A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response

Food security involves the sustainable utilization of soil and land resources. Zero‐tillage (ZT) practice is a proponent of better resource utilization, to improve soil physical condition, and a potential sink to atmospheric carbon. However, the impact varies across climates, over the ZT history, cr...

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Main Authors: Mondal, Surajit, Chakraborty, Debashis, Bandyopadhyay, Kalikinkar, Aggarwal, Pramila, Rana, Dharamvir Singh
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111147
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author Mondal, Surajit
Chakraborty, Debashis
Bandyopadhyay, Kalikinkar
Aggarwal, Pramila
Rana, Dharamvir Singh
author_browse Aggarwal, Pramila
Bandyopadhyay, Kalikinkar
Chakraborty, Debashis
Mondal, Surajit
Rana, Dharamvir Singh
author_facet Mondal, Surajit
Chakraborty, Debashis
Bandyopadhyay, Kalikinkar
Aggarwal, Pramila
Rana, Dharamvir Singh
author_sort Mondal, Surajit
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Food security involves the sustainable utilization of soil and land resources. Zero‐tillage (ZT) practice is a proponent of better resource utilization, to improve soil physical condition, and a potential sink to atmospheric carbon. However, the impact varies across climates, over the ZT history, cropping systems, and soil depths. A meta‐analysis was performed, based on 4,131 paired data from 522 studies spread globally, to evaluate the effect of ZT in comparison to conventional tillage, on soil physical condition (bulk density; mean weight diameter of aggregates; field capacity water content; and steady‐state infiltration rate), soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and the root response (root length density). Zero‐tillage significantly improved mean weight diameter of aggregates and field capacity water content at surface and subsurface layers by 19–58% and 6–16%, respectively, and resulted in no change in bulk density in either of the layers, but infiltration rate increased by 66%. Surface 0‐ to 5‐ and 5‐ to 10‐cm layers had significantly higher SOC content under ZT, whereas in other layers, the SOC content either reduced or did not change, resulting in a small and insignificant variation in the SOC stock (~1.1%) in favor of ZT. The root length density improved by ~35% in ZT only at 0‐ to 5‐cm soil depth. Effect of climate, soil type, or cropping system could not be broadly recognized, but the impact of ZT certainly increased over time. Improvements in soil aggregation and hydraulic properties are highly convincing with the adoption of ZT, and therefore, this practice leads to the better and sustainable use of soil resources.
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spelling CGSpace1111472025-08-15T13:21:14Z A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response Mondal, Surajit Chakraborty, Debashis Bandyopadhyay, Kalikinkar Aggarwal, Pramila Rana, Dharamvir Singh climate change agriculture food security carbon development Food security involves the sustainable utilization of soil and land resources. Zero‐tillage (ZT) practice is a proponent of better resource utilization, to improve soil physical condition, and a potential sink to atmospheric carbon. However, the impact varies across climates, over the ZT history, cropping systems, and soil depths. A meta‐analysis was performed, based on 4,131 paired data from 522 studies spread globally, to evaluate the effect of ZT in comparison to conventional tillage, on soil physical condition (bulk density; mean weight diameter of aggregates; field capacity water content; and steady‐state infiltration rate), soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and the root response (root length density). Zero‐tillage significantly improved mean weight diameter of aggregates and field capacity water content at surface and subsurface layers by 19–58% and 6–16%, respectively, and resulted in no change in bulk density in either of the layers, but infiltration rate increased by 66%. Surface 0‐ to 5‐ and 5‐ to 10‐cm layers had significantly higher SOC content under ZT, whereas in other layers, the SOC content either reduced or did not change, resulting in a small and insignificant variation in the SOC stock (~1.1%) in favor of ZT. The root length density improved by ~35% in ZT only at 0‐ to 5‐cm soil depth. Effect of climate, soil type, or cropping system could not be broadly recognized, but the impact of ZT certainly increased over time. Improvements in soil aggregation and hydraulic properties are highly convincing with the adoption of ZT, and therefore, this practice leads to the better and sustainable use of soil resources. 2020-03 2021-02-04T13:31:54Z 2021-02-04T13:31:54Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111147 en Limited Access Wiley Mondal S, Chakraborty D, Bandyopadhyay K, Aggarwal P, Rana DS. 2020. A global analysis of the impact of zero-tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response. Land Degradation & Development 31(5):557-567.
spellingShingle climate change
agriculture
food security
carbon
development
Mondal, Surajit
Chakraborty, Debashis
Bandyopadhyay, Kalikinkar
Aggarwal, Pramila
Rana, Dharamvir Singh
A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response
title A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response
title_full A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response
title_fullStr A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response
title_full_unstemmed A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response
title_short A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response
title_sort global analysis of the impact of zero tillage on soil physical condition organic carbon content and plant root response
topic climate change
agriculture
food security
carbon
development
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111147
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