Opportunities for Mitigating Soil Compaction in Europe—Case Studies from the SoilCare Project Using Soil-Improving Cropping Systems

Ilaria Piccoli, Till Seehusen, Jenny Bussell, Olga Vizitu, Irina Calciu, Antonio Berti, Gunnar Börjesson, Holger Kirchmann, Thomas Kätterer, Felice Sartori, Chris Stoate, Felicity Crotty, Ioanna S. Panagea, Abdallah Alaoui and Martin A. Bolinder
Additional contact information
Ilaria Piccoli: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Till Seehusen: Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, P.O. Box 115, 1431 Ås, Norway
Jenny Bussell: The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Allerton Project, Loddington, Leicestershire LE7 9XE, UK
Olga Vizitu: National Research and Development Institute for Soil Science, Agrochemistry and Environmental Protection, 011464 Bucharest, Romania
Irina Calciu: National Research and Development Institute for Soil Science, Agrochemistry and Environmental Protection, 011464 Bucharest, Romania
Antonio Berti: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Gunnar Börjesson: Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
Holger Kirchmann: Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7014, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
Thomas Kätterer: Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden
Felice Sartori: Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Chris Stoate: The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Allerton Project, Loddington, Leicestershire LE7 9XE, UK
Felicity Crotty: Centre for Agriculture, Royal Agricultural University, Stroud Rd., Cirencester GL7 6JS, UK
Ioanna S. Panagea: Department of Earth and Environmental Science, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Abdallah Alaoui: Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Martin A. Bolinder: Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7044, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-26

Abstract: Soil compaction (SC) is a major threat for agriculture in Europe that affects many ecosystem functions, such as water and air circulation in soils, root growth, and crop production. Our objective was to present the results from five short-term (<5 years) case studies located along the north–south and east–west gradients and conducted within the SoilCare project using soil-improving cropping systems (SICSs) for mitigating topsoil and subsoil SC. Two study sites (SSs) focused on natural subsoil (˃25 cm) compaction using subsoiling tillage treatments to depths of 35 cm (Sweden) and 60 cm (Romania). The other SSs addressed both topsoil and subsoil SC (˃25 cm, Norway and United Kingdom; ˃30 cm, Italy) using deep-rooted bio-drilling crops and different tillage types or a combination of both. Each SS evaluated the effectiveness of the SICSs by measuring the soil physical properties, and we calculated SC indices. The SICSs showed promising results—for example, alfalfa in Norway showed good potential for alleviating SC (the subsoil density decreased from 1.69 to 1.45 g cm −1 ) and subsoiling at the Swedish SS improved root penetration into the subsoil by about 10 cm—but the effects of SICSs on yields were generally small. These case studies also reflected difficulties in implementing SICSs, some of which are under development, and we discuss methodological issues for measuring their effectiveness. There is a need for refining these SICSs and for evaluating their longer-term effect under a wider range of pedoclimatic conditions.

Keywords: degree of compaction; soil penetration resistance; relative normalised density; air-filled porosity; tillage; straw incorporation; bio-drilling crops; subsoiling; crop productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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