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The potential of no-till and residue management to sequester carbon under Mediterranean conditions |
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Soil organic matter contents under Mediterranean climatic conditions frequently are low to very low, especially where extensive land use and thus low biomass production is predominant.
Reducing tillage intensity and maintaining crop
residues in the field are considered to be promising agricultural
practices to counteract the decline in soil organic carbon. The
objectives of this work were to study the combination of no-till and
the use of different crops and amounts of residues and their management
on the evolution of soil organic matter. In two trials, crops were
established under no-till over 3 years using different levels of wheat
straw and their management and one treatment with residues of chickpea.
Initial and final soil organic matter contents were analysed. The
results indicate that the higher the amount of residues returned to the
field the higher the increase of soil organic matter. Maintenance of
straw compared to in situ feeding enhances the build-up of soil
organic matter. Chickpea as a low biomass producing crop with a low C/N
ratio of its residues showed no positive effect in terms of soil
organic matter improvement. The results suggest that the return of
cereal residues instead of its removal or grazing in combination with
no-till for crop establishment can contribute considerably to improvethe low soil organic matter levels found in Mediterranean environments.
Documents:
ECOMIT 2008_SOC.pdf
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