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Agronomy
Special Issues
Soil Organic Matter and Tillage
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Soil Organic Matter and Tillage

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Soil and Plant Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2025 | Viewed by 2253

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Cledimar Rogerio Lourenzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Engenharia Rural, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88034-000, SC, Brazil
Interests: soil organic matter; cover crops; soil management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Arcângelo Loss

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Engenharia Rural, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis 88034-000, SC, Brazil
Interests: soil organic matter; cover crops; soil management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Heike Knicker

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Group of Interactions between Soils, Plants and Microorganisms, Departament of Food Biotechnology, Instituto de la Grasa (IG-CSIC), 41012 Sevilla, Spain
Interests: solid-state NMR; spectroscopy biogeochemistry; carbon sequestration; soil forest fires; biochar; organic matter; humic acid; soil chemistry; biodegradation; humic substances
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soil organic matter (SOM) dynamics under different tillage practices play a crucial role in soil health and agricultural sustainability. Conventional tillage accelerates SOM decomposition, while reduced tillage or no-till systems preserve SOM, enhancing soil fertility and structure. Factors like climate and crop residue management influence these dynamics. Long-term studies show that reduced tillage systems stabilize or increase SOM levels over time. Adopting reduced tillage practices can improve soil quality and resilience, but effectiveness varies based on local conditions. Overall, understanding the interplay between tillage practices and SOM dynamics is vital for optimizing agricultural productivity while minimizing environmental impact.

In this Special Issue, we aim to exchange knowledge on various aspects related to soil organic matter dynamics in agricultural soils under different tillage practices, including their impact on soil health, nutrient cycling, and long-term sustainability.

Dr. Cledimar Rogerio Lourenzi
Dr. Arcângelo Loss
Prof. Dr. Heike Knicker
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

  • conventional tillage
  • reduced tillage
  • no-till systems
  • soil health
  • agricultural sustainability
  • crop residue management
  • long-term studies
  • soil fertility
  • soil structure
  • environmental impact

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 1657 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Impact of No-Tillage Duration on Soil Aggregate Size Distribution, Stability and Aggregate Associated Organic Carbon
by Kopano Conferance Phefadu and Lawrence Munjonji
Agronomy 2024, 14(11), 2482; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14112482 - 24 Oct 2024
Viewed by 543
Abstract
Soil aggregation results from the rearrangement, flocculation and cementation of primary soil particles. Furthermore, the aggregates undergo transformation under no-tillage (NT) overtime. Soil organic carbon (OC) is the major component of soil organic matter and is protected within aggregates and can serve as [...] Read more.
Soil aggregation results from the rearrangement, flocculation and cementation of primary soil particles. Furthermore, the aggregates undergo transformation under no-tillage (NT) overtime. Soil organic carbon (OC) is the major component of soil organic matter and is protected within aggregates and can serve as a proxy for soil structural stability. Organic matter contributes significantly to the formation of soil aggregates and the carbon within them is protected against degradation. This study assessed the impact of tillage systems, soil depth and no-till duration on soil aggregate size distribution, stability and aggregate associated carbon. It was carried out in Thohoyandou (Tshivhilwi and Dzingahe), Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa. The soil samples were collected from NT, conventional tillage (CT) and virgin (VG) fields in the topsoil (0–30 cm) and subsoil (30–60 cm) at each location. The duration of NT for fields in Tshivhilwi and Dzingahe were 8 years (short-term) and >40 years (long-term), respectively. The results showed that macro-aggregates constituted the largest proportion of aggregates, with a percentage contribution of >60% during the short-term and long-term. The mean weight diameter (MWD) varied significantly between NT and VG in the subsoil for the short-term NT. The aggregates were more stable in the short-term NT than long-term NT. Organic carbon in all aggregate fractions between the tillage systems in the topsoil was not significantly affected after more than 40 years. The MWD was higher in the subsoil than topsoil in NT and CT during both periods. Micro-aggregates contained greater OC than other fractions. The study showed that the impact of NT on aggregation, structural stability and the capacity to store carbon vary overtime. It is recommended that the aggregation and/or structural stability of different soil textures under NT with different cropping systems and management practices should be studied periodically. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Matter and Tillage)
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15 pages, 2787 KiB  
Article
Effects of Tillage and Straw Mulching on Soil Hydrothermal and Nutrient Content in Agricultural Soil
by Zijia Feng, Bai Wang, He Wang and Yan Huang
Agronomy 2024, 14(9), 2147; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14092147 - 20 Sep 2024
Viewed by 475
Abstract
Long-term intensive tillage has led to soil environment degradation, reduced fertility, and difficulty in increasing crop yield in the Mollisol region of northeast China. In order to improve the soil’shydrothermal environment and nutrient content, we conducted field experiments to investigate the effects of [...] Read more.
Long-term intensive tillage has led to soil environment degradation, reduced fertility, and difficulty in increasing crop yield in the Mollisol region of northeast China. In order to improve the soil’shydrothermal environment and nutrient content, we conducted field experiments to investigate the effects of different tillage practices and the amount of straw mulching on soil hydrothermal environment and nutrient content in agricultural soils in seasonal permafrost areas. Four treatments were established: no-tillage without straw (NT0), no-tillage with half straw mulching (NT1), no-tillage with full straw mulching (NT2), and rotary tillage without straw (CK) as the control treatment. The results indicate that the no-tillage with straw mulching treatments increased the soil ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and nitrate nitrogen (NO3−-N) content, accompanied by improvements in the soil’s water content and regulation of soil temperature changes, as compared to the CK treatment. Specifically, the soil’s NH4+-N and NO3−-N content in the NT2 treatment were significantly increased by 25.65% and 38.81%, respectively. Our study indicates that NT2 treatment is the most suitable tillage practice and straw-returning method in the Mollisol region of northeast China. This study can provide a theoretical basis and reference for the efficient utilization of farmland soil in seasonal permafrost areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Matter and Tillage)
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17 pages, 1539 KiB  
Article
Managing Residue Return Increases Soil Organic Carbon, Total Nitrogen in the Soil Aggregate, and the Grain Yield of Winter Wheat
by Yuhai Tang, Xiangju Cui, Haicheng Xu, Dianliang Peng and Bin Liang
Agronomy 2024, 14(7), 1584; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071584 - 20 Jul 2024
Viewed by 749
Abstract
Soil tillage and maize residues return are important practices for tackling and promoting soil quality and improving crop yield in the North China Plain (NCP), where winter wheat production is threatened by soil deterioration. Although maize residues incorporation with rotary tillage (RS) or [...] Read more.
Soil tillage and maize residues return are important practices for tackling and promoting soil quality and improving crop yield in the North China Plain (NCP), where winter wheat production is threatened by soil deterioration. Although maize residues incorporation with rotary tillage (RS) or deep plowing tillage (DS) is widespread in this region, only few studies have focused on rotation tillage. Four practices, namely RT (continuous rotary tillage without maize residues return), RS, DS, and RS/DS (rotary tillage every year and deep plowing interval of 2 years), were evaluated under field conditions lasting a period of 5 years. After a 5-year field experiment, the mean soil bulk density of the 0–30 cm soil layer decreased significantly with RS, DS, and RS/DS, i.e., by 4.19%, 6.33%, and 6.71% compared with RT, respectively. The treatments greatly improved the total soil porosity, soil aggregate size distribution, soil aggregate stability, and the root length density in the 0–30 cm soil layers. Residues return with DS and RS/DS treatments significantly increased the soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) storage in the 0–30 cm soil layer, mainly owed to the increases in the SOC and TN pool associated with the macro-aggregate. A positive trend in the grain yield was noted under both DS and RS/DS conditions, whereas a decreasing tendency was presented in continuous rotary treatments. In summary, RS/DS treatment significantly increased the amount of SOC and TN, improved the particle size distribution of soil aggregates, and thus improved the soil’s physicochemical properties, which is beneficial for wheat to achieve high yields. Our results suggested that RS/DS was a highly efficient practice to improve soil quality and increase crop production in the NCP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Organic Matter and Tillage)
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