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Agronomy
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The Effects of Crop Tillage Systems on Carbon Dynamics in...
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The Effects of Crop Tillage Systems on Carbon Dynamics in Soils

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Agroecology Innovation: Achieving System Resilience".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 8210

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pavel Krasilnikov

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Guest Editor
Department of Soil Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1, 119991 Moscow, Russia
Interests: sustainability; soil conservation; carbon sequestration; land degradation; soil classification; pedology; soil geography; spatial variability of soil properties; soil survey; pedogenesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Miguel A. Taboada

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto De Investigación Suelos, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Nicolas Repetto y de los Reseros s/n, Buenos Aires 1686, Argentina
Interests: soil physics; water and soil management and conservation; soil fertility; tillage systems; soil quality indicators; soil salinity; greenhouse gas emissions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Building up soil organic matter stock in croplands can greatly help tackle the three main challenges faced by world agriculture today: high productivity, low greenhouse gases emissions and adaptation to climate change. Soil organic carbon is increasingly considered in the climatic change agenda as a major dynamic terrestrial stock of carbon. The challenging initiative “4 per 1000” further developed within the Koronivia Joint Work for Agriculture framework encourages agriculturalists to apply techniques for carbon sequestration in agricultural soils. However, the possibility of effective soil organic matter management has certain limitations, including the following constraints: the quantity of carbon stored in soil is finite, the process is reversible and building up soil organic carbon can potentially increase the emissions of climatically active gases from soil. Measurement, monitoring, and modelling of carbon dynamics in soils are of major importance for understanding the potential ability of soil management techniques to help carbon sequestration in soils. The development of carbon-friendly crop tillage systems is required at the regional level.

Original research and review papers are invited. Authors from developing countries are especially welcomed. Papers chosen for publication will be selected by a rigorous peer-review procedure, with the aim of rapidly disseminating the research results.

Key topics in this Special Issue include but are not limited to the following:

  • The assessment of carbon dynamics and monitoring greenhouse gases fluxes from soil under various cropping systems;
  • The effects of organic fertilizers (crop residues, animal manures, compost, biochar, ashes etc.) on soil carbon dynamics;
  • Conservation agriculture and other non-conventional land management practices for the enhancement of carbon sequestration in soils;
  • Modelling of soil carbon dynamics under various cropping systems and changing climate conditions;
  • Economic assessment of the suitability of various crop tillage systems for increasing organic carbon stock in soils.

Dr. Pavel Krasilnikov
Dr. Miguel A. Taboada
Guest Editors

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. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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

  • soil carbon transformation
  • greenhouse gases emission
  • conservation agriculture
  • no-till soil management
  • microbial activity
  • biological fertilizers
  • dynamic SOC modelling
  • sustainable soil management
  • growers’ income or economic analysis

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3814 KiB  
Article
Effects of Organic Amendments on Soil Pore Structure under Waterlogging Stress
by Kefan Xuan, Xiaopeng Li, Jiabao Zhang, Yifei Jiang, Bin Ma and Jianli Liu
Agronomy 2023, 13(2), 289; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13020289 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2487
Abstract
Organic amendments are a proven method of reducing soil erosion. However, the effect of organic additives on the pore properties of soils waterlogged by extreme rainfall has been minimally investigated. In this study, we collected rainfall data, established a field experiment consisting of [...] Read more.
Organic amendments are a proven method of reducing soil erosion. However, the effect of organic additives on the pore properties of soils waterlogged by extreme rainfall has been minimally investigated. In this study, we collected rainfall data, established a field experiment consisting of randomized groups, and imaged the pore structure of waterlogged soil treated with different organic amendments (9 t ha−1 of maize straw [MS], 2.37 t ha−1 of cattle manure [OF], a mixture of 9 t ha−1 of MS and 1.89 t ha−1 of cattle manure [SOF], 7.4 t ha−1 of biochar [BC], 8.1 t ha−1 of woody peat [WP], and 3 L ha−1 of polyacrylamide [PAM]) in three-dimensions by X-ray microtomography and digital image analysis, which further quantified the effects. The results showed that, compared with the control, BC increased the total porosity by 54.28% and the connected porosity by 119.75%, but did not affect the pore shape and size distribution. BC and SOF improved the soil connectivity indexes; e.g., their C/I ratios increased by 177.44% and 149.62%, and the coordination numbers increased by 6.75% and 15.76%, respectively. MS had fewer, but longer and larger, channels and throats. Extreme precipitation events were significantly negatively correlated with all connectivity indicators. This study shows that organic materials can optimize the pore structure of waterlogged soil, with BC being the most resistant to erosion. However, extreme precipitation events can counteract the benefits organic additives have on soil pore structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Crop Tillage Systems on Carbon Dynamics in Soils)
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13 pages, 2119 KiB  
Article
Effects of Organic and Inorganic Fertilization on Soil Organic Carbon and Enzymatic Activities
by Congzhi Zhang, Zhanhui Zhao, Fang Li and Jiabao Zhang
Agronomy 2022, 12(12), 3125; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12123125 - 9 Dec 2022
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3277
Abstract
The overapplication of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer has become a scientific problem to be solved in the North China Plain; meanwhile, most organic manure cannot be recycled into the soil. To make full use of organic manure and decrease the applied rate of [...] Read more.
The overapplication of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer has become a scientific problem to be solved in the North China Plain; meanwhile, most organic manure cannot be recycled into the soil. To make full use of organic manure and decrease the applied rate of mineral N fertilizer, a four-year fertilization experiment was carried out to assess the effects of substituting mineral fertilizer with organic manure on soil organic carbon (SOC), labile organic carbon (LOC), stable organic carbon (UOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and soil enzymatic activity. There were six treatments including unfertilized control (CK); mineral fertilizer without organic manure (FR); and mineral nitrogen substituted by organic manure at 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% (FM1, FM2, FM3, and FM4), respectively. The results showed that SOC, UOC, and LOC were significantly increased by 13.30~40.56%, 41.10~121.92%, and 4.91~15.57% with increasing amounts of organic manure, respectively. Adding organic manure also enhanced urease, catalase, sucrase, and cellulase activities as well as MBC in surface soil (0–20 cm). The present study revealed the activities of urease, catalase, sucrase, and cellulase were closely related to SOC and its components. Following organic manure application, MBC and enzymatic activities had active effects in enhancing LOC and UOC sequestration based on path analyses. Additionally, organic manure increased SOC by direct and indirect enhancement of UOC and LOC, respectively, and improved SOC sequestration as compared to FR treatment. Finally, the study revealed that SOC quantity and quality were both significantly improved by combined application of mineral fertilizer and organic manure, and this effect was enhanced with the increase of organic manure application. Considering the improvements in soil properties and grain yields, substituting mineral fertilizer with organic manure might be a promising alternative in the North China Plain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Crop Tillage Systems on Carbon Dynamics in Soils)
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18 pages, 1926 KiB  
Article
Environmental and Energy Analysis of Two Orchard Systems: A Case Study in Mediterranean Environment
by Maria Pergola, Alessandro Persiani, Daniele D’Ammaro, Vittoria Pastore, Carmine D’Adamo, Assunta Maria Palese and Giuseppe Celano
Agronomy 2022, 12(10), 2556; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12102556 - 19 Oct 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1926
Abstract
This paper aimed to analyse and compare the environmental and energy sustainability of two orchards (peach versus kiwifruit) located in Southern Italy using Life Cycle Thinking. To this end, anthropogenic energy, CO2 emissions, biogenic energy and carbon gains were also considered through [...] Read more.
This paper aimed to analyse and compare the environmental and energy sustainability of two orchards (peach versus kiwifruit) located in Southern Italy using Life Cycle Thinking. To this end, anthropogenic energy, CO2 emissions, biogenic energy and carbon gains were also considered through Life Cycle Assessment methodology and Energy Analysis. The C–CO2 balance was calculated as the difference between total C–CO2 stored in soil and trees, at the end of their life cycles, and orchards Carbon Footprint (CF). The results showed that the production of 1 kg of peaches caused minor impacts, especially with reference to CF (0.124 kg CO2 eq against 0.145 for kiwifruit), while it required 1.56 MJ of energy against 1.32 MJ for kiwifruit. In both orchards the main sources of direct CO2 emissions came from fuel combustion, nitrous oxide release by crop residue decomposition, and nitrogenous fertilizer distribution. Nevertheless, both orchards had sustainable environmental and energy results. Despite the management of the orchards releasing CO2 and consuming energy, they showed a significant capacity to store CO2 and energy, proving to be virtuous systems. This research can give useful indications for farmers, farmer associations, technicians, and stakeholders to improve orchard management efficiency. The net balance approach seems to be an adequate strategy, allowing best estimation of environmental impacts and guiding farmer decisions towards more sustainable alternatives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Crop Tillage Systems on Carbon Dynamics in Soils)
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