Effects of band-steaming on microbial activity and abundance in organic farming soil

Elsgaard, Lars; Jørgensen, Martin Grønbech; Elmholt, Susanne

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2010.02.007

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The metabolic efficiency of a microbial community is supposedly reflected in its specific respiration rate (Elsgaard et al 2010). Higher soil respiration in the organic farming system indicates a higher soil microbial activity caused by permanent and continuous addition of an exogenous source of labile organic matter to the soil and the consequent (Moeskops et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical properties, microbial biomass, and activity differ between soils of organic and conventional horticultural systems under greenhouse and open field management: a case study

Nie

et al. 2010

J Soils Sediments

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical properties, microbial biomass, and activity differ between soils of organic and conventional horticultural systems under greenhouse and open field management: a case study

Nie

et al. 2010

J Soils Sediments

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“…This was probably because the addition of 4000 kg ha -1 CaO extended the cooling-down period by 84% compared with the cooling-down period found by Melander and Kristensen (2011). Elsgaard et al (2010) applied band-steaming in a field study using a prototype with steaming tines that injected the steam produced by a 200 kW (720 MJ h -1 ) steam generator at a depth of 50 mm. They found that the temperature decreased from about 75°C to 45°C in 8 min.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A prototype band-steaming machine: Design and field application

Raffaelli

Martelloni

Frasconi

et al. 2016

Biosystems Engineering

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Soil steaming is a preventive non-chemical weed control method. We designed and studied a new prototype band-steaming machine. Tests were conducted during the growing cycle of organically cultivated carrot in real-field conditions, in order to study the effect of different steam doses on crops and a natural weed seedbank, throughout the whole growth cycle. The prototype has a 3265 MJ h-1 steam generator, which applies steam in 12 soil bands, 180 mm wide. The steam was mixed with the soil by mean of an apposite rotary cultivator. Four biological steam doses (0, 1.11, 1.59, and 2.78 kg m-2) were applied in combination with 4000 kg ha-1 of CaO prior to sowing the crop. Log-logistic models were used to describe the responses of temperatures, weed density, time required for hand weeding, weed dry biomass at harvest, and carrot yield to the band-steaming application. Based on the experimental data, an economic margin was evaluated to find the optimum application dose. Overall responses were influenced by steam dose. The results showed that a maximum temperature of 63 °C at a 25 mm depth was observed with a steam dose of 2.78 kg m-2. With a 2.78 kg m-2 dose, the operative time was approximately 14 h ha-1 and total fuel consumption was 768 kg ha-1. An estimated mean steam dose of 2.3 kg m-2 could be able to provide similar yield and hand weeding times responses to the highest steam dose applied, thus reducing both the operative time and fuel consumption of the machine

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“…A third option for thermal weed control that has mainly been explored for horticultural crops is weed steaming, whereby a steam generator (usually fueled by diesel) heats the soil to temperatures that are lethal to weeds, usually between 60 and 80°C for 20 to 30 min (Elsgaard et al 2010;Melander et al 2013;Samtani et al 2011). A study on strawberry fields in California found that steaming the soil at 70°C for 20 min resulted in weed control efficacy comparable to that of a methyl bromide (67%) and chloropicrin (33%) treatment (Samtani et al 2011).…”

Section: Weed Steamingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weed control under conservation agriculture in dryland smallholder farming systems of southern Africa. A review

Lee

Thierfelder²

2017

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Human-induced soil degradation has led to declining yields and soil fertility in many parts of the world. Conservation agriculture has been proposed as a strategy to ensure more sustainable land use. While conservation agriculture, based on minimum soil disturbance, crop residue retention, and diversification may improve a range of soil characteristics and can be a potential cropping system for improving farmer resilience to climate change, increased weed pressure is often an impediment to its widespread adoption in southern Africa. Weed control under conservation agriculture in other countries has been linked to increased herbicide use, but concerns about herbicide resistance, access to chemicals, and environmental impacts highlight the need for alternative weed control strategies accessible for smallholders. Farmers in semi-arid regions contend with the additional challenge of low biomass production, which may limit the weedsuppressing benefits of permanent soil cover. This paper reviews the regional applicability of various mechanical (manual weeding, weeding using animal traction, weed seed harvest), thermal (soil solarization, weed steaming, flaming), chemical (herbicides, seed coating), and cultural (crop competition, crop residue retention, intercropping, crop rotation) weed control strategies. For each strategy, benefits and challenges were assessed and contextualized with the circumstances of rainfed smallholder farmers in southern Africa. We found that (1) no single solution can solve all weed control challenges under current conservation agriculture systems; (2) success of weed control strategies is largely contingent upon site-specific conditions, including soil type, dominant weed species, and socioeconomic factors; and (3) practices new to southern Africa, such as weed steaming, merit localized research. Previous reviews have addressed various weed control strategies, but a comprehensive review of strategies available to smallholder farmers in semi-arid southern Africa is lacking. Finding a suitable combination of weed control strategies is critical for encouraging smallholder farmers to adopt and maintain conservation agriculture practices. Keywords Mechanical weed control. Chemical weed control. Herbicides. Cultural weed control. Semi-arid agriculture. No-tillage

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Effects of band-steaming on microbial activity and abundance in organic farming soil

Cited by 11 publications

References 39 publications

Chemical properties, microbial biomass, and activity differ between soils of organic and conventional horticultural systems under greenhouse and open field management: a case study

Chemical properties, microbial biomass, and activity differ between soils of organic and conventional horticultural systems under greenhouse and open field management: a case study

A prototype band-steaming machine: Design and field application

Weed control under conservation agriculture in dryland smallholder farming systems of southern Africa. A review

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