benefits relative to conventional ploughing. Comparisons between conventional tillage and reduced or NT systems have found higher soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration, lower emissions and improved soil quality (He, Kuhn, Zhang, Zhang, & Li, 2009;Li et al, 2007;Zhang, Lal, Zhao, Xue, & Chen, 2014). Nonetheless, scientific debate highlights a number of challenges, centring on the need for site-specific adaptation of CA packages (Kirkegaard, Conyers, Hunt, Kirkby, & Watt, 2014), the applicability of CA to some smallholder systems (Giller, Corbeels, Nyamangara, Triomphe, & Affholder, 2011), and the trade-offs involved in scaling to large numbers of farmers (Pittelkow et al, 2015a;Powlson et al, 2014).…”

Section: Declining Efficiencies and Increasing Environmental Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving China’s food and environmental security with conservation agriculture

Bharucha

et al. 2016

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability

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China has achieved impressive increases in agricultural output in recent decades. Yet, past approaches centred on a growing use of fertilizers, pesticides, fuel and water are not likely to achieve the required 30-50% additional increases in food production by mid-century. We show that efficiencies of production are falling and the costs of environmental harm are increasing. Agricultural innovations that improve natural capital are urgently needed. Conservation agriculture (CA) is now practised on .8 Mha in China and is offering promising prospects of both enhanced yields and environmental services. Our meta-analysis of 60 papers with 395 observations in China shows notable benefits from CA. Mean yield increase was 4.5% or 263 kg ha 21 for wheat, 8.3% or 424 kg ha 21 for maize, and 1.65% or 250 kg ha 21 for rice. In 34 datasets from 22 published papers (experimental duration: 2-17 years), 26 datasets (76.5%) show that CA increased yield and soil organic carbon (mean SOC increase of .3 g.kg 21 in 0-10 cm soil depth) when compared with traditional tillage. Key priorities for the spread of more sustainable forms of agriculture in China are national policy and financial support, better coordination across agencies, and better extension for farmers.

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“…Concurrently, higher SMC (%) was observed at 15-30 cm across land use types (Table 3). Moreover, since there are perennial and annual crops in the EBCSTS land use type, litter fall and some residues always protect the soil from direct sun light and hence this reduces moisture evaporation from the soil [40,34,2,44]. + could accumulate due to household refuses, wood or biomass ash and animal manures usage.…”

Section: Soil Physical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This was due to continuous addition of soil organic residues on the surface soil layer [2,6,35,36]. In CBCVTS, the continuous tillage operation and thereby lowering of soil organic carbon (SOC) might have contributed for increased soil bulk density [6,13,29,31,[37][38][39][40]. With respect to soil depth, the weight of overlying soil and the availability of less soil aggregates have increased the soil bulk density on both land use types [13,29,41,42].…”

Section: Soil Physical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Quality Variation under Enset based Conservation Tillage and Cereal based Conventional Tillage System in Southern Highlands of Ethiopia

Ketema¹

2015

APAR

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With the objectives of assessing the variation of soil quality indicators; two land use types: Enset based conservation tillage system (EBCSTS) and Cereal based conventional tillage system (CBCVTS) were selected in Gedeo zone, Bule woreda, Southern Ethiopia. A total of 48 composite and undisturbed (for bulk density determination) soil samples (2 land use types_4 blocks_3 replication_2 soil depth: 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm) were collected for laboratory analysis. The result showed that soil textural fractions (sand, p<0.001; silt, p = 0.003 and clay = p = 0.001) and soil pH (p<0.001) significantly varied with land use types. Moreover, soil moisture content (p<0.001), bulk density (p = 0.016, p = 0.002), SOC (p<0.001), TN (p<0.001) and CEC (p<0.001, p = 0.001) have shown significant variation with land use types and soil depth respectively. Sand and clay were higher in EBCSTS and CBCVTS, respectively. Higher amount of sand fraction was observed under 0-15 cm on EBCSTS and 15-30 cm on CBCVTS land use types. Lower soil bulk density (g cm -3 ) and higher amount of SOC (%), TN (%), soil pH, CEC (meq/100g soil) and SMC (%) were observed at 0-15 cm soil layer under the EBCSTS. Soil bulk density (g cm -3 ), soil pH and SMC (%) increased while SOC (%), CEC (meq/100g soil) and TN (%) decreased with soil depth in both land use types. Improvement in the soil quality under EBCSTS was due to the presence of less soil disturbance coupled with higher addition of organic matter (SOM) in the soil. Thus, through implementing EBCSTS, it is possible to protect and maintain soil qualities for sustainable soil management and cropping practices in the area.

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Effects of 10 years of conservation tillage on soil properties and productivity in the farming–pastoral ecotone of Inner Mongolia, China

Cited by 96 publications

References 25 publications

Conservation Tillage Practices Optimizes Root Distribution and Straw Yield of Spring Wheat and Field Pea in Dry Areas

Conservation Tillage Practices Optimizes Root Distribution and Straw Yield of Spring Wheat and Field Pea in Dry Areas

Improving China’s food and environmental security with conservation agriculture

Soil Quality Variation under Enset based Conservation Tillage and Cereal based Conventional Tillage System in Southern Highlands of Ethiopia

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