Influence of tillage methods combined with mulching on soil physical properties and potato yield in dry farming area under different precipitation years.

We conducted a field experiment in the dry farming area in south Ningxia from 2018 to 2021, to explore the influence of tillage methods combined with mulching on soil bulk density, aggregate content, soil water storage and potato yield under different precipitation years. There were four tillage methods (15 cm depth ploughing, and 30 cm, 40 cm and 50 cm depth subsoiling) and three mulching measures (mulching with oat straw, plastic film and no mulching), with the ploughing depth of 15 cm without mulching as control. The results showed the combination of tillage and mulching effectively reduced soil bulk density in 0-60 cm layer after three years of farming compared with that prior to the experiment. Under the same tillage mode, the best effect was achieved in mulching with oat straw under different precipitation years. To be specific, the best effect in 20 cm and 40 cm soil layers was achieved in mulching with oat straw for 30 cm depth subsoiling, in 60 cm soil layer for 15 cm ploughing in wet year, and for 40 cm depth subsoiling in 20 cm, 40 cm and 60 cm soil layers in normal and dry years. In 0-20 cm soil layer, the content of >0.25 mm soil aggregate was the highest for 40 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mul-ching in all the three years. In 20-40 cm soil layer, the content was the highest for 15 cm depth ploughing with oat straw mulching in wet year, and for 40 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mulching in normal and dry years. In 40-60 cm soil layer, content was the highest for 15 cm depth ploughing with plastic film mulching, 30 cm depth subsoiling with plastic film mulching, and 30 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mulching in wet, normal and dry years, which was increased by 18.8%, 27.0%, and 35.8%, respectively, compared with the control. In the key growth stage (from squaring to tuber expansion) of potatoes, soil water storage in 0-100 cm layer was optimal for 30 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mulching in wet year and for 40 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mulching in normal and dry years, with an increase of 19.4%, 19.5%, and 23.7%, respectively. Potato yield was the highest for 30 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mulching in wet year and for 40 cm depth subsoiling in normal and dry years, with an increase of 84.6%, 81.7%, and 106.3%, respectively. The correlation analysis showed that improved soil physical properties played a significant role in increasing potato yield, with the most significant role of soil bulk density and soil water storage at the squaring stage. Potato yield was high at a tillage depth of 34.67-36.03 cm. We concluded that the combination of tillage method and mulching could effectively improve soil physical pro-perties and increase soil water storage in the growth stage of potatoes, thereby significantly increa-sing potato yield. Potato yield in dry farming area could be enhanced through 30 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mulching in wet years, and 40 cm depth subsoiling with oat straw mulching in normal and dry years.

[Effects of tillage types on soil aggregate distribution and stability in irrigated sierozem of Gansu Yellow River irrigation area, China]. / 耕作方式对甘肃引黄灌区灌耕灰钙土团聚体分布及稳定性的影响.

A total of six treatments, including continuous conventional tillage (CT), rotary tillage (RT), subsoiling (ST), no-tillage (NT), conventional-no tillage (CT-NT) and subsoiling-no tillage (ST-NT), were conducted to examine the effects of different tillage types on soil aggregates distribution and stability of irrigated sierozem on continuous 8-year-tillage maize fields in the Gansu Yellow River irrigated area in 2014-2017. The results showed that the aggregation and stability of large aggregates in 0-40 cm soil layer were increased by NT and ST-NT treatments, while the size distribution and stability in plough layer were significantly decreased by CT and RT treatments due to strong soil disturbance. Compared with RT, the mechanical stability of aggregates under dry sieving NT was the best. The contents of >0.25 mm aggregate (R0.25), mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) increased by 5.8%, 8.0%, and 13.0%, respectively, and fractal dimension (D) decreased by 3.6%. The water-stable aggregates in ST-NT was the best, with R0.25, MWD and GMD increased by 55.3%, 15.1% and 8.7%, respectively, and D value decreased by 0.8%. The percentage of aggregate destruction (PAD) and unstable aggregate index (ELT) of NT and ST-NT treatments were the lowest. PAD was reduced by 5.9% and 7.7% compared with RT, ELT was reduced by 5.8% and 7.2%, respectively. All the results indicated that the subsoiling-notillage (ST-NT) rotation mode was more conducive to the enhancement of soil aggregate content and stability and consistent with the local farmers operating habits, which would be an ideal tillage method and had certain application value for the sustainable agricultural development in this area.

[Responses of soil organic carbon and microbial community structure to different tillage patterns and straw returning for multiple years.] / 土壤有机碳和微生物群落结构对多年不同耕作方式与秸秆还田的响应.

Soil organic carbon is essential for maintaining terrestrial ecosystem function and mitigating soil degradation. Soil microorganisms participate in soil carbon cycling. They are affected by tillage methods and straw returning. A split-plot design was adopted in this experiment. The whole-plot treatment had two tillage methods, subsoil tillage (ST) and rotary tillage (RT). The split-plot treatment included full straw returning (F) and no straw returning (0). The microbial community structure and carbon sequestration genes were assessed by Illumina sequencing technique. Soil organic carbon contents were measured during 2012-2017. The results showed that 1) subsoil tillage and straw returning significantly increased pH, microbial biomass carbon, total nitrogen, silt content, and clay content, while significantly decreased sand content; 2) during the test period (2012-2017), soil organic carbon (SOC) content under all treatments showed an increasing trend, but the increment for average SOC content under straw returning and subsoiling treatments was significantly higher than that of no straw returning and rotary tillage by 33.2 % and 30.6%, respectively; 3) Proteobacteria was the most abundant type of bacteria in the soil, followed by Acidobacteria and Gemmatadanetes; 4) STF treatment maintained high microbial diversity; 5) Excepted for soil sand content, soil pH, microbial biomass carbon, total nitrogen, silt content and clay content all caused the variation of soil microbial community structure under the STF treatment in the direction of SOC accumulation; 6) in addition to the gene abundance in the di- and oligosaccharides metabolic pathway, the gene abundance in the metabolic pathways for CO2 fixation, central carbohydrate metabolism, fermentation, one-carbon metabolism, organic acids, sugar alcohols and glycoside hydrolases showed that subsoil tillage was significantly higher than rotary tillage, with posi-tively correlation with soil organic carbon content. Therefore, the combination of subsoil tillage and straw returning could improve basic soil properties, affect soil microbial community structure, and increase the capacity of soil carbon fixation, thus providing a realistic basis for solving soil degradation.

[Variation Characteristics of Inorganic Phosphorus in Purple Soil Profile Under Different Conservation Tillage Treatments].

In this study the effects of tillage methods (rice-winter paddy field conventional farming, CF; rice-winter paddy field combing ridge with no-tillage, RNT1; rice-wheat or rape combing ridge with no-tillage, RNT2; rice-wheat or rape conventional paddy-upland rotation tillage, CR) on purple soil profile of different forms of inorganic phosphorus distribution characteristics were investigated in a long-term experimental site established in 1990, Chongqing City, China. The results showed that compared to the status before the experiment, the total phosphorus, available phosphorus and various morphologies of inorganic phosphorus all increased to a certain degree in the soils with different long-term tillage treatments,and the contents of different forms of inorganic phosphorus in soil size ranked as RNT2> CF> CR> RNT1. Except that the contents of Fe-P in the lower layer were higher than those in the upper layer, contents of Ca2-P, Ca8-P, Al-P, Ca10-P and O-P in the arable layers were all higher than those in the lower layers. The effects of farming practices on the availability of various phosphorus forms were significant. They were in the order of CR> RNT> CF. Long-term conventional paddy-upland rotation tillage was more advantageous to crops in the absorption of phosphorus. It was shown by relevant analysis that the contribution of various groups of inorganic phosphorus to purple soil was in the order of Ca2-P(0.9369)> Al-P(0.9158)> Ca8-P(0.9012)> Fe-P(0.8287)> Ca10-P(0.8059)> O-P(0.7472).

Effects of over-winter green cover on soil solution nitrate concentrations beneath tillage land.

There is a growing need to reduce nitrogen losses from agricultural systems to increase food production while reducing negative environmental impacts. The efficacy of vegetation cover for reducing nitrate leaching in tillage systems during fallow periods has been widely investigated. Nitrate leaching reductions by natural regeneration (i.e. growth of weeds and crop volunteers) have been investigated to a lesser extent than reductions by planted cover crops. This study compares the efficacy of natural regeneration and a sown cover crop (mustard) relative to no vegetative cover under both a reduced tillage system and conventional plough-based system as potential mitigation measures for reducing over-winter soil solution nitrate concentrations. The study was conducted over three winter fallow seasons on well drained soil, highly susceptible to leaching, under temperate maritime climatic conditions. Mustard cover crop under both reduced tillage and conventional ploughing was observed to be an effective measure for significantly reducing nitrate concentrations. Natural regeneration under reduced tillage was found to significantly reduce the soil solution nitrate concentrations. This was not the case for the natural regeneration under conventional ploughing. The improved efficacy of natural regeneration under reduced tillage could be a consequence of potential stimulation of seedling germination by the autumn reduced tillage practices and improved over-winter plant growth. There was no significant effect of tillage practices on nitrate concentrations. This study shows that over winter covers of mustard and natural regeneration, under reduced tillage, are effective measures for reducing nitrate concentrations in free draining temperate soils.