Preliminary Effects of Crop Residue Management on Soil Quality and Crop Production under Different Soil Management Regimes in Corn-Wheat Rotation Systems

Morad Mirzaei; Manouchehr Gorji Anari; Ehsan Razavy-Toosi; Hossein Asadi; Ebrahim Moghiseh; Nermina Saronjic; Jesús Rodrigo-Comino

doi:10.3390/agronomy11020302

Agronomy (Feb 2021)

Preliminary Effects of Crop Residue Management on Soil Quality and Crop Production under Different Soil Management Regimes in Corn-Wheat Rotation Systems

Morad Mirzaei,
Manouchehr Gorji Anari,
Ehsan Razavy-Toosi,
Hossein Asadi,
Ebrahim Moghiseh,
Nermina Saronjic,
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino

Affiliations

Morad Mirzaei: Department of Soil Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran, Karaj 31587-77871, Iran
Manouchehr Gorji Anari: Department of Soil Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran, Karaj 31587-77871, Iran
Ehsan Razavy-Toosi: Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Hossein Asadi: Department of Soil Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran, Karaj 31587-77871, Iran
Ebrahim Moghiseh: Nuclear Agriculture Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Karaj 31465-1498, Iran
Nermina Saronjic: Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, Institute of Soil Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Peter-Jordan Strasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Jesús Rodrigo-Comino: Soil Erosion and Degradation Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020302
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11, no. 2
p. 302

Abstract

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Strategic management of crop residues is essential to enhance soil quality for sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the specific amounts of crop residues needed to improve soil quality characteristics which are key to develop economic plans. In this study, we investigated the effects of applying crop residue at five rates, including 100% (R100), 75% (R75), 50% (R50), 25% (R25), and 0% (R0), on wheat yield and soil properties. Field experiments were conducted for two cropping seasons in a wheat-corn rotation under conventional (CT) and no-till (NT) systems to observe the first results obtained during short-term periods (one-year application). During the study, the wheat and corn fields were irrigated. Application of plant residue resulted in increased soil organic carbon (SOC) and available nutrients and improved soil physical properties, i.e., aggregates mean weight diameter in wet (MWDw) and dry (MWDd) conditions, water-stable aggregates (WSA), dry-stable aggregates, (DSA), soil water infiltration (SWI), soil available water (SAW), and yield of wheat and corn. The effects were stronger at higher residue application rates. In the CT system, compared to R0, R100 resulted in the highest increase equal to 38, 29, 23, 34, 35, 41, and 11% for SOC, MWDw, MWDd, WSA, DSA, SAW, and wheat grain yield, respectively. This was equivalent to 28, 19.5, 19, 37, 44, 52, and 6% for the NT system, respectively. Generally, the NT system resulted in a stratification of the soil properties within 0–10 cm compared to 10–20 cm soil depth, but a uniform distribution for both depths under CT system. Overall, these results show that crop residue application can improve soil quality and yield in cereal production systems under semi-arid conditions during the first year of application. It will be key to monitor these changes in along-term field studies.

Published in Agronomy

ISSN: 2073-4395 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Agriculture
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy

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