Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes?
Organic amendments are believed to help increase the soil carbon storage and therefore improve soil quality, which may be important in the context of climate change. However, the added value of organic amendments for farmers must be clearly demonstrated in order to convince them of the utility of th...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/2/132 |
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| author | Phimmasone Sisouvanh Vidhaya Trelo-ges Supat Isarangkool Na Ayutthaya Alain Pierret Naoise Nunan Norbert Silvera Khampaseuth Xayyathip Christian Hartmann |
| author_facet | Phimmasone Sisouvanh Vidhaya Trelo-ges Supat Isarangkool Na Ayutthaya Alain Pierret Naoise Nunan Norbert Silvera Khampaseuth Xayyathip Christian Hartmann |
| author_sort | Phimmasone Sisouvanh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Organic amendments are believed to help increase the soil carbon storage and therefore improve soil quality, which may be important in the context of climate change. However, the added value of organic amendments for farmers must be clearly demonstrated in order to convince them of the utility of their use. The aims of this study were: (i) to investigate the impact on maize of compost and vermicompost combined with two levels (negligible and significant) of plant water stress; and (ii) to determine how the organic amendments affected the soil’s physical properties and maize productivity. Water stress levels were imposed by controlling the matric potential of soil columns in which cultivated soil characteristics was mimicked (10 cm topsoil with organic amendments, above a 50 cm subsoil without any inputs containing the majority of the roots). Plant and soil characteristics were monitored daily for 70 days. Our results show that the use of organic amendments is profitable for farmers as: (i) maize performances were increased in both moisture regimes; and (ii) the improvement was particularly striking in terms of yield. No additional benefits were measured when using vermicompost instead of compost. The data suggest that the improvement in plant characteristics did not result from increased water storage in the soils with organic amendments, but rather from better access to the water, resulting in faster root development in the macroporosity of the amended soils. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:29:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-64f3db62de894ed19b0dacae35c81245 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:29:17Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-64f3db62de894ed19b0dacae35c812452023-12-03T12:33:53ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722021-02-0111213210.3390/agriculture11020132Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes?Phimmasone Sisouvanh0Vidhaya Trelo-ges1Supat Isarangkool Na Ayutthaya2Alain Pierret3Naoise Nunan4Norbert Silvera5Khampaseuth Xayyathip6Christian Hartmann7Department of Soil Science and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, ThailandDepartment of Soil Science and Environment, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, ThailandDepartment of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, ThailandDepartment of Agricultural Land Management (DALaM), Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES–Paris) UMR IRD 242, Ban Nongviengkham, Vientiane, LaosInstitute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES–Paris), Sorbonne Université, Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, FranceDepartment of Agricultural Land Management (DALaM), Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES–Paris) UMR IRD 242, Ban Nongviengkham, Vientiane, LaosDepartment of Agricultural Land Management (DALaM), Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES–Paris) UMR IRD 242, Ban Nongviengkham, Vientiane, LaosDepartment of Agricultural Land Management (DALaM), Institute of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Paris (iEES–Paris) UMR IRD 242, Ban Nongviengkham, Vientiane, LaosOrganic amendments are believed to help increase the soil carbon storage and therefore improve soil quality, which may be important in the context of climate change. However, the added value of organic amendments for farmers must be clearly demonstrated in order to convince them of the utility of their use. The aims of this study were: (i) to investigate the impact on maize of compost and vermicompost combined with two levels (negligible and significant) of plant water stress; and (ii) to determine how the organic amendments affected the soil’s physical properties and maize productivity. Water stress levels were imposed by controlling the matric potential of soil columns in which cultivated soil characteristics was mimicked (10 cm topsoil with organic amendments, above a 50 cm subsoil without any inputs containing the majority of the roots). Plant and soil characteristics were monitored daily for 70 days. Our results show that the use of organic amendments is profitable for farmers as: (i) maize performances were increased in both moisture regimes; and (ii) the improvement was particularly striking in terms of yield. No additional benefits were measured when using vermicompost instead of compost. The data suggest that the improvement in plant characteristics did not result from increased water storage in the soils with organic amendments, but rather from better access to the water, resulting in faster root development in the macroporosity of the amended soils.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/2/132compostvermicompostsoil matric potentialporositypore size distributionroot |
| spellingShingle | Phimmasone Sisouvanh Vidhaya Trelo-ges Supat Isarangkool Na Ayutthaya Alain Pierret Naoise Nunan Norbert Silvera Khampaseuth Xayyathip Christian Hartmann Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes? Agriculture compost vermicompost soil matric potential porosity pore size distribution root |
| title | Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes? |
| title_full | Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes? |
| title_fullStr | Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes? |
| title_short | Can Organic Amendments Improve Soil Physical Characteristics and Increase Maize Performances in Contrasting Soil Water Regimes? |
| title_sort | can organic amendments improve soil physical characteristics and increase maize performances in contrasting soil water regimes |
| topic | compost vermicompost soil matric potential porosity pore size distribution root |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/2/132 |
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