Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau
Tibetan barley (Hordeum vulgare) accounts for over 70% of the total food production in the Tibetan Plateau. However, continuous cropping of Tibetan barley causes soil degradation, reduces soil quality and causes yield decline. Here we explore the benefits of crop rotation with wheat and rape to impr...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2025
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175310 |
| _version_ | 1855530630087966720 |
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| author | Wu, H. Liu, E. Jin, T. Liu, B. Gopalakrishnan, S. Zhou, J. Shao, G. Mei, X. Delaplace, P. De Clerck, C. |
| author_browse | De Clerck, C. Delaplace, P. Gopalakrishnan, S. Jin, T. Liu, B. Liu, E. Mei, X. Shao, G. Wu, H. Zhou, J. |
| author_facet | Wu, H. Liu, E. Jin, T. Liu, B. Gopalakrishnan, S. Zhou, J. Shao, G. Mei, X. Delaplace, P. De Clerck, C. |
| author_sort | Wu, H. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Tibetan barley (Hordeum vulgare) accounts for over 70% of the total food production in the Tibetan Plateau. However, continuous cropping of Tibetan barley causes soil degradation, reduces soil quality and causes yield decline. Here we explore the benefits of crop rotation with wheat and rape to improve crop yield and soil quality. We conducted 39 field experiments on the Tibetan Plateau, comparing short-term (≤5 years), 5–10 years and long-term (≥10 years) continuous cropping with rotation of Tibetan barley with wheat or rape. Results showed that Tibetan barley–wheat and Tibetan barley–rape rotations increased yields by 17% and 12%, respectively, while improving the soil quality index by 11% and 21%, compared with long-term continuous cropping. Both Tibetan barley rotations with wheat and rape improved soil quality and consequently yield, mainly by increasing soil microbial biomass nitrogen and microbial biomass carbon and decreasing pH. By contrast, long-term continuous cropping led to decreased soil organic matter, lower microbial biomass nitrogen and increased pH, contributing to yield decline. The benefits of rotations on crop yield and soil quality increased over time. Implementing crop rotation with wheat or rape thus offers a sustainable agricultural strategy for improving food security on the Tibetan Plateau. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace175310 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1753102025-11-11T10:35:05Z Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau Wu, H. Liu, E. Jin, T. Liu, B. Gopalakrishnan, S. Zhou, J. Shao, G. Mei, X. Delaplace, P. De Clerck, C. crop rotation agronomy barley yields soil quality food security sustainable agriculture Tibetan barley (Hordeum vulgare) accounts for over 70% of the total food production in the Tibetan Plateau. However, continuous cropping of Tibetan barley causes soil degradation, reduces soil quality and causes yield decline. Here we explore the benefits of crop rotation with wheat and rape to improve crop yield and soil quality. We conducted 39 field experiments on the Tibetan Plateau, comparing short-term (≤5 years), 5–10 years and long-term (≥10 years) continuous cropping with rotation of Tibetan barley with wheat or rape. Results showed that Tibetan barley–wheat and Tibetan barley–rape rotations increased yields by 17% and 12%, respectively, while improving the soil quality index by 11% and 21%, compared with long-term continuous cropping. Both Tibetan barley rotations with wheat and rape improved soil quality and consequently yield, mainly by increasing soil microbial biomass nitrogen and microbial biomass carbon and decreasing pH. By contrast, long-term continuous cropping led to decreased soil organic matter, lower microbial biomass nitrogen and increased pH, contributing to yield decline. The benefits of rotations on crop yield and soil quality increased over time. Implementing crop rotation with wheat or rape thus offers a sustainable agricultural strategy for improving food security on the Tibetan Plateau. 2025 2025-06-25T14:35:20Z 2025-06-25T14:35:20Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175310 en Open Access application/pdf Wu, H., Liu, E., Jin, T., Liu, B., Gopalakrishnan, S., Zhou, J., ... & De Clerck, C. (2025). Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau. Nature Food, 6, 1-18. |
| spellingShingle | crop rotation agronomy barley yields soil quality food security sustainable agriculture Wu, H. Liu, E. Jin, T. Liu, B. Gopalakrishnan, S. Zhou, J. Shao, G. Mei, X. Delaplace, P. De Clerck, C. Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title | Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full | Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_fullStr | Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_full_unstemmed | Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_short | Crop rotation increases Tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the Tibetan Plateau |
| title_sort | crop rotation increases tibetan barley yield and soil quality on the tibetan plateau |
| topic | crop rotation agronomy barley yields soil quality food security sustainable agriculture |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/175310 |
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