Conservation tillage supports soil macrofauna communities, infiltration, and farm profits in an irrigated maize-based cropping system of Colorado.

ABSTRACT: In the past several decades conservation tillage systems have been introduced to address the negative impacts of intensive tillage, but the potential of these technologies to improve soil function and maintain yields is still not fully understood. This study sought to examine the effects of conservation tillage on key soil quality parameters and profitability at a production scale. We evaluated soil properties and yields during the fifth and sixth years (2015 and 2016) of a field study comparing two conservation tillage systems: minimum tillage (MT) and strip tillage (ST), versus a conventional tillage control (CT). Measurements included residue cover, macrofauna abundance and diversity, permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC), aggregate stability, and infiltration. Results from both years s

SUBMITTER: Deleon E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7986063 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature