Fallow replacement cover crops impact soil water and nitrogen dynamics in a semi-arid sub-tropical environment

Garba, Ismail Ibrahim; Fay, Daniel L.; Apriani, Reni; Yusof, Dk Yusrina Pg; Chu, Danqing; Williams, Alwyn

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2022.108052

Cited by 15 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…A mix of grasses and legumes as CC was established, aiming to improve soil fertility and reduce nitrate loss by leaching. These mixtures represented the best compromise between biomass production, N retention, N supply via biological N fixation and water maintenance [70,71]. Moreover, as observed in our trial, CC used mineral nitrate during its growth cycle, reducing the N-NO 3 − concentration in soil (Figure 4), and therefore the potential to lose it through leaching [72].…”

Section: Soil C and N Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 53%

Effects of Cover Crops and Drip Fertigation Regime in a Young Almond Agroecosystem

et al. 2022

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The sustainability of woody crop agroecosystems requires continued improvements to water, nutrient and soil management. In this work, the combination of resource availability or fertigation dose with soil management practices was tested in a 2 × 2 factorial design in a drip irrigated young almond orchard. The fertigation doses were: the farmer supply at 60% of crop evapotranspiration and full nutrient requirements and the half-farmer supply at 30% of crop evapotranspiration and half nutrient requirements. The soil management practices were: bare soil and cover crops in the inter-row (mixture of grasses and legumes). Tree growth, yield, water and nutrient status, and cover crop biomass and nutrient status were determined, as well as inter-row soil C and N concentration. Results showed that the effect of resource availability was independent of soil management and vice versa. The half farmer treatment reduced tree vegetative growth and yield compared to farmer treatment, due to a negative effect on the water status, without observing a decrease in the concentration of nutrients in leaves or fruit. Trees with cover crop also reduced growth and yield compared to bare soil management. This was due to a nutritional competition, mainly of Ca, Fe, Mn and Zn, rather than to a decline in tree water status. Cover crops sequester up to 1 t/ha/year of carbon but do not increase soil organic carbon, nor soil total nitrogen. Cover crops proved to be efficient in reducing soil nitrate concentration in the topsoil and therefore has potential to prevent its leaching. Deficit fertigation and the use of cover crops can be effective practices to preserve and save water and nutrient resources in Mediterranean agroecosystems, but should be established with caution so as not to compromise the profitability of the orchard.

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Section: Soil C and N Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 53%

Effects of Cover Crops and Drip Fertigation Regime in a Young Almond Agroecosystem

et al. 2022

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“…More detailed information is available from the original research article published as Garba et al. [1] .…”

Section: Experimental Design Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The datasets are associated with the original research article published in Agriculture, Ecosystem, and Environment entitled “Fallow replacement cover crops impact soil water and nitrogen dynamics in a semi-arid sub-tropical environment” as Garba et al. [1] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Datasets supporting the adoption of multifunctional cover crops related to soil water and nitrogen in water-limited environments

Garba

Williams

2023

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“…There is a range of cropping practices such as early sowing, crop rotations, stubble retention, minimum tillage or no-till and weed control to improve water use efficiency by enhancing capture and preservation of rainfall [10,11]. Among these, the use of cover crops has been adopted across many parts of the globe to manage both soil water and nutrients but different effects on soil water have been reported for these practices [12][13][14][15][16]. Integrating cover crops into a crop-fallow system can be a method to replace or shorten the fallow duration, which allows longer duration of soil surface coverage before planting the cash crop [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cover cropping impacts on soil water and carbon in dryland cropping system

et al. 2023

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Incorporating cover crops into the rotation is a practice applied across many parts of the globe to enhance soil biological activities. In dryland farming, where crop production is highly dependent on rainfall and soil water storage, cover cropping can affect soil water, yet its effects on soil hydrological and biological health require further investigation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different timing of summer sorghum cover crop termination on soil water, total and labile organic carbon, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and their mediating effects on wheat yield. Through on-farm trial, soil characteristics along with wheat biomass, yield and grain quality were monitored. In comparison with the control (fallow), the early terminated cover crop was the most effective at retaining greater soil water at wheat sowing by 1~4% in 0–45cm soil profile. An increase in water use efficiency, yield and grain protein by 10%, 12% and 5% was observed under early termination. Under late terminated summer cover crop, there was 7% soil water depletion at wheat planting which resulted in 61% decline in yield. However, late-terminated cover crop achieved the greatest gain in soil total and particulate organic carbon by 17% and 72% and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal Group A and B concentration by 356% and 251%. Summer cover crop incorporation resulted in a rapid gain in labile organic carbon, which constituted hotspots for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi growth, conversely, fungal activities increased labile organic carbon availability. The combined effect of increased soil water at sowing and over the growing season, organic carbon, and microbial activities contributed to greater yield. The findings suggest that summer cover cropping with timely termination can have implications in managing soil water at sowing time and enhancing soil water storage during the season, soil carbon, and facilitating microbial activities while enhancing productivity in the dryland cropping system.

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Fallow replacement cover crops impact soil water and nitrogen dynamics in a semi-arid sub-tropical environment

Cited by 15 publications

References 90 publications

Effects of Cover Crops and Drip Fertigation Regime in a Young Almond Agroecosystem

Effects of Cover Crops and Drip Fertigation Regime in a Young Almond Agroecosystem

Datasets supporting the adoption of multifunctional cover crops related to soil water and nitrogen in water-limited environments

Cover cropping impacts on soil water and carbon in dryland cropping system

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