Alternative Management Practices Improve Soil Health Indices in Intensive Vegetable Cropping Systems: A Review

Norris, Charlotte E.; Congreves, Katelyn A.

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2018.00050

Cited by 104 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Ketcheson (1980) concluded that the most serious long-term effect of intensive cultivation and monoculture on soil quality was deterioration in soil organic matter. Interestingly, productivity of the land has been responded significantly even to the small quantity of organic manure used ( Figure. 2e) as also observed by Norris and Congreves (2018) in vegetable cropping systems of Canada. Therefore, it seems that there is an urgent need to encourage farmers in M to apply more organic matter into their cropping fields and also to make organic amendments available at a lower cost in order to increase land productivity and arrest further soil degradation.…”

Section: Land Productivity In Relation To Fertilizer and Amendment Usagesupporting

confidence: 73%

Fertilizer usage and land productivity in intensively cultivated vegetable farming systems in Sri Lanka: an analysis based on a questionnaire survey

Upekshani

Dharmakeerthi

Weerasinghe³

et al. 2018

Trop. Agric. Res.

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Vegetable cultivation in Sri Lanka is an intensive and highly commercialized system. Since, vegetables are heavy nutrient feeders that produce high biomass within a short period, management of fertilizers and amendments are critical for sustainable production. The objective of this study was to assess the fertilizer and amendment usage by intensively vegetable cultivating farmers in Sri Lanka and identify the relationship between farmer practices and their productivity using a questionnaire survey. Study was conducted with randomly selected 100 farmers each from Nuwara Eliya (NE) and Marassana (M) regions. Data were obtained on relative use of inorganic fertilizers, organic amendments and liming materials, with respect to the current recommendations. The vegetable cultivating systems of the two regions were identified as vegetable-potato-vegetable and vegetablepaddy-vegetable for NE and M, respectively. The productivity of crops cultivated in NE was higher than that of M. While about 25% and 67% of farmers in NE and M, respectively, used synthetic fertilizers more than the recommended level, about 66% (NE) to 99% (M) farmers used less than 50% of the recommended organic manure quantities for their vegetable crops. We attributed these differences to other crops included in the rotation, availability and high cost of organic fertilizers, and the value of crops, in addition to the cash subsidy given for synthetic fertilizers. Productivity of fields in M, where moisture stresses are more common, appeared not related to the relative quantity of fertilizer or amendments used. However, the productivity was maximized around 70-90% of recommended level of fertilizers among farmers in NE. We concluded that site-specific fertilizer best management practices need to be introduced to intensively cultivating farmers in Sri Lanka, in order to increase and sustain productivity.

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Section: Land Productivity In Relation To Fertilizer and Amendment Usagesupporting

confidence: 73%

Fertilizer usage and land productivity in intensively cultivated vegetable farming systems in Sri Lanka: an analysis based on a questionnaire survey

Upekshani

Dharmakeerthi

Weerasinghe³

et al. 2018

Trop. Agric. Res.

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“…A meta-analysis conducted by Norris and Congreves 55 also reported greater vegetable crop yields and profit margins 18 with CCs than a control. The mechanism involved in obtaining greater crop yield with CCs than control is not clearly understood but might be attributed to increase in soil fertility and soil quality 17,23,55 or a decrease in weed pressure 19 . Moreover, the impacts of CCs on profit margins varied considerably between grain and oilseed crops and processing vegetable crops, as CC significantly reduced profit margins for grain and oilseed crops and significantly increased profit margins for vegetable crops.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative impact of cover crops on soil carbon sequestration and profitability in a temperate humid climate

Chahal

Vyn

Mayers

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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planting and termination, CC species, and cropping system, duration of the experiment), quantity and quality of CC residues, and the climatic conditions 15. Therefore, assessment of SOC storage in response to CC treatments is needed for various production systems. Cover crop research has evaluated CC effects on soil quality 13-14,16-17 and crop production 16,18-22. Long-term studies are needed to assess the potential of CCs to sequester C 4,23-25 and have primarily focused on evaluating the amount of soil C sequestered with CCs than control 26-28 rather than the change in SOC stock 29. Consistent with aforementioned long-term studies, we evaluated the differences in surface SOC storage with and without CCs in our experiment. Soil organic C represents a stable pool of soil C, which is rarely impacted by the seasonal variation due to climatic conditions 30. It takes several years (≥ 6-years) to detect changes in SOC stocks due to CCs 23,29 and therefore, long-term studies are needed to provide a quantitative evidence about CC effects on SOC storage. The results from the long-term trials assist growers in making improved decisions about selecting appropriate CCs for enhancing agroecosystem services, primary productivity and profit margins. Evidence in the literature regarding the impacts of CCs on crop yields is inconclusive, as there is considerable variability in results across studies. For example, while some studies have found that CCs positively affect subsequent crop yields 31,32 , other studies have found no significant effect 33,34 or even decreased yields 35,36. There is even less evidence regarding impacts of CCs on profit margins. For example, Schomberg et al. 37 reported that returns for cotton in the southern USA were higher with winter CCs, while Flower et al. 38 observed lower profit margins with CCs in a cereal rotation in Australia. Due to the lack of studies discussing CC impacts on profit margins, two recent studies have highlighted the need for additional research on the long-term economic returns from CCs 23,39. The objectives of this study were to (i) evaluate the cumulative effects of CC on soil C sequestration, primary productivity, and profit margins, and (ii) determine if current and projected C prices may be an effective strategy for incentivising the quantity of soil C sequestered by CCs. To meet these objectives, a long-term CC experiment located at Ridgetown, Ontario Canada, established in 2007 and repeated at an adjacent site in 2008 was utilized 13-14,18-20,40. Previously in this experiment, CC treatment effects on N fertility, crop productivity, and soil quality have indicated enhancements with CCs compared to the no cover crop control (no-CC) 13-14,18-20,40. The Ridgetown experiment is one of the very few longest running CC trials making direct comparisons among CCs in North America. This provides a unique opportunity to advance our understanding of the CC-induced effects on soil C storage across different CC treatments. In addition, by evaluating the economics of CCing combined wit...

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“…Moreover, Auerbach reminds us that similar results have been reached in Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. In the same vein, the review by (Norris & Congreves, 2018) about intensive vegetable cropping systems under organic or conservative management, demonstrates that soil fertility can be restored. It is then suggested that securing food availability likely involves a combination of several different farming systems linked with compatible distribution systems (Macombe-b, this issue) for each one to balance the weaknesses of others.…”

Section: Agricultural Solutions For Food Securitymentioning

confidence: 96%

Guest Editorial Future food availability is not only an agricultural topic, but also a society issue

Macombe¹,

Auerbach²,

Raggi³

et al. 2019

Economia Agro-Alimentare

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HAL is a multidisciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés.

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Alternative Management Practices Improve Soil Health Indices in Intensive Vegetable Cropping Systems: A Review

Cited by 104 publications

References 81 publications

Fertilizer usage and land productivity in intensively cultivated vegetable farming systems in Sri Lanka: an analysis based on a questionnaire survey

Fertilizer usage and land productivity in intensively cultivated vegetable farming systems in Sri Lanka: an analysis based on a questionnaire survey

Cumulative impact of cover crops on soil carbon sequestration and profitability in a temperate humid climate

Guest Editorial Future food availability is not only an agricultural topic, but also a society issue

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