Cover cropping and no-tillage improve soil health in an arid irrigated cropping system in California’s San Joaquin Valley, USA

Mitchell, Jeffrey P.; Shrestha, Anil; Mathesius, Konrad; Scow, Kate M.; Southard, R. J.; Haney, Richard L.; Schmidt, Radomir; Munk, D. S.; Horwáth, William R.

doi:10.1016/j.still.2016.09.001

Cited by 163 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…This is in accordance with many studies which have demonstrated the beneficial effects of cover crop on soil fertility and quality (e.g. Abdollahi and Munkholm, 2014;Mazzoncini et al, 2011;Mitchell et al, 2017;Sainju et al, 2002;Sapkota et al, 2012). The average annual soil organic C stock change observed in our simulations (from 0.02 to 0.28 t/ha) was similar to what has been reported by Poeplau and Don (2015) based on an extensive meta-analysis of cover crop field experiments.…”

Section: Consequences For Soil Fertilitysupporting

confidence: 92%

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Büchi

Wendling

Amossé

et al. 2018

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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A B S T R A C TReduction of soil tillage is of paramount importance for agricultural soil preservation. However, it is often accompanied by yield reduction and weed management problems. In this perspective, cover crops could play an important role to alleviate weed infestation and sustain yield. In this study, the results from a three-year experiment of cover crop cultivation in different soil tillage treatments is presented, together with results from DayCent simulations on the long term evolution of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen. Eight cover crop treatments were set up as subtreatments in a long term experiment in Switzerland. Cover crops were cultivated for a short two-month period between two winter wheats. Substantial differences in cover crop growth were observed depending on cover crop species. In all tillage treatments, high cover crop biomass production allowed to supress weed biomass compared to the no cover crop control. Wheat grain yield was higher in the minimum tillage than in the plough treatment. In the no till treatment, wheat yield was notably low, except in the field pea treatments, where wheat yield reached values similar to that observed in the plough and minimum tillage treatments. In addition, these differences in biomass production translated into important differences in nutrient inputs, and even in soil nutrient concentration in some cases. Long term simulations showed that cover crop cultivation could increase drastically soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, especially in reduced tillage treatments. Altogether, these results demonstrated that the presence of a well-developed cover crop, even for only two months, allows to sustain wheat yield in a no till treatment. It impacts also soil fertility and nutrient cycling. This study shows that an accurate use and management of cover crops, in interaction with tillage reduction, could maintain yield and improve soil fertility in the long term.

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Section: Consequences For Soil Fertilitysupporting

confidence: 92%

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Büchi

Wendling

Amossé

et al. 2018

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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“…Comparisons between long‐term tillage studies utilizing the SHC are problematic because a previous version of the equation (Haney, 2015) was used in work published by Mitchell et al (2017) and Roper et al (2017), while an updated, authoritative SHC has recently become available (Haney et al, 2018). Previously a score above 7 was considered “good” (Haney, 2015), though the current recommendation is to focus on tracking the progress of individual soils over time because efficient crop production can be achieved even on soils with low SHC (Haney et al, 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a California study, the Haney and Solvita indicators were able to differentiate among 15‐yr tillage and cover crop treatments (Mitchell et al, 2017). A long‐term field study in Michigan determined C mineralization (as estimated by Solvita 24‐h CO 2 evolution) was influenced more by crop rotation than by management system, and was more highly correlated with grain yields than were other measures of labile C and N (Culman et al, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Comparing Biological and Conventional Chemical Soil Tests in Long‐Term Tillage, Rotation, N Rate Field Study

Bavougian

Shapiro

Stewart

et al. 2019

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

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Haney N and P tests were correlated with conventional soil NO3–N and Mehlich III P. Corn and soybean yields were generally not correlated with soil health indicators. Haney and conventional soil test methods had similar laboratory precision as determined by sensitivity ratio analysis. Haney Soil Health Tests generated additional information, particularly about organic C and N fractions, that is not available from conventional chemical soil tests. The Haney Soil Health Tool is a suite of tests integrating chemical and biological factors to provide a sophisticated analysis of soil nutrient availability. This research was conducted to determine if Haney tests (including H3A and water extracts, Solvita 24‐h CO2 evolution, and Soil Health Calculation [SHC]) can add value to conventional chemical soil testing methods and increase knowledge of the effects of tillage systems, crop rotation, and N rate on soil health and corn grain yield. We studied rainfed continuous corn (Zea mays L.) and corn following soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] under three tillage systems and three N rates in a long‐term field experiment in northeast Nebraska. The H3A ammonium, H3A inorganic N, and water‐extractable total N tests detected more differences (significant F tests for main effects and interactions involving all treatments) than conventional NO3–N analysis (which detected the interaction of rotation × N rate). Water‐extractable organic C detected more differences than LOI. There was a three‐way interaction of tillage × rotation × N rate for Solvita and SHC; high N and intensive tillage mostly corresponded to low Solvita and SHC values. We did not expect the treatments to affect P or K directly, but the tillage × rotation interaction was significant for Mehlich III P, tillage for H3A organic P, and N rate for H3A inorganic and total P. Correlation analysis confirmed linear relationships between many Haney and conventional soil tests, and we concluded via sensitivity ratio calculations that the tests offered similar precision.

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“…According to Strudley et al [79], cover crops in combination with no-tillage further improves the soil structure, and the soil integrity and number of biological pores increased, which ultimately upgrades the soil's hydraulic behavior [80]. Mitchell et al [81] observed a faster infiltration of applied water in the no-tillage and cover crops system compared to the tillage and cover crops system. Edwards et al [82] studied the increased infiltration of water via macropores created by earthworms, which could maintain the continuity of soil pores in the different horizons in the no-tillage and cover crops system [83].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Allelopathic Potential of Phenolic Compounds in Secale Cereale Cultivars and Its Relationship with Seeding Density

Ghimire

et al. 2019

Applied Sciences

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In this study, we investigated the allelopathic effect of Secale cereale cultivars on different weeds that grow in the cultivated fields of Perilla frutescens. Two S. cereale cultivars, Paldong and Singhi, were used to test the allelopathic effect on in vitro grown Digitaria ciliaris, Chenopodium album, Amaranthus lividus, Portulaca oleracea, Pinellia ternata and Commelina communis. The results indicated that S. cereale extracts affect callus growth of weeds in terms of fresh weight and percentage of growth inhibition. The inhibitory effects of both S. cereale cultivars combined with grass cover extracts were higher than using grass weeds alone. Concentrations of all identified phenolic compounds were significantly higher in the leaves extracts of Paldong compared to Singhi. Particularly, syringic acid in leaves extract of the Paldong cultivar were 12.87-fold higher than in the Singhi cultivar. The other predominant phenolic compounds such as salicylic acid, p-coumaric acid, vanillic acid, and p-hydroxybenzoic acids were 3.30, 4.63, 3.11, and 1.28 times higher, respectively, in the leaves extracts of Paldong compared to Singhi. Principal component analysis (PCA) results indicated that the composition of phenolic compounds was significantly related to cultivar types and plant parts used. In addition, biomass increase caused increased weed inhibitory capacity of S. cereale both in tillage and no-tillage regimes. These results suggest that the biomass of cover crops negatively influenced weed density.

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Cover cropping and no-tillage improve soil health in an arid irrigated cropping system in California’s San Joaquin Valley, USA

Cited by 163 publications

References 53 publications

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Importance of cover crops in alleviating negative effects of reduced soil tillage and promoting soil fertility in a winter wheat cropping system

Comparing Biological and Conventional Chemical Soil Tests in Long‐Term Tillage, Rotation, N Rate Field Study

Allelopathic Potential of Phenolic Compounds in Secale Cereale Cultivars and Its Relationship with Seeding Density

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