Navigating the trade-offs in crop production and soil quality through alternative cropping

IF 5.6 1区 农林科学 Q1 AGRONOMY
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Context

Although alternative cropping systems are crucial for enhancing food security and soil quality, continuous maize monoculture remains leading to high environmental consequences and lower sustainability.

Objective

This study aims to assess crop production, economic benefits, and soil quality under 6 years of alternative cropping in comparison to continuous maize.

Methods

A randomized complete block design with three replicates was employed to evaluate the effects of alternative cropping on net income, nutrient equivalent yield, and soil quality. Nutrient equivalent yield was calculated by quantifying the nutritional content of harvested crops. Soil quality was assessed through a combination of physical, chemical, and biological indicators.

Results

Our findings indicate that sorghum-maize-peanut and mung bean-maize-sunflower rotations significantly increased net income by 165.06 % and 37.86 % than continuous maize, respectively. However, these systems did not significantly alter soil quality. Reduced cropping intensity (fallow, maize-fallow, and soybean-maize-fallow) effectively improved soil quality by 14.1–37.8 %. This improvement was attributed to the enhancement of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen, as well as the alleviation of microbial metabolic constraints related to carbon and nitrogen. Despite these benefits, reduced cropping intensity also resulted in a decrease in nutrient-equivalent yields and net income.

Conclusion

The sorghum-maize-peanut rotation achieves a balance between maintaining comparable nutrient-equivalent yields and soil quality, while demonstrating a higher net income compared to continuous maize.

Implications

This study highlights the economic and environmental benefits of diversified cropping and the importance of reduced cropping intensity for soil quality enhancement. These findings are significant for guiding agricultural practices that balance food production with soil conservation.
通过替代种植,在作物生产和土壤质量之间权衡利弊
背景虽然替代种植系统对提高粮食安全和土壤质量至关重要,但玉米的连续单一种植仍会导致严重的环境后果和较低的可持续性。方法采用随机完全区组设计和三次重复,评估替代种植对净收入、养分当量产量和土壤质量的影响。养分当量产量是通过量化收获作物的营养成分来计算的。结果我们的研究结果表明,与连续种植玉米相比,高粱-玉米-花生和绿豆-玉米-向日葵轮作分别显著增加了 165.06% 和 37.86% 的纯收入。然而,这些系统并没有明显改变土壤质量。降低种植密度(休耕、玉米-休耕和大豆-玉米-休耕)可有效改善土壤质量,增幅为 14.1-37.8%。这种改善归因于土壤有机碳和全氮的增加,以及与碳和氮有关的微生物代谢限制的缓解。尽管有这些益处,但种植密度的降低也导致养分当量产量和纯收入的减少。这些发现对于指导农业实践,平衡粮食生产与土壤保护具有重要意义。
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来源期刊
Field Crops Research
Field Crops Research 农林科学-农艺学
CiteScore
9.60
自引率
12.10%
发文量
307
审稿时长
46 days
期刊介绍: Field Crops Research is an international journal publishing scientific articles on: √ experimental and modelling research at field, farm and landscape levels on temperate and tropical crops and cropping systems, with a focus on crop ecology and physiology, agronomy, and plant genetics and breeding.
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