Book ChapterDOI
Conservation agriculture, improving soil quality for sustainable production systems?
Nele Verhulst,Bram Govaerts,Els Verachtert,A. Castellanos-Navarrete,Monica Mezzalama,Patrick C. Wall,A. Chocobar,Jozef Deckers,Ken D. Sayre +8 more
- pp 137-208
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TLDR
In this article, a comparative soil quality evaluation is performed in which the performance of the system is determined in relation to alternatives, and the results show that the effect of a reduction in tillage on the variation in total porosity with depth may be related to differences in traffic on different sites, or on soil quality at the time tillage was reduced or stopped.Abstract:
Conservation agriculture has been proposed as a widely adapted set of management principles that can assure more sustainable agricultural production. Conservation agriculture removes the emphasis from the tillage component alone and addresses a more enhanced concept of the complete agricultural system. Applying conservation agriculture essentially means altering literally generations of traditional farming practices and implement use. Within the framework of agricultural production, high soil quality equates to the ability of the soil to maintain a high productivity without significant soil or environmental degradation. A comparative soil quality evaluation is one in which the performance of the system is determined in relation to alternatives. Inconsistent effects of a reduction in tillage on the variation in total porosity with depth may be related to differences in traffic on different sites, or on soil quality at the time tillage was reduced or stopped.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Conservation agriculture and ecosystem services: An overview
TL;DR: The potential and limitations of conservation agriculture for low productivity, small-scale farming systems in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia is discussed in this article. But, the authors highlight some research priorities for ecosystem services in conservational agriculture.
Journal ArticleDOI
Limited potential of no-till agriculture for climate change mitigation
David S. Powlson,Clare M. Stirling,Mangi L. Jat,Bruno Gérard,Cheryl A. Palm,Pedro A. Sanchez,Kenneth G. Cassman +6 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the potential for climate change mitigation through soil carbon sequestration that is possible from a change to no-till agriculture has been widely overstated, arguing that the potential of climate adaptation through carbon sequestering is limited.
Journal ArticleDOI
When does no-till yield more? A global meta-analysis
Cameron M. Pittelkow,Bruce A. Linquist,Mark E. Lundy,X. Q. Liang,Kees Jan van Groenigen,Juhwan Lee,Natasja van Gestel,Johan Six,Rodney T. Venterea,Rodney T. Venterea,Chris van Kessel +10 more
TL;DR: The authors conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the influence of various crop and environmental variables on no-till relative to conventional tillage yields using data obtained from peer-reviewed publications (678 studies with 6005 paired observations, representing 50 crops and 63 countries).
Journal ArticleDOI
Achieving yield gains in wheat.
Matthew P. Reynolds,John Foulkes,Robert T. Furbank,Simon Griffiths,Julie King,Erik H. Murchie,Martin A. J. Parry,Gustavo A. Slafer +7 more
TL;DR: Crop development should favour spike fertility to maximize harvest index so phenology must be tailored to different photoperiods, and sensitivity to unpredictable weather must be modulated to reduce conservative responses that reduce harvest index.
Journal ArticleDOI
Crop residue management and soil health: A systems analysis
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed crop residue management practices, mainly surface retention, incorporation or removal, describing their advantages and limitations in cereal-based agroecosystems in developing countries.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Impact of Long-Term Tillage Systems for Continuous Corn on Nitrate Leaching to Tile Drainage
TL;DR: In this paper, an 11-year study was conducted to assess NO 3 losses to subsurface, tile drainage for corn (Zea mays L.) grown with continuous conventional tillage and no tillage (NT) on a poorly drained Webster clay loam soil (fine-loamy, mixed, mesic Typic Haplaquoll) at Waseca, MN.
Journal ArticleDOI
Tailoring conservation agriculture to the needs of small farmers in developing countries: an analysis of issues
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider the problem of surface crop residue retention and minimal soil movement in small-scale conservation agriculture and propose a method to overcome the difficulty of the use of the plow.
Journal ArticleDOI
Management of organic matter in the tropics: translating theory into practice
TL;DR: A decision tree has been developed for testing hypotheses about the resource quality parameters that affect nitrogen release patterns and rates and it is difficult to imagine practical means of maintaining SOM in the African context where short-term fertility issues will take precedence over longer-term maintenance of SOM.
Journal ArticleDOI
A quantification of short-term macroaggregate dynamics: influences of wheat residue input and texture
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted short-term (3 weeks) incubations to acquire necessary soil structural parameters for modeling purposes and found no differences in aggregate formation among the three soils, even though the equilibrium level of macro aggregates differed in the field.
Journal ArticleDOI
Conservation agriculture as a sustainable option for the central Mexican highlands
Bram Govaerts,Bram Govaerts,Ken D. Sayre,Bart Goudeseune,Pieter De Corte,Kelly Lichter,Luc Dendooven,Jozef Deckers +7 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the feasibility of conservation agriculture (CA) as part of a sustainable production system in the tropical highlands is given, based on selected soil quality indicators, i.e. time-to-pond, aggregate distribution and stability (expressed as the mean weight diameter (MWD) for dry and wet sieving, respectively).