Effects of Reduced Tillage on Crop Yield, Plant Available Nutrients and Soil Organic Matter in a 12-Year Long-Term Trial under Organic Management

Sabine Zikeli, Sabine Gruber, Claus-Felix Teufel, Karin Hartung and Wilhelm Claupein
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Sabine Zikeli: Institute of Crop Science, Coordination for Organic Farming and Consumer Protection (340d), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 70593, Germany
Sabine Gruber: Institute of Crop Science, Agronomy (340a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 70593, Germany
Claus-Felix Teufel: Claus-Felix Teufel, Landratsamt Konstanz, Amt für Landwirtschaft Stockach, Winterspürer-Str. 25, Stockach 78333, Germany
Karin Hartung: Institute of Crop Science, Bioinformatics (340c), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 70593, Germany
Wilhelm Claupein: Institute of Crop Science, Agronomy (340a), University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart 70593, Germany

Sustainability, 2013, vol. 5, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: A field experiment was performed in Southwest Germany to examine the effects of long-term reduced tillage (2000–2012). Tillage treatments were deep moldboard plow: DP, 25 cm; double-layer plow; DLP, 15 + 10 cm, shallow moldboard plow: SP, 15 cm and chisel plow: CP, 15 cm, each of them with or without preceding stubble tillage. The mean yields of a typical eight-year crop rotation were 22% lower with CP compared to DP, and 3% lower with SP and DLP. Stubble tillage increased yields by 11% across all treatments. Soil nutrients were high with all tillage strategies and amounted for 34–57 mg kg −1 P and 48–113 mg kg −1 K (0–60 cm soil depth). Humus budgets showed a high carbon input via crops but this was not reflected in the actual C org content of the soil. C org decreased as soil depth increased from 13.7 g kg −1 (0–20 cm) to 4.3 g kg −1 (40–60 cm) across all treatments. After 12 years of experiment, SP and CP resulted in significantly higher C org content in 0–20 cm soil depth, compared to DP and DLP. Stubble tillage had no significant effect on C org . Stubble tillage combined with reduced primary tillage can sustain yield levels without compromising beneficial effects from reduced tillage on C org and available nutrient content.

Keywords: organic farming; reduced tillage; soil organic carbon; plant available nutrients; long-term trial; humus budget; C org; mineralization; moldboard plow; chisel plow; conservation tillage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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