Soil carbon, nitrogen, and biotic properties after long-term no-till and nitrogen fertilization in a subtropical Vertisol

Effect of Reduced Nitrogen Fertilization on the Chemical and Biological Traits of Soils under Maize Crops

“…However, fertilizers are often overused on smallholder farms, which not only results in lower crop yields but also causes damage to the environment and human health [34][35][36]. Research data emphasize that tillage is an important management practice, with conventional tillage (CT) helping to manage weeds, prepare the soil for sowing, and mix soil nutrients and crop residues [9,37]. However, CT can also decrease soil water retention, accelerate soil erosion (given that there is minimal crop residue retained on the soil surface), increase the oxidation of organic matter, and deplete N and other nutrients in soils [9].…”

“…Technological progress and changing climatic conditions also cause farmers to constantly seek new (optimal) agrotechnical solutions [5]. One of them is the no-till (NT) system, which combines elements of environmental protection with the improvement of economic and organizational factors on the farm [6][7][8][9], and mitigates negative climate change (less CO 2 and fumes are released into the atmosphere) [6,7,10]. In contrast to NT, many researchers have proved that conventional intensive agricultural practices (primarily, the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as plowing-PL system) in agricultural areas have already led to a significant decline in the quality and biodiversity of these soils [9,[11][12][13].…”

“…One of them is the no-till (NT) system, which combines elements of environmental protection with the improvement of economic and organizational factors on the farm [6][7][8][9], and mitigates negative climate change (less CO 2 and fumes are released into the atmosphere) [6,7,10]. In contrast to NT, many researchers have proved that conventional intensive agricultural practices (primarily, the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as plowing-PL system) in agricultural areas have already led to a significant decline in the quality and biodiversity of these soils [9,[11][12][13]. Indeed, an excess of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in particular causes a reduction in the amount of plant metabolites and a decrease in the biological activity of soils [9,11,[14][15][16].…”

“…In contrast to NT, many researchers have proved that conventional intensive agricultural practices (primarily, the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as plowing-PL system) in agricultural areas have already led to a significant decline in the quality and biodiversity of these soils [9,[11][12][13]. Indeed, an excess of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in particular causes a reduction in the amount of plant metabolites and a decrease in the biological activity of soils [9,11,[14][15][16]. To obtain information about the current biological state of soils and their potential fertility, it is recommended that, e.g., respiration activity (RA) [16,17] and the concentration of humic acid-like substances (HA-like) [18,19] should be measured.…”

“…The pH of agriculturally exploited soils is generally acidic, limiting the uptake of nutrients, which are converted into a form inaccessible to plant roots and microorganisms [4,5,20,21]. This usually results in a decrease in yields [9,14]. Importantly, N fertilization is well known for its impact on soil acidity in the arable layer [10,25,26].…”