Can biostimulant usage with farmyard manure provide a higher carbon level in low-quality, conventionally managed croplands?

Abstract

The excessive use of mineral fertilizer and other conventional cultivation management practices causes decreased soil health and accelerated soil degradation in agricultural landscapes. This work aims to test biostimulants extracted from the lumbripost in annual croplands (maize cultivation). The experiment conducted in randomized block design with five replications was established in a semi-humid environment during 2018 and 2019 on Stagnosols in Croatia to obtain the possible implementation of biostimulants in maize cropping systems. Besides biostimulants, other treatments were farmyard manure (40 t ha−1) - FYM, biostimulant + FYM, and control. FYM, biostimulant + FYM, and biostimulant improved soil physical and chemical properties and yield of maize compared to control. Soil compaction and aggregate stability at the end of the experiment is significantly lower at FYM than at control plots. Control plots have significantly lower mean weight diameter of aggregates than other plots. Treatments generally did not impact soil chemical properties significantly. In 2018, CO2 emissions were significantly higher at FYM and biostimulant + FYM in addition to other treatments. In 2019, biostimulant and FYM treatments had significantly higher CO2 emissions than control. Maize yields were significantly higher at biostimulant + FYM than at biostimulant and control plots in 2018. In 2019, control plots recorded significantly lower maize grain yields than other treatments. Regularly using good practices like biostimulants and farmyard manure raises crop yields, increases aggregate size and stability, and reduces soil compaction. Using biostimulants and farmyard manure contributes to better land use management in annual rainfed croplands in Pannonian Croatia.

Keywords

• Biologically active compounds
• Conventional farming
• Land degradation
• Soil health
• Maize