Biochar and leguminous cover crops as an alternative to summer fallowing for soil organic carbon and nutrient management in the wheat-maize-wheat cropping system under semiarid climate

Arif, Muhammad; Ikramullah, Ikramullah; Jan, Talha; Riaz, Muhammad; Akhtar, Kashif; Ali, Shahid; Shah, Shahen; Jalal, Fazal; Mian, Ishaq Ahmad; Dawar, Khadim; Wang, Haiyan

doi:10.1007/s11368-020-02866-y

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 72 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Fourteen studies (i.e., 38%) did not have a bare soil as reference treatment. For example, Arif et al (2021), Campbell et al (1991), Kuo et al (1997) or Sainju et al (2006) used grassy fallows as reference treatments instead of a bare soil. Amado et al (2006) compared cover cropping included in a no-till system to bare soil within a tilled system, which allowed to compare two systems but not specifically the impact of cover crops.…”

Section: E S Timating the Impac T Of L And Manag Ement On Soil C Arbo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cover crops do not increase soil organic carbon stocks as much as has been claimed: What is the way forward?

Chaplot,

Smith

2023

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

When compared to virgin land (forest and grassland), croplands store significantly lower amounts of organic carbon (OC), mainly as a result of soil tillage, and decreased plant inputs to the soil over the whole year. Doubts have been expressed over how much reduced and zero tillage agriculture can increase OC in soils when the whole soil profile is considered. Consequently, cover‐crops that are grown in‐between crops instead of leaving soils bare appear as the “last man standing” in our quest to enhance cropland OC stocks. Despite the claim by numerous meta‐analyses of a mean carbon sequestration rate by cover crops to be as high as 0.32 ± 0.08 ton C ha−1 year−1, the present analysis showed that all of the 37 existing field studies worldwide only sampled to a depth of 30 cm or less and did not compare treatments on the basis of equivalent soil mass. Thirteen studies presented information on OC content only and not on OC stocks, had inappropriate controls (n = 14), had durations of 3 years or lower (n = 5), considered only one to two data points per treatment (n = 4), or used cover crops as cash crops (i.e., grown longer that in‐between two crops) instead of catch crops (n = 2), which in all cases constitutes shortcomings. Of the remaining six trials, four showed non‐significant trends, one study displayed a negative impact of cover crops, and one study displayed a positive impact, resulting in a mean OC storage of 0.03 ton ha−1 year−1. Models and policies should urgently adapt to such new figure. Finally, more is to be done not only to improve the design of cover‐crop studies for reaching sound conclusions but also to understand the underlying reasons of the low efficiency of cover crops for improved carbon sequestration into soils, with possible strategies being suggested.

show abstract

Section: E S Timating the Impac T Of L And Manag Ement On Soil C Arbo...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cover crops do not increase soil organic carbon stocks as much as has been claimed: What is the way forward?

Chaplot,

Smith

2023

Global Change Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…At a significance level of 1%, seed mulching and intensive farming have higher technical efficiency than conservation tillage, and seed-covering farming modes have higher technical efficiency. Covering seeds can replace fallow in summer, protect soil organic carbon, and have beneficial effects on maintaining soil fertility and improving soil quality, thereby effectively disposing biological waste [ 57 ]. Conservation tillage integrated mulch technology can effectively coordinate crop yield, water consumption, and reducing carbon emissions, which can increase the water use efficiency of corn and improve corn production efficiency [ 58 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research on corn production efficiency and influencing factors of typical farms: Based on data from 12 corn-producing countries from 2012 to 2019

Wang

2021

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Globally, corn is characterised by high production and high export concentrations, yet the world is experiencing an unprecedented, huge change in this regard. Ensuring the global supply of corn, and thereby the energy and food security of nations has become particularly important. To understand the importance of corn production as an influencing mechanism of global food supplies, the present study researched the corn production of typical farms in major corn-producing and importing countries around the world. I selected the corn input and output data of 18 typical farms in 12 countries from 2012 to 2019, used the data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to calculate the technical efficiency of corn production, and built a tobit model to explore the impact of farming methods, input elements, supporting services, and other factors on efficiency. The study established that the average comprehensive technical efficiency of corn production on a typical farm was 0.863, and the average loss was 13.7%. In addition, it concluded that intensive tillage and conservation tillage have high technical efficiency. It also demonstrated that the proportion of mechanical labour and technical efficiency is in a ‘U’-shaped relationship, among others.

show abstract

“…For example, as shown in Figure 4, the level of SOC stock increases with time under CCs. Cover crop functional groups did not generally affect SOC accumulation, although CC mixes tended to increase SOC accumulation more than grasses and legumes, but note that there were (1997), Goyal et al (1999), Allen et al (2011), Blanco et al (2013), Weismeier et al (2015, and Arif et al (2021) only two comparisons for CC mixes (Figure 3). The largest SOC accumulation under mix and grass CCs appears to agree with the trend in CC biomass production in Figure 1 where mix and grass CCs tended to produce more biomass than other functional groups.…”

Section: Soil C Accumulationmentioning

confidence: 87%

Can cover crops improve soil ecosystem services in water‐limited environments? A review

Blanco‐Canqui

Ruis

Holman

et al. 2021

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cover crops (CCs) are considered to deliver multiple soil ecosystem services, but such potential could vary by climatic region. This leads to the question: can CCs improve soil ecosystem services in low precipitation regions? To answer this, we reviewed published data up to 27 July 2021 regarding CC impacts on CC biomass production, soil organic C (SOC) accumulation, water and wind erosion, soil water, nitrate leaching potential, soil microbial biomass, weed management, crop yields, and livestock production (i.e., CCs as forage) across regions with <500 mm precipitation. Literature indicates that CCs produce 2.37 ± 2.30 Mg ha −1 of aboveground biomass, but belowground biomass data are unavailable. Cover crops increased soil wet aggregate stability (63% of CC vs. no CC comparisons), suggesting reduced water erosion potential with CCs. Also, CCs reduced nitrate leaching potential (74% of comparisons) and soil water (50%), increased soil microbial biomass (73%), and did not affect dry aggregate stability (67%) and crop yields (56%). Cover crops accumulated SOC in 59% of comparisons. Averaged across all comparisons, CCs accumulated 0.43 Mg SOC ha −1 yr −1 in the upper 30-cm depth. This SOC accumulation rate is within the range of SOC accumulation across all regions in previous reviews. Cover crops can reduce weed biomass by 89%. Also, when hayed or grazed, CCs could provide net economic returns without negating soil benefits. Overall, CCs improve most soil ecosystem services without many detrimental effects on crop yields in waterlimited environments, although more long-term (>10 yr) data are needed for definitive conclusions. INTRODUCTIONCover crops (CCs) are considered a reemerging strategy to enhance ecosystem services from agricultural lands (

show abstract

Biochar and leguminous cover crops as an alternative to summer fallowing for soil organic carbon and nutrient management in the wheat-maize-wheat cropping system under semiarid climate

Cited by 12 publications

References 72 publications

Cover crops do not increase soil organic carbon stocks as much as has been claimed: What is the way forward?

Cover crops do not increase soil organic carbon stocks as much as has been claimed: What is the way forward?

Research on corn production efficiency and influencing factors of typical farms: Based on data from 12 corn-producing countries from 2012 to 2019

Can cover crops improve soil ecosystem services in water‐limited environments? A review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About