Long‐Term No‐Till Impacts on Organic Carbon and Properties of Two Contrasting Soils and Corn Yields in Ohio

Kumar, Sandeep; Kadono, Atsunobu; Lal, Rattan; Dick, Warren A.

doi:10.2136/sssaj2012.0055

Cited by 137 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Tillage affected both SOM and TCs levels, with higher values under tilled plots as opposed to NT. Several studies have reported opposite results, showing increased SOM and TCs under longterm NT compared to tillage practices (West and Post, 2002;Kumar et al, 2012), even under Illinois conditions Zuber et al, 2015). Yet all these later studies reported results from experimental plots with more than 5 yr since treatment establishment whereas the current study has been in place for 3 yr and one complete production cycle in each field.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Tillage and Cover Cropping Effects on Soil Properties and Crop Production in Illinois

et al. 2017

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Core Ideas Compared corn–soybean rotations with cover crops vs fallows under no‐till or till. Corn–soybean rotations with cereal rye after corn decreased soil NO3–N by 42%. Soil attributes and crop yields were generally unaffected by cover crops use. Tillage increased soil organic matter and exchangeable K compared to no‐till. Tillage reduced soybean yields by 245 kg/ha compared to no‐till. Cover crops (CCs) have been heralded for their potential to improve soil properties, retain nutrients in the field, and subsequent crop yields, yet support for these claims within Illinois remains limited. Cover crops were used in corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotations. We assessed five sets of CCs vs. fallow controls under no‐till (NT) and chisel till (Till) on soil attributes and crop yields, encompassing one complete rotation cycle. The experimental layout was a split split‐block where whole plot treatments (P, rotation phase; and Y, year) had a Latin square design and subplot treatments of tillage (NT vs. Till) were split into sub‐subplot treatments of CC rotations. We measured soil properties, crop yields, CC stand counts in late fall, and spring biomass samples, each year. Tillage increased the level of soil organic matter (SOM) and exchangeable potassium (K) within our systems yet significantly decreased the yield of soybean by 245 kg/ha. Compared to winter fallow, soil attributes under corn–soybean rotations that included CCs did not show any statistically significant change after one cycle of production except increased N scavenging with cereal rye growing after corn harvest. Inclusion of CCs in the corn–soybean rotation did not affect cash crop yields in either till or NT systems. Our results show that cereal rye is the CC with the best potential as an N scavenger in the corn–soybean rotation, but claims of crop yield increases in the short term are not supported.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 56%

Tillage and Cover Cropping Effects on Soil Properties and Crop Production in Illinois

et al. 2017

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“…Soils were slightly acidic with pH varying from 5.03 to 5.70. The calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) content of samples was about 0.1%; therefore, soil inorganic C was ignored and total C was considered as the SOC (Kumar et al 2012 ). Climate Data.…”

Section: Soil Physical and Chemical Propertiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term tillage and drainage influences on greenhouse gas fluxes from a poorly drained soil of central Ohio

Kumar¹,

Nakajima²,

Kadono³

et al. 2014

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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Abstract:Intensive tillage practices and poorly drained soils of the Midwestern United States are one of the prime reasons for increased greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from agriculture. The naturally poorly drained soils prevalent in this region require subsurface drainage for improving aeration and reducing GHG fluxes from soils. However, very little research has been conducted on the combination of tillage and drainage impacts on GHG fluxes from poorly drained soils. Thus, the present study was conducted in central Ohio with specific objective to assess the influences of long-term (18-year) no-tillage (NT) and chisel-till (CT) impacts on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), and methane (CH 4 ) fluxes from the soils in plots managed under drained (D) or nondrained (ND) conditions. The experimental site was established on a poorly drained Crosby silt loam soil in 1994 under corn (Zea mays L.)-corn rotation. Measurements of soil CO 2 , N 2 O, and CH 4 fluxes were conducted biweekly during 2011 and 2012 using the static chamber technique. In 2011, the annual CO 2 -C and N 2 O-N from NT were 18% and 83%, respectively, lower compared to CT. Similar trends were observed for 2012. Methane fluxes were highly variable in both years. Tillage and drainage influenced seasonal soil GHG emissions; however, differences were not always significant. In general, plots under NT with subsurface drainage produced lower emissions compared to those under CT. Subsurface drainage lowered the emissions compared to those under ND. Results from this study concluded that subsurface drainage in poorly drained soils with long-term NT practice can be beneficial for the environment by emitting lower GHG fluxes compared to tilled soils with no drainage. However, long-term monitoring of these fluxes under diverse cropping systems under poorly drained soils is needed.Key words: chisel tillage-corn-greenhouse gas-no-tillage-soil organic carbon-subsurface drainage (Smith et al. 2007). The CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere has increased by approximately 35% since the start of industrial revolution and is predicted to reach 700 ppmv by the end of this century (IPCC 2001a). Soil and land management practices influence the organic carbon (SOC) content of the soils (McConkey et al. 2003;Osher et al. 2003; Paustian et al. 2000), and hence influence the GHG emissions (Lee et al. 2006; Paustian et al. 2000;Poch et al. 2006). One way of controlling these emissions is by expanding the terrestrial SOC sink by adopting conservation tillage (e.g., no-tillage) (Gregorich et al. 2005;Ussiri et al. 2009) and by draining excess water from cropland soils (Smith et al. 2003).It is well known that intensive tillage practices strongly affect GHG emissions; however, these effects vary and depend on frequency of tillage, soil type, climate, other management practices, and litter accumulation (Six et al. 2004). Disturbance to soil because of tillage operations affects soil biochemical and physical properties, consequently influencing the soil CO 2 fluxes (Oor...

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“…This may be true. However, there is a growing body of scientific literature related to the contribution of agronomic best management practices to sequester SOC (Huggins et al 2007;Luo et al 2010;Kumar et al 2012, Lyons et al 1997Janzen 2006;BlancoCanqui and Lal 2008;Casta Junior et al 2013) that suggests that the SOC sequestration rates in table 1 may be too high. Other researchers (Olson 2010;Baker et al 2007;Sanderman and Baldock 2010;Sanford et al 2012) found that SOC stocks declined from pretreatment levels even with long-term NT studies under soilspecific conditions, such as conversion of prairie to agricultural land, drainage, aeration, tillage, and erosion.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the paired comparison method approach for determining soil organic carbon sequestration rates

Olson¹,

Al‐Kaisi²,

Lal³

et al. 2014

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

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Long‐Term No‐Till Impacts on Organic Carbon and Properties of Two Contrasting Soils and Corn Yields in Ohio

Cited by 137 publications

References 59 publications

Tillage and Cover Cropping Effects on Soil Properties and Crop Production in Illinois

Tillage and Cover Cropping Effects on Soil Properties and Crop Production in Illinois

Long-term tillage and drainage influences on greenhouse gas fluxes from a poorly drained soil of central Ohio

Examining the paired comparison method approach for determining soil organic carbon sequestration rates

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