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Conservation agriculture, increased organic carbon in the top-soil macro-aggregates and reduced soil CO2 emissions

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Abstract

Background and aims

Conservation agriculture, the combination of minimal soil movement (zero or reduced tillage), crop residue retention and crop rotation, might have the potential to increase soil organic C content and reduce emissions of CO2.

Methods

Three management factors were analyzed: (1) tillage (zero tillage (ZT) or conventional tillage (CT)), (2) crop rotation (wheat monoculture (W), maize monoculture (M) and maize-wheat rotation (R)), and (3) residue management (with (+r), or without (−r) crop residues). Samples were taken from the 0–5 and 5–10 cm soil layers and separated in micro-aggregates (< 0.25 mm), small macro-aggregates (0.25 to 1 mm) and large macro-aggregates (1 to 8 mm). The carbon content of each aggregate fraction was determined.

Results

Zero tillage combined with crop rotation and crop residues retention resulted in a higher proportion of macro-aggregates. In the 0–5 cm layer, plots with a crop rotation and monoculture of maize and wheat in ZT+r had the greatest proportion of large stable macro-aggregates (40%) and highest mean weighted diameter (MWD) (1.7 mm). The plots with CT had the largest proportion of micro-aggregates (27%). In the 5–10 cm layer, plots with residue retention in both CT and ZT (maize 1 mm and wheat 1.5 mm) or with monoculture of wheat in plots under ZT without residues (1.4 mm) had the greatest MWD. The 0–10 cm soil layer had a greater proportion of small macroaggregates compared to large macro-aggregates and micro-aggregates. In the 0–10 cm layer of soil with residues retention and maize or wheat, the greatest C content was found in the small and large macro-aggregates. The small macro-aggregates contributed most C to the organic C of the sample. For soil cultivated with maize, the CT treatments had significantly higher CO2 emissions than the ZT treatments. For soil cultivated with wheat, CTR-r had significantly higher CO2 emissions than all other treatments.

Conclusion

Reduction in soil disturbance combined with residue retention increased the C retained in the small and large macro-aggregates of the top soil due to greater aggregate stability and reduced the emissions of CO2 compared with conventional tillage without residues retention and maize monoculture (a cultivation system normally used in the central highlands of Mexico).

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Acknowledgments

Mariela Fuentes received a PhD fellowship from CONACYT. Fieldwork was done in a long-term trial established by Dr. R.A. Fisher at CIMMYT’s El Batán research station. The research was supported by CIMMYT and its strategic donors and forms part of the strategic research network developed in the frame of MasAgro (Modernización sustentable de la agricultura tradicional), component ‘Desarrollo sustentable con el productor’. The authors thank M. Martinez, A. Martinez, and H. González-Juárez for help with the field work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Fisiología y Tecnología de Cultivos, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco, Calzada del Hueso 1100, Col. Villa Quietud, México, 04960, D.F., Mexico

    Mariela Fuentes & Fernando De León

  2. Laboratorio de Fertilidad, Colegio de Postgraduados, IRENAT, Km 36.5 Carretera México-Texcoco, Montecillo, CP 56230, Mexico

    Claudia Hidalgo & Jorge Etchevers

  3. Laboratorio de Suelos, Plantas y Aguas, Campus Tabasco, Colegio de Postgraduados, Supera-Anuies, Mexico

    Armando Guerrero

  4. Cinvestav, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 2508, México, C.P. 07360, D.F., Mexico

    Luc Dendooven

  5. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), Apdo. Postal 6-641, 06600, Mexico, D.F., Mexico

    Nele Verhulst & Bram Govaerts

Authors
  1. Mariela Fuentes
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  2. Claudia Hidalgo
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  3. Jorge Etchevers
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  4. Fernando De León
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  5. Armando Guerrero
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  6. Luc Dendooven
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  7. Nele Verhulst
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  8. Bram Govaerts
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Correspondence to Bram Govaerts.

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Responsible Editor: Johan Six.

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Fuentes, M., Hidalgo, C., Etchevers, J. et al. Conservation agriculture, increased organic carbon in the top-soil macro-aggregates and reduced soil CO2 emissions. Plant Soil 355, 183–197 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-011-1092-4

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