John R. Teasdale is a plant physiologist at the Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville, Maryland. N o-tillage cropping systems are known to provide many benefits to soils that can enhance production of grain crops. Many of the improvements to soils that result from no-tillage production such as increases in soil aggregation, water-holding cap...

Sweetpotatoes, Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. (Convolvulaceae), are typically grown on bare soil where weeds and erosion can be serious problems. Conservation tillage systems using cover crop residues as mulch can help reduce these problems, but little is known about how conservation tillage affects yield and quality of sweetpotato or how these systems impact populations of beneficial and pest insec...

Excessive harvest of corn (Zea mays L.) stover for ethanol production has raised concerns regarding negative consequences on soil physical quality. Our objective was to quantify the impact of two tillage practices and three levels of corn stover harvest on near-surface soil physical quality through the Least Limiting Water Range (LLWR). We evaluated no harvest, moderate and high stover harvest ...

Soil organic C (SOC) and total N (TN) contents play a crucial role in sustaining agricultural production systems. Short-term ( 10-year) management effects on SOC and TN dynamics are often complex and variable. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate short-term tillage and cropping system effects on SOC and TN within the 0–30 cm soil depth across Iowa. The first experiment with no-tillage a...

Conservation tillage is an extensively used agricultural practice in northern China that alters soil texture and nutrient conditions, causing changes in the soil microbial community. However, how conservation tillage affects rhizosphere and bulk soil fungal communities during plant growth remains unclear. The present study investigated the effect of long-term (6 years) conservation (chisel plow...

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) yield and quality responses to irrigation have not been described for conservation management systems that growers are rapidly adopting. We conducted a field experiment from 2001–2003 in the Tennessee Valley near Belle Mina, AL on a Decatur silt loam (fine, kaolinitic, thermic Rhodic Paleudults) to examine how irrigation regimes and tillage systems affect ginning ...

The low average grain yield (0.7 ton ha(-1)) of tef in Ethiopia is mainly attributed to low soil fertility, and inappropriate tillage and weeds control practices. Despite this, limited scientific information has been documented so far on their interaction effects on tef crop productivity in northern Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to assess the separate and interaction effects of till...

Post-Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land may provide an excellent opportunity to satisfy certified organic crop production requirements. However, conversion of CRP or long-term pastureland to certified organic production will require tillage because the use of herbicides is prohibited in organic production. Our objectives were to evaluate stand establishment, weed competition, yield, and gr...

Maintenance and improvement of soil quality in continuous cropping systems is critical to sustaining agricultural productivity and environmental quality for future generations. This review focuses on lessons learned from long-term continuous cropping experiments. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most often reported attribute from long-term studies and is chosen as the most important indicator o...

BACKGROUND A three-year field experiment was conducted to examine the responses of corn yield and soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission to various management practices in middle Tennessee. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The management practices include no-tillage + regular applications of urea ammonium nitrate (NT-URAN); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + denitrification inhibitor (NT-in...