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Soil Tillage Systems and New Practices for Sustainable Farmland Conservation
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Soil Tillage Systems and New Practices for Sustainable Farmland Conservation

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil Conservation and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 6145

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. José Miguel Reichert

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Soils Department, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria 97105-900, RS, Brazil
Interests: soil physics; soil mechanics; soil hydrology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Studies are welcomed on the general topic of soil tillage and other practices for the development and implementation of more sustainable food, fiber, and energy cropping systems. Agricultural, forest, and livestock systems, along with their integration (e.g., agroforestry and crop-livestock systems), are included. Studies should have a focus on the understanding of processes and practical applications by stakeholders in the field. We expect contributions from a large spectrum of farming systems, from small to large scale, and from animal-driven tillage and human labor to the other extreme of large-scale, mechanized agriculture. 

Combining tillage with other conservation practices (e.g., organic manuring and terracing) certainly enriches the scientific contribution. Focus on the duration of effects of practices such as chiseling and subsoiling and the need for eventual tillage of no-till soils, along with the combination of mechanical vs. biological (cover crops) chiseling, are also interesting opportunities. Topics may include effects of tillage systems and other practices on soil ecology, nutrient status and cycling, organic matter, chemical transport and pollution, green gas emission/balance, resilience and climate change, soil hydrology, erosion and sedimentation, water balance and availability to crops and other organisms, among others.

Above are some research topics for this Special Issue on Soil Tillage Systems and New Practices for Sustainable Farmland Conservation, but the scope is not limited to those, as a myriad of topic combinations is possible when studying soils and practices for sustainable farming. The scientific contribution might be as original research papers, new study methods, perspectives and opinions, reviews (traditional or narrative, systematic, meta-analysis or meta-synthesis), and modeling approaches.

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. José Miguel Reichert
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable agriculture
  • soil tillage
  • soil improvement
  • soil quality
  • soil conservation
  • soil management systems

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 5511 KiB  
Article
Citrus Orchards in Agroforestry, Organic, and Conventional Systems: Soil Quality and Functioning
by Lucas Contarato Pilon, Jordano Vaz Ambus, Elena Blume, Rodrigo Josemar Seminoti Jacques and José Miguel Reichert
Sustainability 2023, 15(17), 13060; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151713060 - 30 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1063
Abstract
Citrus crop management has evolved to improve the quality of orchards and production, encompassing agroforestry and agroecological management practices. We sought to analyze different management systems in different seasons of the year, evaluating the quality of the soil physical, chemicals and biological properties, [...] Read more.
Citrus crop management has evolved to improve the quality of orchards and production, encompassing agroforestry and agroecological management practices. We sought to analyze different management systems in different seasons of the year, evaluating the quality of the soil physical, chemicals and biological properties, and the herbaceous vegetation occurring in citrus orchards. Five sites were studied: citrus in agroforestry and biodynamic systems (Cs), citrus in biodynamic systems (Co), citrus in conventional systems (Cc), and two forest sites, one with 40 (F40) and another with 200 years of regeneration (F200). Soil properties were evaluated in three layers (0–5, 5–20, and 20–40 cm) in four seasons, while the herbaceous survey was carried out in two of these seasons. The results showed that the Co and Cs orchards had better indicators in terms of chemical (pH, phosphorus, cation exchange capacity, and soil organic carbon (SOC)), physical (soil density, total porosity, and macro- and microporosity), and biological properties (global enzymatic activity) than the Cc management. The agroforestry management was even superior in soil quality, with improved pH levels, microporosity, and feeding behavior of the soil fauna. The most evident temporal variations were for pH, SOC, global enzymatic activity, and feeding activity of the soil fauna. The Cs and Co orchards showed greater richness and abundance of herbaceous species. Organic management favors a timely coverage of multiple benefits, with the presence of the Commoliaceae and Fabaceae families, and offering an ecological effect and green manure of high ecosystem value. In conclusion, agroforestry and biodynamic management systems are the best options to maintain soil quality and functioning for citrus production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Tillage Systems and New Practices for Sustainable Farmland Conservation)
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15 pages, 2278 KiB  
Article
Soil Aggregate Construction: Contribution from Functional Soil Amendment Fertilizer Derived from Dolomite
by Yaowei Zhan, Kaixin Jiang, Jiaquan Jiang, Lidan Zhang, Chengxiang Gao, Xiuxiu Qi, Jiayan Fan, Yuechen Li, Shaolong Sun and Xiaolin Fan
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12287; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912287 - 27 Sep 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1455
Abstract
Elastic and water stable macroaggregate are significant to soil structure. which is the base of the soil, to maintain sustainable agriculture. Whether and how functional amendment fertilizer is capable of construction of the macroaggregate is the main purpose of the study. Scanning electron [...] Read more.
Elastic and water stable macroaggregate are significant to soil structure. which is the base of the soil, to maintain sustainable agriculture. Whether and how functional amendment fertilizer is capable of construction of the macroaggregate is the main purpose of the study. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) were used to investigate the effect of dolomite-based functional soil amendment fertilizers on soil structure. The fertilizers are beneficial to elastic-stable and water-stable aggregate construction. Calcined dolomite based soil amendment functional fertilizer (CDFF) was favorable to water-stable aggregates. The elastic-stable macroaggregate increased with lime, uncalcined dolomite based soil amendment functional fertilizer (UCDFF) and CDFF, and it was 3.0 to 4.2 times the microaggregate. The water-stable one of the CDFF was increased by 20.0%. The mean weight diameter (MWD) of the CDFF and the UCDFF increased by 0.05~0.19 mm, while that of lime only increased by 0.05 mm. The percentage of aggregate dispersion (PAD) of the CDFF was the least. SEM and EDS images revealed that Fe, Al, Si, Ca, Mg, C and O existed on the aggregates. The construction of stable aggregate lies in that the functional fertilizers can gradually neutralize soil H+ and prevent soil colloid dispersion. Soil particles are bounded together to construct micro-agglomerates and then macro-agglomerates through Ca2+, Mg2+ bond bridge and CaCO3, MgCO3 salt bridge and adhesion of SiO2, Fe2O3, Al2O3 as well as the other amorphous substances from the functional fertilizers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Tillage Systems and New Practices for Sustainable Farmland Conservation)
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18 pages, 4883 KiB  
Article
Medium-Term No-Tillage, Additional Compaction, and Chiseling as Affecting Clayey Subtropical Soil Physical Properties and Yield of Corn, Soybean and Wheat Crops
by Luis Eduardo Akiyoshi Sanches Suzuki, Dalvan José Reinert, Marlene Cristina Alves and José Miguel Reichert
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9717; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159717 - 7 Aug 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1344
Abstract
Understanding the soil-plant relationship is important to determine critical limits of soil properties that influence crop growth and yield. The objectives were to quantify the influence of soil compaction levels on physical properties and crop growth and yield in a clayey Oxisol. An [...] Read more.
Understanding the soil-plant relationship is important to determine critical limits of soil properties that influence crop growth and yield. The objectives were to quantify the influence of soil compaction levels on physical properties and crop growth and yield in a clayey Oxisol. An experiment was performed having in the main plots, levels of soil compaction (NT: no-tillage during six years, NTC: NT + four passes of a 10 Mg machine in the agricultural year 2003/2004, and Chisel: NT + chiseling and harrowing in the agricultural year 2003/2004), and in the sub-plots, the summer crops soybean and corn, and wheat in the winter season. We measured soil physical and mechanical properties, along with yield of corn, soybean and wheat, and root growth of that last two crops. After four passes of a 10 Mg machine, the soil resistance to penetration increased to a 0.12 m depth, while Chisel disrupted the 0–0.20 m soil layer, with the effects persisting for at least nine months. Soil compaction in no-tillage concentrated in the 0.05–0.15 m layer. Corn yield was similar among the treatments, soybean yield was highest in NT, and the highest yield of wheat was in the sequence with soybean under NT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Tillage Systems and New Practices for Sustainable Farmland Conservation)
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13 pages, 1101 KiB  
Article
Deep Placement of Compost into Vineyard Soil Affecting Physical Properties of Soils, Yield and Quality of Grapes
by Barbora Badalíková, Patrik Burg, Vladimír Mašán, Jakub Prudil, Ján Jobbágy, Alice Čížková, Koloman Krištof and Martin Vašinka
Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7823; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137823 - 27 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1781
Abstract
In recent years, research has focused on verifying various ways of dosing organic matter into the soil in Central European conditions. The main reason for this is to search for the optimal management methods for soils with permanent vegetation. In this article, we [...] Read more.
In recent years, research has focused on verifying various ways of dosing organic matter into the soil in Central European conditions. The main reason for this is to search for the optimal management methods for soils with permanent vegetation. In this article, we state and evaluate the results of experiments carried out at the Lednice experimental site (Sauvignon Blanc variety) and the Velké Bílovice experimental site (Pinot Gris variety) between 2018 and 2020. The experiments evaluated the deep placement of compost and compost enriched with lignohumax at a rate of 30 t·ha−1 in the areas around vineyard tree trunks on the basic physical properties of the soil and the yield and quality of grapes. Results proved the positive effect of compost heaps and compost combined with the applied lignohumax on improving soil density (2–10% difference compared with the unfertilized reference variant) and porosity, which ultimately resulted in improved soil moisture conditions at both experimental sites (8–25% difference compared with the unfertilized reference variant). At the same time, the results demonstrated the positive effect of the applied compost and the chosen method of application on the yield and quality of grapes. In the case of Sauvignon Blanc, the increase in yield in the fertilized variants was 12–34%, while, in the case of Pinot Gris, it ranged from 24 to 33%. Among qualitative indicators, the grapes of both varieties were evaluated for sugar content, total acidity, pH, and amount of yeast assimilable nitrogen. In this case, results were not unambiguous in favor of fertilized variants; however, in most cases, fertilization had a positive effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Tillage Systems and New Practices for Sustainable Farmland Conservation)
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