Evaluating the Effects of Long-Term No-Till and Crop Rotations in Soil Health and Corn Productivity
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Conservation practices, such as no-till and diversifying crop rotations are known for their capacity to reduce soil erosion and improve soil properties.However, the impact of these management practices on emerging soil health tests and the ability of these tests to reflect active organic matter dynamics and nutrient cycling, and corn productivity have not been explored.This project focused on determining the effects of half a century of continuous tillage treatments (moldboard plow, chisel till, and no-till) and crop rotations (continuous corn, corn-soybean, and corn-forage-forage) on soil health indicators and its relationship with crop productivity.The forages were alfalfa in Wooster, and red clover and oats in Northwest.Soil labile carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) temporal dynamics were quantified with permanganate oxidizable C (POXC), mineralizable carbon (Min C), and soil protein at six key stages in corn (Zea mays) development: before planting (around three weeks before planting), V5, V10, R1, R4, R6 in the 2017 and 2018 growing seasons.Corn leaf chlorophyll, aboveground plant biomass, nutrient uptake, and grain yield were also quantified.The soil health indicators (POXC, Min C, soil protein) and crop parameters (leaf chlorophyll, total nitrogen uptake and total aboveground biomass) were higher in reduced tillage (chisel and no-till) compared to moldboard plow and higher in the most diverse crop rotation (corn-forage-forage) compared to corn-soybean.Corn yields were not significantly different between tillage treatments but were higher in
Author: Gonzalez-Maldonado, Noelymar
Language: English
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDGs: Zero hunger, Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7037882628