Effectiveness of the GAEC standard of cross compliance Crop rotations in maintaining organic matter levels in soils

Borrelli, Lamberto; Colecchia, Salvatore Antonio; Troccoli, A.; Caradonna, Sarah; Papini, R.; Ventrella, Domenico; Dell’Abate, Maria Teresa; Galeffi, Carlo; Tomasoni, C.; Farina, Roberta

doi:10.4081/ija.2011.6.s1.e8

Cited by 4 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…At first, we replace T emp(t) and Acc(t) with their averaged values, T emp (1) and Acc (1) in the interval ]t 0 + T , t 0 + 2T ] so that ρ(t) can be approximated by ρ (1) (r) := k a (T emp (1) )k b (Acc (1) )k c (r), where k c (r) is given in Eq. 7.…”

Section: Sensitivity Of the Soc Change Index To Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating the impact of increasing temperatures on changes in Soil Organic Carbon stocks: sensitivity analysis and non-standard discrete approximation

et al. 2022

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The SOC change index, defined as the normalized difference between the actual Soil Organic Carbon and the value assumed at an initial reference year, is here tailored to the RothC carbon model dynamics. It assumes as a baseline the value of the SOC equilibrium under constant environmental conditions. A sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the response of the model to changes in temperature, Net Primary Production (NPP), and land use soil class (forest, grassland, arable). A non-standard monthly time-stepping procedure has been proposed to approximate the SOC change index in the Alta Murgia National Park, a protected area in the Italian Apulia region, selected as a test site. The SOC change index exhibits negative trends for all the land use considered without fertilizers. The negative trend in the arable class can be inverted by a suitable organic fertilization program here proposed.

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Section: Sensitivity Of the Soc Change Index To Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, we define the autonomous counterpart of the model (16) in the first year as follows: (1) (r)A c + ϑ (1) a (g) , c(t 0 + T ) = 0, (17) for t ∈]t 0 + T , t 0 + 2T ], where 2…”

Section: Sensitivity Of the Soc Change Index To Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the impact of increasing temperatures on changes in Soil Organic Carbon stocks: sensitivity analysis and non-standard discrete approximation

et al. 2022

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“…and durum wheat in rotation with irrigated summer crops [mainly processing tomato (T); Solanum lycopersicum L.] are the most common crop rotations. Cropping systems frequently include one year of fallow, and organic fertilisers are not applied to arable crops (Borrelli et al, 2011;Farina et al, 2013). Table 1 shows the main agronomic practices, currently used by farmers for durum wheat and tomato crops.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…So far, semi-arid areas of Southern Italy are dominated by cropping systems mostly oriented on winter cereals-based rotations, such as continuous durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf. ), durum wheat-summer irrigated crops, forage-based systems, and mixed succession with bare fallow (Borrelli et al, 2011;Martiniello, 2011). In these agroecosystems, SOC level is quite low due to soil degradation processes.…”

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confidence: 99%

Soil organic carbon dynamics in typical durum wheat-based crop rotations of Southern Italy

Bene¹,

Marchetti²,

Francaviglia³

et al. 2016

Ital J Agronomy

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Mediterranean agricultural areas are dominated by cropping systems based on winter cereals crops, summer irrigated crops, foragebased systems, and mixed succession with bare fallow. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is widely used to assess the environmental performance of these cropping systems, since it is strongly influenced by management practices and environmental conditions. This study evaluates the sustainability of representative intensive cropping systems of Southern Italy, in terms of SOC stock changes and CO2 emissions in the long-term perspective, using a process-based model (RothC10N) combined with a GIS-based spatialization procedure. On the basis of SOC modelling, results showed that crop management practices currently adopted by farmers did not guarantee SOC sequestration in all the rotations (-4.29 Mg C ha -1 ). The sustainability of cropping systems can be improved through management practices such as the retention of crop residues into the field and/or the rational use of irrigation for the summer crop (6.73 Mg C ha -1 ). This finding could help policy makers to provide suggestions for a more effective local implementation of agro-environmental measures. IntroductionIn the last decades, Mediterranean cropping systems have undergone strong variations due to the intensification of agricultural activities in the most productive plains (Serra et al., 2008), and the extensification of land uses in less fertile zones (Bindi and Olesen, 2011;Nainggolan et al., 2012). Frequently, these changes may cause a simplification of agricultural production systems with significant consequences on environmental impacts and agroecosystem services. It is well-established that in conventional agronomic schemes, unsuitable agricultural practices, such as deep tillage, reduction in crop rotation length, and the removal of crop residues may have negative implications on soil organic carbon (SOC) pool (Le Gal et al., 2010;Álvaro-Fuentes et al., 2011;Martiniello, 2011;Pisante, 2013). So far, semi-arid areas of Southern Italy are dominated by cropping systems mostly oriented on winter cereals-based rotations, such as continuous durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.), durum wheat-summer irrigated crops, forage-based systems, and mixed succession with bare fallow (Borrelli et al., 2011;Martiniello, 2011). In these agroecosystems, SOC level is quite low due to soil degradation processes. Thus, conservative farmlands can act as potential C sink, although the possibilities of SOC sequestration are quite site specific and strongly influenced by soil management and environmental factors (VandenBygaart et al., 2002;Rodríguez Martín et al., 2016). SOC is normally considered an indicator of soil quality, and soil can accumulate C for decades (Ruiz Sinoga et al., 2012). It is widely known the crucial role of SOC to maintain soil fertility, crop production potential, and prevent soil quality deterioration thanks to its filtering and buffering capacity (Kirchmann and Andersson, 2001). However, the studies of SOC dynamics based on field e...

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“…One of the main EU objectives to preserve soil quality is by maintaining a high level of SOM. However, only a few studies have analysed and proved the effectiveness of these measures, especially in hilly and marginal agricultural systems, characterised by poorer crops (Agnoletti et al, 2011;Borrelli et al, 2011). In these areas, the studies available were mainly made in the late 1990s (Bonari et al 1999;De Falco et al, 2000), while recent ones have focused on more intensive or specialised systems Fumagalli et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting soil organic matter conservation in Mediterranean hillside winter cereals-legumes cropping systems

et al. 2012

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Soil conservation is an important issue for farming and environmental protection in Mediterranean areas. Hillside farming systems, based on winter cereals and legumes, are common in these areas and are the target of several environmental policies. Soil organic matter (SOM) is widely used to assess the environmental performance of these cropping systems. Nevertheless, few studies have considered soil conservation practices in hillside systems in terms of implementing more effective agro-environmental policies for these areas. This paper compares the SOM conservation of different winter cereal based cropping systems within Mediterranean hillside crops/livestock farms. Seventeen cropping systems were characterised by on-farm surveys in the inland hilly area of Grosseto (Tuscany, Italy). For each cropping system, we performed a SOM balance, based on Hénin-Dupuis' equation, using either local environmental databases or data from on-farm surveys. Differences between cropping systems were analysed by the Kruskal-Wallis test. On average, the cropping systems identified did not guarantee SOM conservation and varied considerably from farm to farm, however, some practices seemed to have a positive performance, e.g. cropping systems of cattle farms. According to the literature, annual SOM balance differs significantly depending on crop rotation length and longer crop rotations performed better than shorter ones. However, we found a local effect indicating that this better performance was influenced by local farmers' cooperatives, which to some extent counteracted the negative effect of crop rotation length. There were significant differences in the performance of dairy sheep and cattle farms (-1031 kg ha -1 yr -1 vs +103 kg ha -1 yr -1 , respectively). This suggests that the presence of livestock did not have the same favorable effect on soil conservation in Mediterranean systems and that this factor should be more investigated. Surprisingly, in our sample, for the same crop rotation length, livestock density did not affect the annual SOM balance. Due to the high variability in local cropping systems and soil characteristics, further surveys on a larger farm sample and field soil measurement are needed to confirm these trends and validated the regional soil database. However, our results shed light on the soil conservation effects of Mediterranean hillside cropping systems of winter cereals and legumes, and could support the local implementation of agro-environmental measures.

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Effectiveness of the GAEC standard of cross compliance Crop rotations in maintaining organic matter levels in soils

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

Evaluating the impact of increasing temperatures on changes in Soil Organic Carbon stocks: sensitivity analysis and non-standard discrete approximation

Evaluating the impact of increasing temperatures on changes in Soil Organic Carbon stocks: sensitivity analysis and non-standard discrete approximation

Soil organic carbon dynamics in typical durum wheat-based crop rotations of Southern Italy

Factors affecting soil organic matter conservation in Mediterranean hillside winter cereals-legumes cropping systems

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