On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields
Soybean monoculture is widespread across recently deforested areas in South America, leading to a decline in soil organic matter (SOM) and compromising the sustainability of the cropping system. Introducing cereals like maize into the crop rotation is necessary, but proper management knowledge to ma...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22118 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S116103012500108X https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2025.127612 |
| _version_ | 1855038519558275072 |
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| author | Madias, Andrés Simon, Carlos Gabriel Stahringer, Nicolás I. Borrás, Lucas Rubio, Gerardo Gambin, Brenda L. |
| author_browse | Borrás, Lucas Gambin, Brenda L. Madias, Andrés Rubio, Gerardo Simon, Carlos Gabriel Stahringer, Nicolás I. |
| author_facet | Madias, Andrés Simon, Carlos Gabriel Stahringer, Nicolás I. Borrás, Lucas Rubio, Gerardo Gambin, Brenda L. |
| author_sort | Madias, Andrés |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | Soybean monoculture is widespread across recently deforested areas in South America, leading to a decline in soil organic matter (SOM) and compromising the sustainability of the cropping system. Introducing cereals like maize into the crop rotation is necessary, but proper management knowledge to maximize its yield and profitability is needed. Our objectives were to quantify the impact of management and environmental variables influencing maize yield and estimate the potential to increase attainable yields in recently deforested fields of South American Gran Chaco. The analysis included a total of 62 on-farm trials across multiple environments, each including 9–28 hybrids. The mean site yields ranged from 2235 to 11141 kg ha−1. Using linear mixed models, we identified and tested a model with key management and environmental variables explaining yield variation. We used this model to estimate attainable yields across the region. Nitrogen availability, sowing date, and hybrid type (temperate or sub-tropical) were the most important management variables to predict yield (relative importance ≥ 0.80). Soil organic matter and soil water availability at sowing were the most important environmental yield predictors (relative importance of 0.71 and 0.66, respectively). The best model, tested against an independent dataset (n = 34 trials; RMSE=1722 kg ha−1; RRMSE=21 %) confirmed the influence of defined predictors. Our findings demonstrate that simple management adjustments can boost yields by ∼20 % (∼1500 kg ha−1). In this recently deforested region, the decline in SOM and its negative impact on yields highlight the importance of crop management strategies and policies aimed at improving current cropping systems. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA22118 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA221182025-04-30T12:05:07Z On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields Madias, Andrés Simon, Carlos Gabriel Stahringer, Nicolás I. Borrás, Lucas Rubio, Gerardo Gambin, Brenda L. Maíz Rendimiento Manejo del Cultivo Materia Orgánica del Suelo Nitrógeno Fecha de Siembra Maize Yields Crop Management Soil Organic Matter Nitrogen Sowing Date Región Chaqueña, Argentina Soybean monoculture is widespread across recently deforested areas in South America, leading to a decline in soil organic matter (SOM) and compromising the sustainability of the cropping system. Introducing cereals like maize into the crop rotation is necessary, but proper management knowledge to maximize its yield and profitability is needed. Our objectives were to quantify the impact of management and environmental variables influencing maize yield and estimate the potential to increase attainable yields in recently deforested fields of South American Gran Chaco. The analysis included a total of 62 on-farm trials across multiple environments, each including 9–28 hybrids. The mean site yields ranged from 2235 to 11141 kg ha−1. Using linear mixed models, we identified and tested a model with key management and environmental variables explaining yield variation. We used this model to estimate attainable yields across the region. Nitrogen availability, sowing date, and hybrid type (temperate or sub-tropical) were the most important management variables to predict yield (relative importance ≥ 0.80). Soil organic matter and soil water availability at sowing were the most important environmental yield predictors (relative importance of 0.71 and 0.66, respectively). The best model, tested against an independent dataset (n = 34 trials; RMSE=1722 kg ha−1; RRMSE=21 %) confirmed the influence of defined predictors. Our findings demonstrate that simple management adjustments can boost yields by ∼20 % (∼1500 kg ha−1). In this recently deforested region, the decline in SOM and its negative impact on yields highlight the importance of crop management strategies and policies aimed at improving current cropping systems. EEA Las Breñas Fil: Madias, Andres. AAPRESID; Argentina Fil: Madias, Andres. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Campo Experimental Villarino; Argentina Fil: Simon, Carlos Gabriel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Las Breñas. Agencia de Extensión Rural General Pinedo; Argentina Fil: Stahfinger, Nicolás I. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina Fil: Borrás, Lucas. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Campo Experimental Villarino; Argentina Fil: Rubio, Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. INBA; Argentina Fil: Rubio, Gerardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. INBA; Argentina Fil: Rubio, Gerardo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Fertilidad y Fertilizantes; Argentina Fil: Gambin, Brenda L. Iowa State University. Agronomy Department; Estados Unidos 2025-04-30T11:53:49Z 2025-04-30T11:53:49Z 2025-07 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22118 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S116103012500108X 1161-0301 1873-7331 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2025.127612 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Elsevier European Journal of Agronomy 168 : 127612. (July 2025) |
| spellingShingle | Maíz Rendimiento Manejo del Cultivo Materia Orgánica del Suelo Nitrógeno Fecha de Siembra Maize Yields Crop Management Soil Organic Matter Nitrogen Sowing Date Región Chaqueña, Argentina Madias, Andrés Simon, Carlos Gabriel Stahringer, Nicolás I. Borrás, Lucas Rubio, Gerardo Gambin, Brenda L. On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields |
| title | On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields |
| title_full | On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields |
| title_fullStr | On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields |
| title_full_unstemmed | On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields |
| title_short | On-farm insights in the South American Gran Chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields |
| title_sort | on farm insights in the south american gran chaco reveal the importance of soil organic matter and crop management decisions for boosting maize yields |
| topic | Maíz Rendimiento Manejo del Cultivo Materia Orgánica del Suelo Nitrógeno Fecha de Siembra Maize Yields Crop Management Soil Organic Matter Nitrogen Sowing Date Región Chaqueña, Argentina |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/22118 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S116103012500108X https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2025.127612 |
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