Agriculture
July 29, 2008 ? Tropical soils often behave differently than temperate soils when being farmed. In tropical regions, soils lose nutrients quickly when cultivated. With food shortages looming and soil quality declining rapidly, new farming techniques are needed to make tropical and sub-tropical farming more productive and sustainable. New research from Agronomy Journal shows that no-till management combined with a winter cover crop is most effective in retaining nutrients in tropical soils
- Agronomy
AgronomyAgronomy is a group of applied science disciplines concerned with land and soil management and crop production. Agronomists? areas of interest range from soil chemistry to soil-plant relationships to land reclamation. The word "agronomy" derives...
- Soil Management
Soil ManagementTillage, conservation, and cropping practices are soil management techniques that are used to preserve soil resources while optimizing soil use. Soils aremanaged differently depending on their intended use. Soil management groups are soil...
- Soil Management Practices
Besides storing more carbon and making more efficient use of nitrogen, good soil management will provide economic benefits through increased productivity, more efficient use of nutrients, and improved air and water quality. Agricultural soils act as efficient...
- What Does Organic Matter Do In Soil?
By Eddie FunderburgOf all the components of soil, organic matter is probably the most important and most misunderstood. Organic matter serves as a reservoir of nutrients and water in the soil, aids in reducing compaction and surface crusting, and increases...
- Conservation Agriculture-way To Prosperity
Ali Ahsan BajwaDepartment of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.38040, PakistanImportant Note: © Copyright to Agriculture Information Bank (www.agrinfobank.com), Without Publisher and Author Permission Reproduce/Reprint/Republished by any...
Agriculture
No-Tillage Plus: Cover Crops Offer A Model For Sustainability In Tropical Soils
No-Tillage Plus: Cover Crops Offer A Model For Sustainability In Tropical Soils
July 29, 2008 ? Tropical soils often behave differently than temperate soils when being farmed. In tropical regions, soils lose nutrients quickly when cultivated. With food shortages looming and soil quality declining rapidly, new farming techniques are needed to make tropical and sub-tropical farming more productive and sustainable. New research from Agronomy Journal shows that no-till management combined with a winter cover crop is most effective in retaining nutrients in tropical soilsAn international team of scientists from Brazil, France, and the U.S. studied the impact of different cover crops, crop rotation, and tillage on soil organic carbon storage after 19 years of crop production on a tropical soil in southern Brazil.
The results, published in the July-August issue of Agronomy Journal, show that no-tillage management combined with crop rotations including winter cover crops with high amounts of crop residues returned annually to the soil, will most likely maintain soil organic carbon stocks, and most likely mimic natural forested condition for tropical and subtropical areas.
This crop management, if adopted by farmers in tropical and sub-tropical regions, can help to keep land productive and sustainable.
Scientist Bill Hargrove from Kansas State University said, ?These results have broad implications for agricultural production in tropical areas in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. We can manage soils in ways that allow profitable crop production while mimicking natural vegetative conditions under which land is not degraded at accelerated rates.?
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080728192942.htm
Story Source:The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society of Agronomy.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Calegari et al. Impact of Long-Term No-Tillage and Cropping System Management on Soil Organic Carbon in an Oxisol: A Model for Sustainability. Agronomy Journal, 2008; 100 (4): 1013 DOI: 10.2134/agronj2007.0121
- Agronomy
AgronomyAgronomy is a group of applied science disciplines concerned with land and soil management and crop production. Agronomists? areas of interest range from soil chemistry to soil-plant relationships to land reclamation. The word "agronomy" derives...
- Soil Management
Soil ManagementTillage, conservation, and cropping practices are soil management techniques that are used to preserve soil resources while optimizing soil use. Soils aremanaged differently depending on their intended use. Soil management groups are soil...
- Soil Management Practices
Besides storing more carbon and making more efficient use of nitrogen, good soil management will provide economic benefits through increased productivity, more efficient use of nutrients, and improved air and water quality. Agricultural soils act as efficient...
- What Does Organic Matter Do In Soil?
By Eddie FunderburgOf all the components of soil, organic matter is probably the most important and most misunderstood. Organic matter serves as a reservoir of nutrients and water in the soil, aids in reducing compaction and surface crusting, and increases...
- Conservation Agriculture-way To Prosperity
Ali Ahsan BajwaDepartment of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.38040, PakistanImportant Note: © Copyright to Agriculture Information Bank (www.agrinfobank.com), Without Publisher and Author Permission Reproduce/Reprint/Republished by any...