Changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen as affected by tillage and residue management under wheat–maize cropping system in the North China Plain

Assessing soil properties and nutrient availability under conservation agriculture practices in a reclaimed sodic soil in cereal-based systems of North-West India

“…Malecka et al (2012) reported highest SOC (10.2 g kg −1 ) and total N (1.12 g kg −1 ) at 0–5 cm soil depth after 7 years of no tillage in Poland. Higher quantity of residue additions (both above as well as below ground) and their slow decomposition due to less soil disturbance might have caused higher OC and total N concentrations in the surface layer under Sc3 and Sc4 (Du et al 2010; Dikgwatlhe et al 2014). The incorporation of crop residues by wet tillage in rice under Sc 2 may have resulted in higher OC and N contents compared to other scenarios in lower depths (15–30 cm soil depth).…”

“…This necessitates for immediate solution through adoption of best management practices for improving soil and environment quality, and maintaining ecosystem services. As an alternative to conventional practices, CA have shown its effectiveness in sustaining and improving productivity of RWCS at the same time preserving scarce natural resources such as energy, labour, time, water and environment quality (Dikgwatlhe et al 2014). Thierfelder and Wall (2009) showed the efficiency of CA systems in slowing down the soil physical, chemical and biological quality degradation while reducing cost of production.…”

Effect of Organic Inputs on Strength and Stability of Soil Aggregates Associated Organic Carbon Concentration under Rice-Wheat Rotation in Indo-Gangetic Plain Zone of India

“…Puget and Drinkwater (2001) in their study with leguminous green manure observed that nearly half of the root derived C was still present in the soil after one growing season in comparison to only 13% of shootderived Singh and Sidhu (2014) found that zero-till sowing of wheat with rice residue as surface mulch, while maintaining yield, reduces tillage costs and time saving, avoids the need for burning. Dikgwatlhe et al, (2014) further argued that the amount of SOC storage depends on the balance between the quantity and quality of SOM inputs outputs which is largely determined by the combined interaction of climate, soil properties and land use management. Verma and Bhagat (1992) have also recorded the maximum soil buildup of organic carbon under the rice straw chopped and incorporated with animal manure, followed by animal manure and straw mulch, while minimum organic carbon under rice straw burnt and rice straw removed.…”

Multi-scale variability of soil carbon and nitrogen in the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin, northwestern China

“…The soil surface remains bare during winter and early spring when strong sand-drifting occurs and fine particles are blown and carried away. Management strategies, such as conservation tillage, crop rotation, residue return and elimination of bare fallow may be efficient to accumulate soil C and TN (Dikgwatlhe et al, 2014;Lou et al, 2012;Lozano-García and Parras-Alcántara, 2013). It has been reported that SR for SOCC was greater under non-tillage or organic farming compared to conventional tillage (Corral-Fernández et al, 2013;Franzluebbers, 2002).…”

“…Anthropogenic activities have been shown to have profound impacts on soil C and TN status in recent decades . As the repository for approximately 60% of the global terrestrial C pool, soil organic matter (SOM) is sensitive to agricultural management such as tillage (Dikgwatlhe et al, 2014;Urioste et al, 2006), fertilization (Su et al, 2006;Yang et al, 2007), land use change (Gami et al, 2009;Post and Kwon, 2000;Wei et al, 2014aWei et al, , 2014b, grazing (Pringle et al, 2014;Silveira et al, 2013) and afforestation and deforestation Zeng et al, 2014). Contradictory results on the impacts of afforestation and land management change on soil C and TN sequestration have been reported Parras-Alcántara et al, 2014;Perez-Quezada et al, 2011;Zeng et al, 2014) due to the dependence on tree types, stand ages, soil properties and depth and previous land uses (Côté et al, 2000;Wei et al, 2012;Zeng et al, 2014).…”