Seasonal changes in the levels of soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), N-mineralization rate and available-N concentration were studied in rice±barley supporting tropical dryland (rainfed) agroecosystem under six combinations of tillage (conventional, minimum and zero tillage) and crop residue manipulation (retained or removed) conditions. Highest levels of soil MBC and MBN (368±503 and ...

Understanding management factors driving soil biota is pivotal to improve the sustainability of cropping systems, especially given emergence new systems induced by bioeconomy. Here, we investigated combined effects tillage practices (tillage versus no-tillage) and contrasted including conventional, feed biogas on earthworm communities microbial metabolic activity diversity (using Biolog Ecoplat...

Conservation tillage systems that reduce soil erosion and maintain or increase soil carbon offer long-term benefits for producers in the inland Pacific Northwestern United States but could result in reduced grain yields due to increased pressure from weeds, disease, and insect pests. Our objective was to compare runoff, soil erosion, and crop yields from a conventional tillage, wheat-fallow two...

The compaction of soils used for crop production is becoming an increasingly important consideration in South Africa following the shift towards reduced tillage and increased mechanisation of in-season operations and harvesting. The intensification of dairying has also been found to have a deleterious effect on soil quality, particularly in terms of compaction by trampling, which results in los...

Traditional agriculture in rainfed uplands of India has been experiencing low agricultural productivity as the lands suffer from poor soil fertility, susceptibility to water erosion and other external pressures of development and climate change. A shift toward more sustainable cropping systems such as conservation agriculture production systems (CAPSs) may help in maintaining soil quality as we...

Biological indicators based on abundances of soil organisms are powerful tools for inferring functional and diversity changes in soils affected by agricultural perturbations. Field plots, combining organic and conventional practices with no tillage, conservation tillage and standard tillage maintained different nematode assemblages and soil food webs. Soil food web indices based on nematode ass...

In dryland cropping systems, optimal yields require that nutrient supply matches the soil’s yield potential supported by available moisture. Conservation tillage systems that leave at least 30 percent of the soil surface covered by residue dramatically increase moisture retained in the soil compared to crop-fallow systems. This enables producers to plant two, three, or four consecutive crops, o...

Weeds pose a major threat to world agriculture by reducing detrimentally crop yield and quality. However, at the same time, weeds are major interacting components of the agroecosystems. Abundance and diversity of weeds vary significantly among the several communities. In order to evaluate each community’s structure and the interactions among them, several population indices are used as key tool...

to determinine the timeliness cost of machine operation, farm-level data were collected from random sample of 227 sugar beet farms located in the three major districts of fars province of iran: eghlid, marvdasht and fasa in 2006.  the results showed that timeliness cost of tillage practices (plough and land leveling), applying fertilizers before planting and timeliness in seed planting per ever...