Soil Aggregates Stability Response to Summer Fallow Tillage in Rainfed Winter Wheat Fields on the Loess Plateau

Changes in soil microbial communities after 10 years of winter wheat cultivation versus fallow in an organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China

Agricultural management methods, such as cultivation or fallowing, have led to significant changes in soil fertility and hence, crop yield. Such changes may have stemmed from changes in soil microbial communities and associated biogeochemical processes. This phenomenon is particularly true in organic-poor soil in the Loess Plateau of China. In this study, we examined three existing soil managem...

Water–use efficiency of dryland wheat in response to mulching and tillage practices on the Loess Plateau

Mulching and tillage are widely considered to be major practices for improving soil and water conservation where water is scarce. This paper studied the effects of FM (flat mulching), RFM (ridge-furrow mulching), SM (straw mulching), MTMC (mulching with two materials combined), MOM (mulching with other materials), NT (no-tillage) ST (subsoiling tillage) and RT (rotational tillage) on wheat yiel...

Effects of No-tillage Fallow as Compared to Conventional Tillage in a Wheat-fallow System

Effects of Water Saving Practices on Winter Wheat and Summer Maize Yields in South Loess Plateau of Northwest China

A field experiment, laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement having four replications, was conducted at the south edge of Loess Plateau, Shaanxi, China to evaluate the responses of winter wheat and summer maize to different water saving management practices involving four mulching and irrigation treatments, i.e., plastic mulch ridge and straw mulch furrow ...

Long-Term Monitoring of Rainfed Wheat Yield and Soil Water at the Loess Plateau Reveals Low Water Use Efficiency

Increasing crop yield and water use efficiency (WUE) in dryland farming requires a quantitative understanding of relationships between crop yield and the water balance over many years. Here, we report on a long-term dryland monitoring site at the Loess Plateau, Shanxi, China, where winter wheat was grown for 30 consecutive years and soil water content (0-200 cm) was measured every 10 days. The ...