Effects of Reduced Tillage on Crop Yield, Plant Available Nutrients and Soil Organic Matter in a 12-Year Long-Term Trial under Organic Management

Zikeli, Sabine; Gruber, Sabine; Teufel, Claus-Felix; Hartung, Karin; Claupein, Wilhelm

doi:10.3390/su5093876

Cited by 44 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Recent results indicate that deficiencies in plant-available N can be compensated for by planting legume cover crops, like common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), prior to growing a cereal cash crop [59]. For soil parameters, the German long-term trials confirm the benefits of RT and NT in organic farming which have been found elsewhere (e.g., [60]): higher earthworm biomass [61], enrichment of soil organic matter in the top soil [62] or even to deeper soil horizons [16], higher microbial respiration [57], higher microbial carbon and aggregate stability in the top soil [17,62].…”

Section: Trial Resultsmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…In most of the trials, the high weed pressure in the treatments with shallow, non-inversion tillage was described as the main reason for yield reduction, while skimmer plough treatments and double layer plough treatments often performed similarly to the moldboard plough [16,47]. Weeds having the greatest impact on yield were perennial weeds like C. arvense L. [13], and direct seeding resulted in complete yield loss of the cash crop in some years due to excessive weed pressure [59].…”

Section: Trial Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grain legumes seemed especially sensitive to the increased weed pressure in RT systems, with yields as low as 39% compared to those of the moldboard plough treatment (Table 2). However, legume yield depression varied by species, with yield reductions ranging from 18% [47] to 61% [16] for faba bean, while lupine yields were unaffected by tillage system. Relative yield of wheat, potatoes and grain legumes based on results of German organic long-term field trials with reduced tillage; yield of moldboard plough treatment (20 to 30 cm depth) is set as 100% and compared to shallow non inversion tillage with rototiller or chisel plough (6 to 10 cm depth), depending on the experiment mean of yields for multiple years.…”

Section: Trial Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In different field trials, systems based on double layer ploughs generally had slightly lower yields compared to conventional tillage (e.g., [16,47]), though in one instance, similar or even higher yields occurred [48]. Another option is the use of machinery developed from traditional skimmer ploughs and specifically adapted for shallow inversion tillage (Ecomat, skimmer plough, and others).…”

Section: Reduced Tillagementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Reduced Tillage and No-Till in Organic Farming Systems, Germany—Status Quo, Potentials and Challenges

Zikeli

Gruber

2017

Agriculture

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:Only 34% of all German farms apply reduced tillage (RT), while approximately 1% of the arable land is under no-tillage (NT). Statistics for organic farming are not available, but the percentages are probably even lower. The development of German organic RT and NT has been strongly driven by pioneer farmers for 40 years, and supported by field trials since the 1990s. The main motive for conversion to RT is increased soil quality, followed by reduced labor costs. NT combined with high-residue cover crops plays only a very small role. Rather, German organic farmers resort to shallow ploughing, a reduced number of ploughing operations in the rotation and/or substitution of the ploughing with non-inversion tillage. In field trials, winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yields were reduced up to 67% by using RT methods compared to inversion tillage treatments due to reduced mineralization and increased weed pressure, both of which are major obstacles that impede the wider adoption of RT and NT by German organic farmers. Improvement of NT and RT (rotations, implements, timing) in organic farming is a task of both agricultural practice and science. A number of conventional farmers who have recently converted to organic farming are already familiar with RT. These farmers will act as a thriving factor to implement their experience after conversion and contribute to further innovations of RT in organic farming.

show abstract

Section: Trial Resultsmentioning

confidence: 49%

Section: Trial Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Trial Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reduced Tillagementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Reduced Tillage and No-Till in Organic Farming Systems, Germany—Status Quo, Potentials and Challenges

Zikeli

Gruber

2017

Agriculture

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…E. P. Zikeli et al (2013) [18] showed that the reduction of intensity and depth of tillage improves SOM contents in a Germany Luvisol. Use of NT resulted in positive effects on SOM in subtropical and tropical soils (Conceição et al, 2013) [9].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Five Years Adoption of No-Tillage Systems for Vegetables Crops in Soil Organic Matter Contents

Lima¹,

Guedes²,

Silva³

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vegetables productions systems are done normally with intense soil tillage causing a strong decline of soil quality. Use of conservation systems can be an alternative to recover this quality. In order to evaluate the effects of such systems on soil organic matter, an experiment has been conducted in randomized blocks design and factorial scheme 3 × 2: three soil management systems (no-tillage; reduced tillage and conventional tillage) and two cover crops (maize single; and intercropping maize with gray velvet bean-Stizolobium niveum); and repeated measures over time. Soil samples were collected before the implementation of the experiment and at the end of each crop cycle until the fifth crop cycle. Carbon associated with humic substances is also determined in 0 -5 cm, 5 -10 cm and 10 -30 cm at the end of the last crop cycle. The SOM content was higher in RT (48.34 g·kg ) was statistically equal to RT and CT, during the same period. In 0 -5 cm, carbon contents associated to the humic substances present the same behavior of SOM contents in 0 -10 cm. Probably these results are associated with the capacity of each system to improve superficial contents of SOM stable fractions. It follows that the conservation systems used are alternatives to the cultivation vegetables in order to improve soil organic matter contents.

show abstract

Ploughing/zero‐tillage rotation regulates soil physicochemical properties and improves productivity of erodible soil in a residue return farming system

Wang

et al. 2020

Land Degrad Dev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In residue return farming, ploughing and zero‐tillage (syn. no‐till or minimal tillage) rotation may regulate soil physicochemical properties and help reduce erosion and improve productivity; however, the soil physicochemical properties and soil productivity response to ploughing and zero‐tillage rotation remain unclear. This present study evaluates the effects of ploughing and zero‐tillage rotation on soil physicochemical properties and crop productivity based on an 11‐year experiment (2007–2018) on a typical erodible area of the Loess Plateau. Three tillage methods were included: ploughing and zero‐tillage rotation with 1‐year ploughing tillage and 1‐year zero tillage (PZT), ploughing tillage with moldboard plough (PT), and zero tillage (ZT); crop residue was returned in all treatments. After 11 years' we tested, the PZT method showed significantly lower soil water storage in key maize growth stages, less soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N) storage (0–10 cm), and poorer soil structure stability (0–10 cm) when compared with ZT. However, PZT showed significantly higher SOC and N storage (4.5%, 6.5% and 16.3%, 8.6%, respectively) in the 10–20 cm and 20–40 cm soil layers, compared with ZT. In addition, when compared with ZT and PT, PZT significantly decreased soil penetration resistance in 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm, and 20–40 cm soil depths and significantly increased yield of maize by 10.9 and 7.8%, respectively, and of wheat by 11.2 and 9.8%, respectively. This study highlights that combining ploughing and zero tillage with return of crop residue changed soil physicochemical properties and can provide an effective method to improve soil productivity in an erodible field.

show abstract

Effects of Reduced Tillage on Crop Yield, Plant Available Nutrients and Soil Organic Matter in a 12-Year Long-Term Trial under Organic Management

Cited by 44 publications

References 42 publications

Reduced Tillage and No-Till in Organic Farming Systems, Germany—Status Quo, Potentials and Challenges

Reduced Tillage and No-Till in Organic Farming Systems, Germany—Status Quo, Potentials and Challenges

Effects of Five Years Adoption of No-Tillage Systems for Vegetables Crops in Soil Organic Matter Contents

Ploughing/zero‐tillage rotation regulates soil physicochemical properties and improves productivity of erodible soil in a residue return farming system

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About