Conservation agriculture (CA) is an agronomic system, including no-tillage, cover crops and residue retention on the soil surface, which represents more sustainable management compared to conventional ploughing systems (CV). Conservation agriculture is widespread in some parts of the world (i.e. South America and the USA), whereas it is still developing in others (i.e. Europe). One of the main reasons for the slow European uptake of CA is low yield because of the worsening of soil physical quality, in particular increased compaction and reduced hydraulic permeability. The effects of CA on soil physical dynamics are poorly documented, particularly during the transition phase between CV and CA and for fine-textured soils. Therefore, in this study, the effects of CA on soil volumetric water content, bulk density, penetration resistance and electrical resistivity are presented over a 3-year monitoring period. The experiment was established in 2010 on four farms in the Veneto region (northeastern Italy) with silty soils, where CA practice was compared with CV. The dynamics of soil physical properties were monitored from 2014 to 2016 following a 3-year crop rotation cycle. Every year, bulk density analysis, a penetration resistance test and three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography were performed. The results showed that soil physical properties clustered depending on soil texture: in silty loam soils any specific improvements were highlighted after 6 years of CA, whereas in loamy soils soil compaction was observed in both CA and CV. Indeed, CA resulted in soil compaction below a depth of 10 cm (+107% of degree of compaction), whereas CV resulted in the formation of a plough pan in the 35–55-cm layer (+111% of degree of compaction). The low soil organic carbon and low clay contents made loamy soil particularly prone to compaction, highlighting the influence of fine texture on soil structure evolution during the transition phase.
Examining conservation agriculture soil profiles: Outcomes from northeastern Italian silty soils combining indirect geophysical and direct assessment methods
Piccoli I.
;Morari F.
2020
Abstract
Conservation agriculture (CA) is an agronomic system, including no-tillage, cover crops and residue retention on the soil surface, which represents more sustainable management compared to conventional ploughing systems (CV). Conservation agriculture is widespread in some parts of the world (i.e. South America and the USA), whereas it is still developing in others (i.e. Europe). One of the main reasons for the slow European uptake of CA is low yield because of the worsening of soil physical quality, in particular increased compaction and reduced hydraulic permeability. The effects of CA on soil physical dynamics are poorly documented, particularly during the transition phase between CV and CA and for fine-textured soils. Therefore, in this study, the effects of CA on soil volumetric water content, bulk density, penetration resistance and electrical resistivity are presented over a 3-year monitoring period. The experiment was established in 2010 on four farms in the Veneto region (northeastern Italy) with silty soils, where CA practice was compared with CV. The dynamics of soil physical properties were monitored from 2014 to 2016 following a 3-year crop rotation cycle. Every year, bulk density analysis, a penetration resistance test and three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography were performed. The results showed that soil physical properties clustered depending on soil texture: in silty loam soils any specific improvements were highlighted after 6 years of CA, whereas in loamy soils soil compaction was observed in both CA and CV. Indeed, CA resulted in soil compaction below a depth of 10 cm (+107% of degree of compaction), whereas CV resulted in the formation of a plough pan in the 35–55-cm layer (+111% of degree of compaction). The low soil organic carbon and low clay contents made loamy soil particularly prone to compaction, highlighting the influence of fine texture on soil structure evolution during the transition phase.
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