Root biomass is one of the most relevant root parameters for studies of plant response to environmental change, soil carbon modeling or estimations of soil carbon sequestration. A major source of error in root biomass quantification of agricultural crops in the field is the presence of extraneous organic matter in soil: dead roots from previous crops, weed roots, incorporated above ground plant...

In agricultural soil, a suite of anthropogenic events shape the ecosystem processes and populations. However, the impact from anthropogenic sources on the soil environment is almost exclusively assessed for chemicals, although other factors like crop and tillage practices have an important impact as well. Thus, the farming system as a whole should be evaluated and ranked according to its enviro...

Bringing together emerging lessons from biophysical and social sciences as well as newly available data, we take stock of what can be learned about the relationship among subjective (reported) and objective (measured) soil fertility and farmer input use in east Africa. We identify the correlates of Kenyan and Tanzanian maize farmers’ reported perceptions of soil fertility and assess the extent ...

Improved management of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage in agro-ecosystems represents an important strategy for ensuring food security and sustainable agricultural development in China. Accurate estimates of the distribution of soil C and N stores and their relationship to crop yield are crucial to developing appropriate cropland management policies. The current study examined the spati...

Soil is the most basic resource for sustainable agricultural production; it promotes water quality, is a key component of the biogeochemical cycles and hosts a huge diversity of organisms. However, we are not paying enough attention to soil degradation produced by land use. Modern agriculture has been successful in increasing yields but has also caused extensive environmental damage, particular...

Keller, T. 2004. Soil Compaction and Soil Tillage Studies in Agricultural Soil Mechanics Doctoral dissertation. ISSN 1401-6249, ISBN 91-576-6769-1 This thesis deals with various aspects of soil compaction due to agricultural field traffic, the draught force requirement of tillage implements and soil structures produced by tillage. Several field experiments were carried out to study the mechanic...

A new index for agricultural drought monitoring is presented based on the integration of different soil/vegetation remote sensing observations. The synergistic fusion of the surface soil moisture (SSM) from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission, with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) derived land surface temperature (LST), and water/vegetation indices for a...

On-farm soil frost control has been used for the management of volunteer potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), a serious weed problem caused by climate change, in northern Japan. Deep soil frost penetration is necessary for the effective eradication of unharvested small potato tubers; however, this process can delay soil thaw and increase soil wetting in spring, thereby delaying agricultural activit...

Ahmed Douaik1, Marc van Meirvenne2 and Tibor Tóth3,4 1Research Unit on Environment and Conservation of Natural Resources, National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), Rabat, 2Department of Soil Management, Ghent University, Ghent, 3Department of Soil Science, Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Budapest, 4Rural, Water and Ecosystem Resources Unit, Institute fo...

The determination of soil texture and organic carbon across agricultural areas provides important information to derive soil condition. Precise digital soil maps can help to till agricultural fields with more accuracy, greater cost-efficiency and better environmental protection. In the present study, the laboratory analysis of sand, silt, clay and soil organic carbon (SOC) content was combined ...