Status of Soil Health Indicators after 18 Years of Systematic Tillage in a Long-Term Experiment

Long-term cultivation experiments are gaining more attention due to the possibility of following the changes in soil parameters (e.g., soil organic carbon (SOC), stock and soil health indicators, etc.). Our objective was to assess the status of soil in an 18-year-old tillage experiment after almost...

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Published in:	Agronomy (Basel) 2024-01, Vol.14 (2), p.278
Main Authors:	Ibrahim, Hanaa Tharwat Mohamed, Modiba, Maxwell Maimela, Dekemati, Igor, Gelybó, Györgyi, Birkás, Márta, Simon, Barbara
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Abundance Agricultural conservation Agriculture Air pollution Biological properties Biomass Bulk density Carbon dioxide Climate change Crop residues Cultivation earthworm Farming Indicator organisms Indicators long-term tillage Microorganisms Moisture content no-till Oligochaeta Organic carbon Organic fertilizers Organic soils Oxidation Phenolphthalein ploughing Respiration shallow cultivation Soil compaction Soil moisture soil organic carbon content and stock Soil properties Species composition Storage capacity Tillage Water content Worms
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Summary:	Long-term cultivation experiments are gaining more attention due to the possibility of following the changes in soil parameters (e.g., soil organic carbon (SOC), stock and soil health indicators, etc.). Our objective was to assess the status of soil in an 18-year-old tillage experiment after almost two decades of systematic tillage. In this research, soil physical (bulk density, moisture content), chemical (pH, SOC), and biological properties (soil microbial respiration, abundance, biomass, species composition of earthworms, yield) were used as indicators in three soil cultivation methods representing different degrees of disturbance (no-till—NT; shallow cultivation—SC; and ploughing—P). Based on our results, there were significant differences in bulk density (NT > SC, P) in 0–10 cm, and NT > P in deeper layers (10–20, 20–30, 30–40 cm), while the SOC content in 0–10 cm was the highest in NT (2.5%), followed by SC (2.4%) and P (2.0%). Soil microbial respiration was significantly greater in NT than in SC and P. The abundance and biomass of earthworms was the highest in NT (189 ind m−2, 41.26 g m−2), followed by SC (125 ind m−2, 36.9 g m−2) and P (48 ind m−2, 7.4 g m−2). We concluded that NT offered a beneficial habitat for earthworms and microorganisms and a high SOC storage capacity; however, bulk density was less convenient due to soil compaction in our experiment. Therefore, SC can be used as an alternative approach for sustainable soil tillage.
ISSN:	2073-4395 2073-4395