Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands
The inter-rows in woody crop plantations such as citrus orchards are usually not more than alleyways for agricultural operations thus leading to soil health decline spinning around the compaction and soil organic carbon (SOC) loss. In the present scenario of global warming, the soil on the inter-row...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | article |
| Publicado: |
Elsevier
2024
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8841 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1161030124000364 |
| _version_ | 1855032864238731264 |
|---|---|
| author | Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Pesce, Simone Balugani, Enrico Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. |
| author_browse | Baixauli, Carlos Balugani, Enrico De-Paz, José M. Peiró, Enrique Pesce, Simone Visconti, Fernando |
| author_facet | Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Pesce, Simone Balugani, Enrico Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. |
| author_sort | Visconti, Fernando |
| collection | ReDivia |
| description | The inter-rows in woody crop plantations such as citrus orchards are usually not more than alleyways for agricultural operations thus leading to soil health decline spinning around the compaction and soil organic carbon (SOC) loss. In the present scenario of global warming, the soil on the inter-rows of citrus orchards should be recovered for organic carbon trapping with benefits for climate change mitigation and for adaptation through soil health enhancement. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of a conservation agriculture soil management, specifically, no-till rice straw mulching, on soil health parameters, including SOC, in the inter-rows of two citrus plantations jointly fairly representative of the semi-arid hot-summer Mediterranean climate on flat lands. Temperature, water content, saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density (ρb), root abundance, dehydrogenase (DHA) and β-D-glucosidase (GLA) activities, CO2 emission, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and organic carbon in the topsoil layer (0 – 20 cm) were studied for almost three years. The rice straw mulching increased the surface albedo by between 0.015 and 0.115, thus reducing mean temperature in the inter-row topsoil by between 0.5 and 1.2 ºC regarding bare soil. The more moderate temperature under the straw mulch fostered a 4-fold higher crop root growth and the subsequent soil macrofauna development, as revealed by the significantly higher DHA and, overall GLA, as well as CO2 emission. Under the straw mulch, the macroporosity rose as revealed by the hydraulic conductivity between twice and 14 times higher. Ultimately the SOC mass fraction increased 10% more under straw than in the bare soil. Therefore, rice straw mulching enhances soil health in citrus orchards of Mediterranean flat lands. However, in remarkably compacted soils, i.e., with ρb over 1.6 g cm-3, the beneficial effects of straw mulching on soil health are still limited after three years of treatment. With such high initial compaction, the search of a kick-off effect by means of adding organic fertilizers and/or amendments alongside a surface tillage operation, might be recommended. |
| format | article |
| id | ReDivia8841 |
| institution | Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA) |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ReDivia88412025-04-25T14:49:32Z Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Pesce, Simone Balugani, Enrico Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. Citrus orchards P30 Soil science and management Q70 Processing of agricultural wastes P34 Soil biology Mulching Straw mulches Soil management Soil temperature Soil porosity Rice straw The inter-rows in woody crop plantations such as citrus orchards are usually not more than alleyways for agricultural operations thus leading to soil health decline spinning around the compaction and soil organic carbon (SOC) loss. In the present scenario of global warming, the soil on the inter-rows of citrus orchards should be recovered for organic carbon trapping with benefits for climate change mitigation and for adaptation through soil health enhancement. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of a conservation agriculture soil management, specifically, no-till rice straw mulching, on soil health parameters, including SOC, in the inter-rows of two citrus plantations jointly fairly representative of the semi-arid hot-summer Mediterranean climate on flat lands. Temperature, water content, saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density (ρb), root abundance, dehydrogenase (DHA) and β-D-glucosidase (GLA) activities, CO2 emission, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and organic carbon in the topsoil layer (0 – 20 cm) were studied for almost three years. The rice straw mulching increased the surface albedo by between 0.015 and 0.115, thus reducing mean temperature in the inter-row topsoil by between 0.5 and 1.2 ºC regarding bare soil. The more moderate temperature under the straw mulch fostered a 4-fold higher crop root growth and the subsequent soil macrofauna development, as revealed by the significantly higher DHA and, overall GLA, as well as CO2 emission. Under the straw mulch, the macroporosity rose as revealed by the hydraulic conductivity between twice and 14 times higher. Ultimately the SOC mass fraction increased 10% more under straw than in the bare soil. Therefore, rice straw mulching enhances soil health in citrus orchards of Mediterranean flat lands. However, in remarkably compacted soils, i.e., with ρb over 1.6 g cm-3, the beneficial effects of straw mulching on soil health are still limited after three years of treatment. With such high initial compaction, the search of a kick-off effect by means of adding organic fertilizers and/or amendments alongside a surface tillage operation, might be recommended. 2024-04-23T06:27:43Z 2024-04-23T06:27:43Z 2024 article draft Visconti, F., Peiró, E., Pesce, S., Balugani, E., Baixauli, C. & de-Paz, J. M. (2024). Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands. European Journal of Agronomy, 155, 127115. 1161-0301 (Print ISSN) 1873-7331 (Online ISSN) https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8841 10.1016/j.eja.2024.127115 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1161030124000364 This work has received financial support in the framework of projects “Evaluación de la fertilidad, secuestro de CO2 y control biológico por la implantación de cubiertas temporales y mulching de paja de arroz en los suelos citrícolas de la Comunidad Valenciana (COVER-CO2)” financed by the European Rural Development Fund (EAFRD) through grant AG_COOP_A/2018/036. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ openAccess Elsevier |
| spellingShingle | Citrus orchards P30 Soil science and management Q70 Processing of agricultural wastes P34 Soil biology Mulching Straw mulches Soil management Soil temperature Soil porosity Rice straw Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Pesce, Simone Balugani, Enrico Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands |
| title | Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands |
| title_full | Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands |
| title_fullStr | Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands |
| title_full_unstemmed | Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands |
| title_short | Straw mulching increases soil health in the inter-row of citrus orchards from Mediterranean flat lands |
| title_sort | straw mulching increases soil health in the inter row of citrus orchards from mediterranean flat lands |
| topic | Citrus orchards P30 Soil science and management Q70 Processing of agricultural wastes P34 Soil biology Mulching Straw mulches Soil management Soil temperature Soil porosity Rice straw |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8841 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1161030124000364 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT viscontifernando strawmulchingincreasessoilhealthintheinterrowofcitrusorchardsfrommediterraneanflatlands AT peiroenrique strawmulchingincreasessoilhealthintheinterrowofcitrusorchardsfrommediterraneanflatlands AT pescesimone strawmulchingincreasessoilhealthintheinterrowofcitrusorchardsfrommediterraneanflatlands AT baluganienrico strawmulchingincreasessoilhealthintheinterrowofcitrusorchardsfrommediterraneanflatlands AT baixaulicarlos strawmulchingincreasessoilhealthintheinterrowofcitrusorchardsfrommediterraneanflatlands AT depazjosem strawmulchingincreasessoilhealthintheinterrowofcitrusorchardsfrommediterraneanflatlands |