Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16165
Title: Changes in soil carbon fractions due to incorporating corn residues in organic and conventional vegetable farming systems
Contributor(s): Bajgai, Yadunath (author); Kristiansen, Paul  (author)orcid ; Hulugalle, Nilantha (author); McHenry, Melinda (author)
Publication Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1071/SR13295
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16165
Abstract: Vegetable production systems rely on frequent tillage to prepare beds and manage weeds, thereby accelerating losses of soil organic carbon (SOC). They are also characterised by scant crop residue input. Residue incorporation and organic fertiliser application could counteract SOC loss due to tillage. We tested this hypothesis in a Chromosol and a Vertosol in northern NSW, Australia, where the effects of incorporating sweet corn ('Zea mays' L. var. 'rugosa') residue in soil in a corn-cabbage ('Brassica oleracea' L.) rotation under either organic or conventional system on soil C fractions were studied during two rotation cycles (2 years). A laboratory experiment was conducted to isolate the effect of tillage on the soil organic matter (SOM) fractions, because both the residue-incorporated and without-residue treatments for organic systems received tillage for weed control in the field, whereas conventional systems did not. Residue incorporation increased particulate OC (POC) by 32% in the field experiment and 48% in the laboratory experiment, whereas dissolved OC was increased only in the organic system. Concentrations of mineral-associated OC (MOC) and total OC (TOC) were increased by residue incorporation in both field and laboratory experiments. Simulated tillage had a limited effect on POC, MOC and TOC, suggesting that cultivation for weed control may have only a minor effect on short-term SOM mineralisation rates. In both experiments, MOC accounted for ≤83% in the Vertosol and ≤73% in the Chromosol. Due to frequent tillage in vegetable production systems, physicochemical stabilisation of C predominates over protection through aggregation.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Soil Research, 52(3), p. 244-252
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Place of Publication: Australia
ISSN: 1838-6768
1838-675X
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 070108 Sustainable Agricultural Development
050301 Carbon Sequestration Science
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 300210 Sustainable agricultural development
410101 Carbon sequestration science
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 961402 Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Soils
829899 Environmentally Sustainable Plant Production not elsewhere classified
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 180605 Soils
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Environmental and Rural Science

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