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Soil quality as affected by tillage-residue management in a wheat-maize irrigated bed planting system

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Abstract

There is a clear need to develop conservation agriculture technologies appropriate for surface irrigated conditions, and the adoption by small-scale farmers. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect on soil quality of five different tillage-crop residue management systems (conventionally tilled raised beds [CTB] with residue incorporated and permanent raised beds [PB] with residue burned, removed, partly retained or fully retained). Data were collected in a long-term trial established in 1992 with a wheat-maize rotation under irrigated, arid conditions in north-western Mexico. Three groups of tillage-straw systems with different characteristics in relation to the soil environment were distinguished: PB-straw burned, CTB-straw incorporated, and PB-straw not burned. The PB-straw burned had high electrical conductivity, Na concentration and penetration resistance and low soil resilience and aggregation, showing that the combination of PB with the burning of residues is not a sustainable management option. The CTB-straw incorporated was distinguished from the PB practices by the soil physical variables, especially the low direct infiltration and aggregate stability, indicating degradation of physical soil quality in this system. The practice of PB, where all or part of the residue is retained in the field, seems to be the most sustainable option for this cropping system.

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Abbreviations

CTB:

conventionally tilled raised beds

PB:

permanent raised beds

DI:

dispersion index

PCA:

principal component analysis

PC:

principal component

MWD:

mean weight diameter

SMB:

soil microbial biomass

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Acknowledgements

N.V. received a PhD fellowship of the Research Foundation—Flanders and F.K. received an MSc scholarship of the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT). We thank M. Ruiz Cano, J. Gutierrez Angulo, J. Sanchez Lopez, A. Zermeño, C. Rascon and B. Martínez Ortiz for technical assistance, Dr. J. Crossa (Biometrics & Statistics, CIMMYT) for help with the analysis of the data and Francesca Vaghi for editing and correction of the manuscript. The research was funded by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT, Int.) and its strategic partners and donors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Nele Verhulst, Ken D. Sayre & Bram Govaerts

  2. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200 E, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Nele Verhulst, Jozef Deckers & Dirk Raes

  3. Postgrado de Hidrociencias, Campus Montecillo, Colegio de Postgraduados, km 36.5 carretera México-Texcoco, Montecillo, Estado de México, CP 56230, México

    Fabian Kienle & Leonardo Tijerina-Chavez

  4. INIFAP-CEVAMEX, AP10, Km 17.5 Carr. México-Lechería, CP 56230, Chapingo, Mexico

    Agustin Limon-Ortega

Authors
  1. Nele Verhulst
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  2. Fabian Kienle
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  3. Ken D. Sayre
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  6. Agustin Limon-Ortega
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  7. Leonardo Tijerina-Chavez
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Correspondence to Bram Govaerts.

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Responsible Editor: Yong Chao Liang.

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Verhulst, N., Kienle, F., Sayre, K.D. et al. Soil quality as affected by tillage-residue management in a wheat-maize irrigated bed planting system. Plant Soil 340, 453–466 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0618-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0618-5

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