A cropping system is a combination of
tillage system, rotation, cropping strategy and technology.
Mineralization of N is influenced by the mixing action of
the tillage system, for tillage based systems mineralization peaks after tillage with low rates of mineralization between tillage operations.
Cropping strategy refers to how inputs and technology are coordinated with the choice of
tillage system and rotation.
Crop selection and sequence are important in optimizing available water and nutrient use over the length of rotation for a specific
tillage system, SAF (1997).
The tillage system will influence soil temperature, N availability and soil water content.
The set of feasible crop rotations may be restricted by the choice of
tillage system.
Thus in the zero
tillage system the N was not deep banded.
Studies should compare crops grown in a zero
tillage system with a conventional
tillage system, with nitrogen fertilizer banded on the cereals.
When spring thaw emissions were combined with growing season emissions, the conventional
tillage system actually had higher total nitrous oxide emissions than the zero till system.We suggest that this type of experiment (full year emission measurements) be repeated with deep banding of N fertilizer, which would be expected to further reduce emissions from zero till systems.
We did not find to date any published studies which compared the effects of type of
tillage system and nitrogen fertilizer placement method on nitric oxide emissions.
Chisel plows, which theoretically result in minimal soil disturbance, are commonly used as part of a conservation
tillage system.
Koopmans, Chris; Rietberg, P.I. and Burgt, G.J.H.M. (2014) Calibration and adaptation of the NDICEA model to reduced
tillage systems: Final - report of the Tilman CORE Organic II project.
The study suggests that since soil microbial biomass and enzymatic activity can stand in as proxies for soil quality, farmers should consider moving toward no - till or conservation
tillage systems.
In the paper, he reported that they (University of Alberta and Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development) had compared the two
tillage systems (zero till and conventional till) and had included spring thaw emissions as well as growing season emissions.
This review would include determining how these nitrous oxide emissions from zero
tillage systems compared with those from conventional tillage, and identifing gaps in knowledge requiring further experiments and studies.
He also reported that he was not aware of any studies in western Canada evaluating the effects of N fertilizer placement on N, O emissions from zero
tillage systems.
There is an extensive literature on the improvement in N fertilizer use efficiency achieved by deep banding in zero
tillage systems, but no studies on N2O emissions.
When the emissions from the two time periods were added up, the zero till had slightly lower total emissions than conventional till.However, the N fertilizer was surface applied in both
tillage systems and incorporated in the conventional till system.
Some of these benefits led to reductions in the emission of the greenhouse gas (GHG) carbon dioxide (less fuel and machinery used than in conventional
tillage systems).
These fields have been in their respective
tillage systems for a number of years.
TranAlta asked us to determine the current status of knowledge about nitrous oxide emissions from zero
tillage systems.
One possible application could be in zero
tillage systems, where coated nitrogen fertilizer might allow considerably higher rates of fertilizer to be applied close to the seed.
Not exact matches
After visiting the Institute, the group traveled to Penn State University's Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center near State College, PA to learn about the Cover Crop Cocktails project and Reduced
Tillage Organic
Systems Experiment.
Tillage and farming
system affect AM fungus populations, mycorrhizal formation, and nutrient uptake by winter wheat in a high - P soil.
Utilizing cover crop mulches to reduce
tillage in organic
systems in the southeastern USA.
Drinkwater, L., Janke, R. & Rossoni - Longnecker, L. Effects of
tillage intensity on nitrogen dynamics and productivity in legume - based grain
systems.
The industry claims that this farming
system requires less skills and knowledge than the conventional farming
system because farmers do not have to select among a range of herbicide active ingredients, carefully time their herbicide application and apply other non-chemical control practices such as plowing, deep
tillage or manual weeding.
Current approaches to ecological agriculture such as integrated pest management, integrated plant nutrition
systems and conservation
tillage, consider only one aspect of the farming
system components: pest ecology, plant ecology and soil ecology, respectively.
Sustainable agricultural strategies comprising recycling of organic matter, tightening internal nutrient cycles, and low - or no -
tillage practices may rebuild organic matter levels and reduce losses from the
system.
Environmentally - friendly methods like crop rotation, inter-cropping, symbiotic associations and minimum
tillage are used to improve soil, encouraging natural formation and structure and creating more stable
systems.
Likewise, reduced
tillage, cover crops, intensified cropping
systems, and other conservation practices are known to build the soil long - term.
Through reduced
tillage in farming — no - till being the prime example — and
systems using cover crops and residue, those are major ways agriculture can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases because carbon dioxide is being taken up by the plant materials and stored in the soil.
Growing corn continuously under conventional
tillage and with high inputs of water and fertilizer may seem outmoded, but this management
system is «not uncommon,» as demand for corn grain and crop residues grow, Blanco says.
«Definitely the effects of inorganic fertilizer application on soil properties will depend on
tillage and cropping
systems,» Blanco says.
For tilled
systems, she included categories that accounted for the type of
tillage equipment and
tillage depth.
In tilled
systems, the type of
tillage equipment mattered.
It offers a full line of tractors, combines, hay tools, sprayers, forage equipment,
tillage, implements, grain storage and protein production
systems as well as replacement parts.
Among the other practices, ley cropping
systems and cover crops gave better performances than straw incorporation and reduced
tillage.
Crop rotations including pulse crops and oilseeds are being recommended for zero
tillage cropping
systems and are being adopted by farmers in western Canada.
Mean oat mineral concentrations between cropping
systems and tillage methods at the Farming Systems Trial (Wagner et al.,
systems and
tillage methods at the Farming
Systems Trial (Wagner et al.,
Systems Trial (Wagner et al., 2016).
Ekboir, J.M., 2003: Research and technology policies in innovation
systems: zero
tillage in Brazil, Research Policy, 32, pp. 573 - 586.
Cropping
system (
tillage + rotation) is then the basis for comparison of mitigation techniques.
Fertilizer use, crop selection and
tillage are key differences in the cropping
systems that in turn influence GHG emissions.