Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study

The growing global demand for food, fibers and energy has triggered a scientific and political debate on how to attain increasing land productivity without further degrading soils. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of long-term no-till cultivation with light grazing on soil qual...

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Autores principales: Fernandez, Romina, Frasier, Ileana, Noellemeyer, Elke, Quiroga, Alberto Raul
Formato: info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/1988
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352009416300979
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2017.09.002
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author Fernandez, Romina
Frasier, Ileana
Noellemeyer, Elke
Quiroga, Alberto Raul
author_browse Fernandez, Romina
Frasier, Ileana
Noellemeyer, Elke
Quiroga, Alberto Raul
author_facet Fernandez, Romina
Frasier, Ileana
Noellemeyer, Elke
Quiroga, Alberto Raul
author_sort Fernandez, Romina
collection INTA Digital
description The growing global demand for food, fibers and energy has triggered a scientific and political debate on how to attain increasing land productivity without further degrading soils. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of long-term no-till cultivation with light grazing on soil quality, land productivity, and resource use efficiency. The experiment was established in 1993 with two main treatments, no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT), sub-divided into grazed and ungrazed subplots, in a paired strip design with three repetitions. Crops included sunflower, corn, soy and wheat, and stubbles were grazed for at 3 months with young animals. Soil samples were collected in 2015 and determinations included total carbon and its fractions, total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon, soil moisture contents, aggregate size class distribution, volumetric aggregate weight, mean weight diameter change, maximum bulk density, total infiltration, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. Crop production was on average 13% higher in NT than in CT, and grazing had no effect on yields. NT increased organic matter contents by 6% and CT diminished it by 1.7% in the top 0.10 m compared to the original value in 1993, and showed no significant variation at 0.10–0.20 m depth. The labile C fractions and microbial biomass carbon showed a similar trend with highest values in the non-grazed NT topsoil. We found positive relationships between microbial biomass and labile carbon and nitrogen fractions only for the NT soils. All soil physical quality indicators had better values for NT compared to CT soils, and grazing had no effect. The results of this long-term experiment gave evidence that a NT system with light grazing was a feasible land management that increased land productivity in a semiarid environment.
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spelling INTA19882018-06-19T17:56:40Z Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study Fernandez, Romina Frasier, Ileana Noellemeyer, Elke Quiroga, Alberto Raul Suelo Tipos de Suelos Calidad Cero-labranza Pastoreo Productividad Soil Soil Types Quality Zero Tillage Grazing Productivity Molisoles Argentina The growing global demand for food, fibers and energy has triggered a scientific and political debate on how to attain increasing land productivity without further degrading soils. The objective of this study was to quantify the effect of long-term no-till cultivation with light grazing on soil quality, land productivity, and resource use efficiency. The experiment was established in 1993 with two main treatments, no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT), sub-divided into grazed and ungrazed subplots, in a paired strip design with three repetitions. Crops included sunflower, corn, soy and wheat, and stubbles were grazed for at 3 months with young animals. Soil samples were collected in 2015 and determinations included total carbon and its fractions, total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon, soil moisture contents, aggregate size class distribution, volumetric aggregate weight, mean weight diameter change, maximum bulk density, total infiltration, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. Crop production was on average 13% higher in NT than in CT, and grazing had no effect on yields. NT increased organic matter contents by 6% and CT diminished it by 1.7% in the top 0.10 m compared to the original value in 1993, and showed no significant variation at 0.10–0.20 m depth. The labile C fractions and microbial biomass carbon showed a similar trend with highest values in the non-grazed NT topsoil. We found positive relationships between microbial biomass and labile carbon and nitrogen fractions only for the NT soils. All soil physical quality indicators had better values for NT compared to CT soils, and grazing had no effect. The results of this long-term experiment gave evidence that a NT system with light grazing was a feasible land management that increased land productivity in a semiarid environment. EEA Anguil Fil: Fernandez, Romina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Anguil; Argentina Fil: Frasier, Ileana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Anguil; Argentina Fil: Noellemeyer, Elke. Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina Fil: Quiroga, Alberto Raul. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Anguil; Argentina.Universidad Nacional de La Pampa. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina 2018-03-08T11:25:41Z 2018-03-08T11:25:41Z 2017-12 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/1988 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352009416300979 2352-0094 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2017.09.002 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf Argentina (nation) Geoderma Regional 11 : 44-52. ( December 2017)
spellingShingle Suelo
Tipos de Suelos
Calidad
Cero-labranza
Pastoreo
Productividad
Soil
Soil Types
Quality
Zero Tillage
Grazing
Productivity
Molisoles
Argentina
Fernandez, Romina
Frasier, Ileana
Noellemeyer, Elke
Quiroga, Alberto Raul
Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study
title Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study
title_full Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study
title_fullStr Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study
title_full_unstemmed Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study
title_short Soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on Mollisols in Argentina – A long-term study
title_sort soil quality and productivity under zero tillage and grazing on mollisols in argentina a long term study
topic Suelo
Tipos de Suelos
Calidad
Cero-labranza
Pastoreo
Productividad
Soil
Soil Types
Quality
Zero Tillage
Grazing
Productivity
Molisoles
Argentina
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/1988
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352009416300979
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2017.09.002
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AT frasierileana soilqualityandproductivityunderzerotillageandgrazingonmollisolsinargentinaalongtermstudy
AT noellemeyerelke soilqualityandproductivityunderzerotillageandgrazingonmollisolsinargentinaalongtermstudy
AT quirogaalbertoraul soilqualityandproductivityunderzerotillageandgrazingonmollisolsinargentinaalongtermstudy