Impact of conservation tillage on wheat performance and its microbiome

Abstract

Winter wheat is an important cereal consumed worldwide. However, current management practices involving chemical fertilizers, irrigation, and intensive tillage may have negative impacts on the environment. Conservation agriculture is often presented as a sustainable alternative to maintain wheat production, favoring the beneficial microbiome. Here, we evaluated the impact of different water regimes (rainfed and irrigated), fertilization levels (half and full fertilization), and tillage practices (occasional tillage and no-tillage) on wheat performance, microbial activity, and rhizosphere- and root-associated microbial communities of four winter wheat genotypes (Antequera, Allez-y, Apache, and Cellule) grown in a field experiment. Wheat performance (i.e., yield, plant nitrogen concentrations, and total nitrogen uptake) was mainly affected by irrigation, fertilization, and genotype, whereas microbial activity (i.e., protease and alkaline phosphatase activities) was affected by irrigation. Amplicon sequencing data revealed that habitat (rhizosphere vs. root) was the main factor shaping microbial communities and confirmed that the selection of endophytic microbial communities takes place thanks to specific plant–microbiome interactions. Among the experimental factors applied, the interaction of irrigation and tillage influenced rhizosphere- and root-associated microbiomes. The findings presented in this work make it possible to link agricultural practices to microbial communities, paving the way for better monitoring of these microorganisms in the context of agroecosystem sustainability.

Long-term conservation tillage with reduced nitrogen fertilization intensity can improve winter wheat health via positive plant–microorganism feedback in the rhizosphere

“…In our study, tillage practice was the main factor affecting the microbiome in the RA soil and RH (Table 4 ), indicating that the complete plant–microorganism–soil system was affected. These observations are in line with results from previous studies investigating wheat soils (Sommermann et al 2018 , Babin et al 2019 , Romano et al 2023 ), which highlights the stable legacy of tillage practice likely caused by differences in physical soil properties (Schlüter et al 2018 ) as well as differences in chemical composition (e.g. C and N stocks; Table S15 , Supporting Information ).…”

Inoculation with a microbial consortium increases soil microbial diversity and improves agronomic traits of tomato under water and nitrogen deficiency

“…Recently, Xu et al. (2020) observed that microbial community composition was affected by changes in water availability, showing that drought generally led to a decline in microbial biomass, while enhanced irrigation resulted in an increase, which might further translate into changes in microbial community composition ( Romano et al., 2023 ).…”

“…Yuan et al (2016) observed that irrigation practices had a stronger effect on the abundance, diversity, and structure of bacterial communities than fertilization, confirming the driving effect of soil moisture on shift of bacterial communities. Recently, Xu et al (2020) observed that microbial community composition was affected by changes in water availability, showing that drought generally led to a decline in microbial biomass, while enhanced irrigation resulted in an increase, which might further translate into changes in microbial community composition (Romano et al, 2023).…”

Management of soil cover and tillage regimes in upland rice-sweet corn systems for better system performance, energy use and carbon footprints

“…Several management elements, such as soil management techniques like tillage and soil cover, can impact the productivity and sustainability of rice-sweet corn systems in this region. The impact of various tillage regimes on crop performance and soil characteristics in diverse agricultural systems worldwide has been the subject of numerous researches [ [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] ]. Traditional methods like conventional tillage (CT), which include heavy mechanical soil disturbance via ploughing and harrowing, have been identified as contributing factors to soil deterioration, including decreased soil organic carbon (SOC) content, increased soil erosion, and lower fertility [ [14] , [15] , [16] , [17] , [18] ].…”