Reduced tillage practices present a tool that could sustainably intensify agriculture. The existing literature, however, lacks consensus on how and when reduced should get implemented. We reanalyzed here an extensive dataset comparing regular (i.e., conventional tillage) impacted yield of eight crops compared to stopping altogether no-tillage practice). observed aridity fertilization favored no...

Subsoiling a compacted soil should loosen it, improve the physical conditions, and increase nutrient availability and crop yields. The aim of this work is to compare the effects of different tillage and fertility treatments in a loamy Typic Hapludoll soil, and to determine the interactions of N fertilization with several soil properties and dryland corn (Zea mays L.) productivity. The experimen...

Microbial diversity can be used to assess the impact of agricultural practices on the long-term sustainability of cropping systems. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in soil bacterial diversity as a result of the impact of different soil tillage and crop rotation systems in an oxisol of southern Brazil. Bacterial diversity was examined in the 010 cm layer in two field experiments...

An experiment with five different tillage systems and their influence on fuel consumption, labour requirement and yield of tested crops was carried out on Albic Luvisol in northwest Slavonia in the period of 1996.-2000. The compared tillage systems were: 1. conventional tillage system (CT), 2. reduced tillage system (RT), 3. conservation tillage system I (CP), 4. conservation tillage system II ...

Quantifying carbon (C) sequestration in paddy soils is necessary to help better understand the effect of agricultural practices on the C cycle. The objective of the present study was to assess the effects of tillage practices [conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT)] and the application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer (0 and 210 kg N ha(-1)) on fluxes of CH(4) and CO(2), and soil organic C (SO...

In arable cropping systems, reduced or conservation tillage practices are linked with improved soil quality, C retention and higher microbial biomass, but most long-term studies rarely focus on depths greater than 15 cm nor allow comparison of microbial community responses to agricultural practices. We investigated microbial community structure in a long-term field trial (12-years, Lincoln, New...

Soil tillage systems can be able to influence soil compaction, water dynamics, soil temperature and crop yield. These processes can be expressed as changes of soil microbiological activity, soil respiration and sustainability of agriculture. Objectives of this study were: 1 to assess the effects of tillage systems (Conventional System (CS), Minimum Tillage (MT), No-Tillage (NT)) on soil compact...

Carbon sequestration in soil has emerged as a technology with significant potential to help stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at non-threatening levels. Methods are thus needed to evaluate and recommend soil carbon sequestration practices based on their effects on carbon dynamics and environmental quality. There is scientific and practical consensus that simulation models...