Decisions about reducing agricultural land tillage to offset global warming potential (GWP) are based on the evaluation of the agricultural eco-system and the profitability to local farms. Carbon sequestration and nitrous oxide emissions from winter wheat (WW) cropping were evaluated by modeling typical dryland cropping systems in eastern Washington. Variations in rainfall, tillage intensity an...

A field experiment with six treatments was conducted to study the nitrogen reserves in summer maize topsoil on the north China plain. Results showed that topdressing significantly increased topsoil nitrogen reserves. Summer corn topsoil nitrogen reserves were affected by several management measures. Shallow tillage, wheat straw no-returning and deep intertillage at the corn seedling stage signi...

Soil thermal conductivity determines how a soil warms or cools with exchange of energy by conduction, convection, and radiation. The ability to monitor soil thermal conductivity is an important tool in managing the soil temperature regime to affect seed germination and crop growth. In this study, the temperature-by-time data was obtained using a single probe device to determine the soil thermal...

BACKGROUND Tillage practices greatly affect carbon (C) stocks in agricultural soils. Quantification of the impacts of tillage on C stocks at a regional scale has been challenging because of the spatial heterogeneity of soil, climate, and management conditions. We evaluated the effects of tillage management on the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) in croplands of the Northwest Great Plains e...

Plant growth is directly affected by soil water, soil aeration, and soil resistance to root penetration. The least limiting water range (LLWR) is de®ned as the range in soil water content within which limitations to plant growth associated with water potential, aeration and soil resistance to root penetration are minimal. The LLWR has not been evaluated in tropical soils. Thus, the objective of...

Ploughless soil tillage impacts on yields and selected soil quality parameters is reviewed from the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Soil conditions as well as climatic conditions vary widely, this resulting in variations in the length of the growing season, which is very short in the northern part of Scandinavia. The success of reduced tillage and direct drilling ...