Evaluating the impact of soil conservation measures on soil organic carbon at the farm scale

Abstract

a b s t r a c tNo-tillage (NT) is considered the least invasive conservation agriculture technique and has shown to be the effective in increasing soil C stocks, and reducing losses compared to others tillage systems. In Italy, the Veneto Region was the first to establish a subsidies scheme aimed at promoting the adoption of NT practices. This program encourages farmers to perform direct seeding, alternate autumn and winter crops and maintain soil cover throughout the year by leaving crop residues or sowing cover crops.The goals of this study were to: (i) compare the CO 2 emission and soil C sequestration patterns of agricultural soils under CT and NT management practices in the Veneto region and (ii) analyse the potential mid-term benefits (2010-2025) of NT management in terms of soil organic C dynamics and CO 2 balance. Agronomic data and soil organic carbon levels were measured from 2010 to 2014 in eight farms in the Veneto region that had adopted CT and NT techniques. Field measurements were used to calibrate first and then validate the SALUS model to compare the mid-term impact of CT and NT practices using climate projections. SOC carbon pools in the model were initialized using the procedure described in Basso et al. (2011c). This is the first study to employ a model using such an extensive dataset at the farm level to assess the CT and NT strategies within this region.Results of this research will assist farmers and policy makers in the region to define the tillage systems most suited to improve soil C stocks and thereby minimize CO 2 emissions from agricultural soils. Overall, simulations indicated that SOC stocks can decrease under both CT and NT regimes, however SOC oxidation rates were substantially lower under NT. Critically, the greatest reduction in CO 2 emission was observed when NT was adopted in soil with high levels of SOM. This highlights the benefits of NT adoption in terms of soil fertility preservation and CO 2 emissions mitigation.

Linking field survey with crop modeling to forecast maize yield in smallholder farmers’ fields in Tanzania

“…It has been validated to simulate maize and pigeonpea aboveground biomass and grain yield under the humid subtropical and the tropical savanna climate in Malawi (Liu and Basso 2017). Other SALUS model testing includes grain yield (Basso and Ritchie 2015), soil water content (Basso et al 2010;Hamilton et al 2015), soil carbon (Cillis et al 2018;Pezzuolo et al 2017), and soil nitrate and nitrate leaching (Basso et al 2016a;Giola et al 2012) under the Mediterranean and humid continental climates. For this study, we tested SALUS model to evaluate its capability to reproduce interannual maize grain yield at regional level ( Fig.…”

Traffic effects on soil compaction and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) taproot quality parameters

“…One is the protection of the environment in terms of carbon emission and soil characteristics (López-Garrido et al, 2009;Pezzuolo et al, 2014, Basso et al, 2016. Soil characteristics are negatively modified by soil compaction, a side effect of modern agriculture experienced on soils in different parts of the world (Pezzuolo et al, 2017). Soil compaction is defined as "the process by which the soil grains are rearranged to decrease void space and bring them into closer contact with one another, thereby increasing the bulk density" (Kroulík et al, 2011).…”

Energy parameters and feedstock management in farm-scale biogas plants: survey in the North-East of Italy

“…Biogas plants operate mainly with three types of biomass sources: (i) farm by-products (such as animal slurries, agricultural residues and straw) [5]; (ii) agro-industrial and food industry by-products and residues [6]; (iii) the dedicated biomass produced specifically for energetic purposes [7].…”