Effect of conservation farming and biochar addition on soil organic carbon quality, nitrogen mineralization, and crop productivity in a light textured Acrisol in the sub-humid tropics.

ABSTRACT: Conservation farming (CF), involving basin tillage, residue retention and crop rotation, combined with biochar may help to mitigate negative impacts of conventional agriculture. In this study, the effects of CF on the amount and quality of soil organic matter (SOM) and potential nitrogen (N) mineralization were investigated in a maize-soya-maize rotation in an Acrisol in Zambia. A large field was run under CF for 7 years and in the subsequent three growing seasons (2015-2018), four management practices were introduced to study effects on soil characteristics and crop yield. We tested i) a continuation of regular CF (CF-NORM) ii) CF without residue retention (CF-NO-RES); iii) Conventional (CONV), with full tillage and removal of residues; and iv) CF with 4 ton ha-1 pigeon pea biochar inside

SUBMITTER: Munera-Echeverri JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7004324 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature