Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation
Soil microbes play a key role in the nutrient cycling by decomposing the organic material into plant-available elements and also by maintaining the soil health. The study of soil microbial hydrolytic activity (SMA) was carried out in a long-term crop rotation (barley undersown (us) with red clover,...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-04-01
|
| Series: | Agriculture |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/532 |
| _version_ | 1797437358233092096 |
|---|---|
| author | Jaan Kuht Viacheslav Eremeev Liina Talgre Evelin Loit Erkki Mäeorg Kalle Margus Eve Runno-Paurson Helena Madsen Anne Luik |
| author_facet | Jaan Kuht Viacheslav Eremeev Liina Talgre Evelin Loit Erkki Mäeorg Kalle Margus Eve Runno-Paurson Helena Madsen Anne Luik |
| author_sort | Jaan Kuht |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soil microbes play a key role in the nutrient cycling by decomposing the organic material into plant-available elements and also by maintaining the soil health. The study of soil microbial hydrolytic activity (SMA) was carried out in a long-term crop rotation (barley undersown (us) with red clover, red clover, winter wheat, pea and potato) experiment in five different farming systems during 2014–2018. There were two conventional systems, with chemical plant protection and mineral fertilizers, and three organic systems, which included winter cover crops and composted manure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the (i) cropping system and (ii) precrops in rotation on the soil SMA. The soil microbial hydrolytic activity was significantly affected by yearly weather conditions, farming system, and crops. In all farming systems, the SMA was the lowest after dry and cold conditions during early spring in 2018. In unfertilized conventional systems, the considerably lower SMA is explained by the side effects of pesticides and low organic residuals, and we can conclude that the conventional system with no added fertilizer or organic matter is not sustainable, considering soil health. In each year, the SMA of organic systems with cover crops and composted manure was 7.3–14.0% higher compared to all farming systems. On average, for both farming systems, the SMA of all the rotation crops was positively correlated with the SMA values of precrops. However, in conventional farming systems, the effect of undersowing on the SMA of the precrop was smaller compared to organic systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:18:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4fc0cee9797c462f8c2abb101275f3eb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:18:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-4fc0cee9797c462f8c2abb101275f3eb2023-12-01T00:24:44ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722022-04-0112453210.3390/agriculture12040532Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop RotationJaan Kuht0Viacheslav Eremeev1Liina Talgre2Evelin Loit3Erkki Mäeorg4Kalle Margus5Eve Runno-Paurson6Helena Madsen7Anne Luik8Chair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Crop Science and Plant Biology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaChair of Plant Health, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, 51006 Tartu, EstoniaSoil microbes play a key role in the nutrient cycling by decomposing the organic material into plant-available elements and also by maintaining the soil health. The study of soil microbial hydrolytic activity (SMA) was carried out in a long-term crop rotation (barley undersown (us) with red clover, red clover, winter wheat, pea and potato) experiment in five different farming systems during 2014–2018. There were two conventional systems, with chemical plant protection and mineral fertilizers, and three organic systems, which included winter cover crops and composted manure. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the (i) cropping system and (ii) precrops in rotation on the soil SMA. The soil microbial hydrolytic activity was significantly affected by yearly weather conditions, farming system, and crops. In all farming systems, the SMA was the lowest after dry and cold conditions during early spring in 2018. In unfertilized conventional systems, the considerably lower SMA is explained by the side effects of pesticides and low organic residuals, and we can conclude that the conventional system with no added fertilizer or organic matter is not sustainable, considering soil health. In each year, the SMA of organic systems with cover crops and composted manure was 7.3–14.0% higher compared to all farming systems. On average, for both farming systems, the SMA of all the rotation crops was positively correlated with the SMA values of precrops. However, in conventional farming systems, the effect of undersowing on the SMA of the precrop was smaller compared to organic systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/532conventional systemorganic systemcover cropsmanuresoil microbial activity |
| spellingShingle | Jaan Kuht Viacheslav Eremeev Liina Talgre Evelin Loit Erkki Mäeorg Kalle Margus Eve Runno-Paurson Helena Madsen Anne Luik Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation Agriculture conventional system organic system cover crops manure soil microbial activity |
| title | Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation |
| title_full | Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation |
| title_fullStr | Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation |
| title_short | Soil Microbial Activity in Different Cropping Systems under Long-Term Crop Rotation |
| title_sort | soil microbial activity in different cropping systems under long term crop rotation |
| topic | conventional system organic system cover crops manure soil microbial activity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/532 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jaankuht soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT viacheslaveremeev soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT liinatalgre soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT evelinloit soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT erkkimaeorg soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT kallemargus soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT everunnopaurson soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT helenamadsen soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation AT anneluik soilmicrobialactivityindifferentcroppingsystemsunderlongtermcroprotation |