Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting Systems
Conservation agriculture practices (CAs) are important under the increasingly serious soil quality degradation of sloping farmlands worldwide. However, little is known about how the long-term application of CAs influences soil quality at different slope positions. We conducted field experiments for...
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| author | Hongying Li Jun Tang Jing Wang Jun Qiao Ningyuan Zhu |
| author_facet | Hongying Li Jun Tang Jing Wang Jun Qiao Ningyuan Zhu |
| author_sort | Hongying Li |
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| description | Conservation agriculture practices (CAs) are important under the increasingly serious soil quality degradation of sloping farmlands worldwide. However, little is known about how the long-term application of CAs influences soil quality at different slope positions. We conducted field experiments for a watershed sloping farmland’s mainstream planting systems in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of China. Orchard plots were treated with a conventional citrus planting pattern (C-CK), citrus intercropped with white clover (WC), citrus orchard soil mulched with straw (SM) and citrus intercropped with <i>Hemerocallis flava</i> contour hedgerows (HF). Crop field plots were treated with a conventional wheat–peanut rotation (W-CK), a wheat–peanut rotation intercropped with <i>Toona sinensis</i> contour hedgerows (TS), a wheat–peanut rotation intercropped with alfalfa contour hedgerows (AF) and a ryegrass–sesame rotation (RS). We collected soil samples from the plots at the upper, middle and lower slope positions and measured their soil properties after a nine-year experiment. We found that (1) CAs improved the soil properties at the three slope positions; (2) the effect of the CAs on the soil properties was more significant than that on the slope position; and (3) the soil quality index at the upper, middle and lower slope positions increased by 29.9%, 45.8% and 33.3%, respectively, for WC; 48.7%, 39.5% and 27.1%, respectively, for SM; and 21.7%, 25.5% and 21.6%, respectively, for HF compared to C-CK; as well as 18.7%, 23.7% and 20.4%, respectively, for TS; 16.9%, 18.6% and 16.5%, respectively, for AF; and 16.1%, 13.0% and 13.9%, respectively, for RS compared to W-CK. These findings suggest that long-term CA application enhances the soil quality of the slope position, of which SM and TS applied to orchards and crop fields, respectively, are the most effective. |
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| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-4311aa54a97f40e3a34d5dfffbfb19bd2024-12-13T16:30:21ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472024-12-011323342010.3390/plants13233420Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting SystemsHongying Li0Jun Tang1Jing Wang2Jun Qiao3Ningyuan Zhu4State Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 298 Chuangyou Road, Nanjing 211135, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 298 Chuangyou Road, Nanjing 211135, ChinaRobert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University, 633 Clark Street, Evanston, IL 60208, USAState Key Laboratory of Soil and Sustainable Agriculture, Institute of Soil Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 298 Chuangyou Road, Nanjing 211135, ChinaCollege of Environment, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, ChinaConservation agriculture practices (CAs) are important under the increasingly serious soil quality degradation of sloping farmlands worldwide. However, little is known about how the long-term application of CAs influences soil quality at different slope positions. We conducted field experiments for a watershed sloping farmland’s mainstream planting systems in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of China. Orchard plots were treated with a conventional citrus planting pattern (C-CK), citrus intercropped with white clover (WC), citrus orchard soil mulched with straw (SM) and citrus intercropped with <i>Hemerocallis flava</i> contour hedgerows (HF). Crop field plots were treated with a conventional wheat–peanut rotation (W-CK), a wheat–peanut rotation intercropped with <i>Toona sinensis</i> contour hedgerows (TS), a wheat–peanut rotation intercropped with alfalfa contour hedgerows (AF) and a ryegrass–sesame rotation (RS). We collected soil samples from the plots at the upper, middle and lower slope positions and measured their soil properties after a nine-year experiment. We found that (1) CAs improved the soil properties at the three slope positions; (2) the effect of the CAs on the soil properties was more significant than that on the slope position; and (3) the soil quality index at the upper, middle and lower slope positions increased by 29.9%, 45.8% and 33.3%, respectively, for WC; 48.7%, 39.5% and 27.1%, respectively, for SM; and 21.7%, 25.5% and 21.6%, respectively, for HF compared to C-CK; as well as 18.7%, 23.7% and 20.4%, respectively, for TS; 16.9%, 18.6% and 16.5%, respectively, for AF; and 16.1%, 13.0% and 13.9%, respectively, for RS compared to W-CK. These findings suggest that long-term CA application enhances the soil quality of the slope position, of which SM and TS applied to orchards and crop fields, respectively, are the most effective.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/23/3420soil erosionorchardcrop fielddiscriminant analysissoil quality index |
| spellingShingle | Hongying Li Jun Tang Jing Wang Jun Qiao Ningyuan Zhu Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting Systems Plants soil erosion orchard crop field discriminant analysis soil quality index |
| title | Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting Systems |
| title_full | Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting Systems |
| title_fullStr | Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting Systems |
| title_short | Long-Term Conservation Agriculture Improves Soil Quality in Sloped Farmland Planting Systems |
| title_sort | long term conservation agriculture improves soil quality in sloped farmland planting systems |
| topic | soil erosion orchard crop field discriminant analysis soil quality index |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/23/3420 |
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