Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield Effects

An increasing challenge for agriculture in times of climate change is to sustainably ensure or increase the yield capacity of crop production. Low-yielding sites are particularly at risk in this respect. One strategy to counteract is to promote the use of the subsoil. This article describes the tech...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Oliver Schmittmann, Andreas Christ, Peter Schulze Lammers
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Agronomy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/10/1970
_version_ 1797411032442863616
author Oliver Schmittmann
Andreas Christ
Peter Schulze Lammers
author_facet Oliver Schmittmann
Andreas Christ
Peter Schulze Lammers
author_sort Oliver Schmittmann
collection DOAJ
description An increasing challenge for agriculture in times of climate change is to sustainably ensure or increase the yield capacity of crop production. Low-yielding sites are particularly at risk in this respect. One strategy to counteract is to promote the use of the subsoil. This article describes the technical procedure and development of an implement for stripe-wise subsoil melioration with application of compost in a layer of 30–60 cm. These stripes are each 30 cm wide and 70 cm apart. A technology has been developed for process, which allows the described procedure to be used over a large area. The melioration is carried out in one pass by an implement in an arrangement of 3 rows resulting in a working width of 3 m. A hopper on top of the implements frame includes an embedded hydraulic system to feed compost into the injection coulter. Results from 4-year field trials with standard crop rotations verify yield increases of up to 20% still 5 years after melioration. An overview of these trials and results will also be presented.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T04:39:06Z
format Article
id doaj.art-7b8aefe377e54131a54ea0989455aaf5
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2073-4395
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T04:39:06Z
publishDate 2021-09-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Agronomy
spelling doaj.art-7b8aefe377e54131a54ea0989455aaf52023-12-03T13:23:19ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952021-09-011110197010.3390/agronomy11101970Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield EffectsOliver Schmittmann0Andreas Christ1Peter Schulze Lammers2Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, GermanyInstitute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, GermanyInstitute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, GermanyAn increasing challenge for agriculture in times of climate change is to sustainably ensure or increase the yield capacity of crop production. Low-yielding sites are particularly at risk in this respect. One strategy to counteract is to promote the use of the subsoil. This article describes the technical procedure and development of an implement for stripe-wise subsoil melioration with application of compost in a layer of 30–60 cm. These stripes are each 30 cm wide and 70 cm apart. A technology has been developed for process, which allows the described procedure to be used over a large area. The melioration is carried out in one pass by an implement in an arrangement of 3 rows resulting in a working width of 3 m. A hopper on top of the implements frame includes an embedded hydraulic system to feed compost into the injection coulter. Results from 4-year field trials with standard crop rotations verify yield increases of up to 20% still 5 years after melioration. An overview of these trials and results will also be presented.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/10/1970subsoil-managementcompost applicationyield increaseyield securitydeep tillage
spellingShingle Oliver Schmittmann
Andreas Christ
Peter Schulze Lammers
Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield Effects
Agronomy
subsoil-management
compost application
yield increase
yield security
deep tillage
title Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield Effects
title_full Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield Effects
title_fullStr Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield Effects
title_full_unstemmed Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield Effects
title_short Subsoil Melioration with Organic Material—Principle, Technology and Yield Effects
title_sort subsoil melioration with organic material principle technology and yield effects
topic subsoil-management
compost application
yield increase
yield security
deep tillage
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/10/1970
work_keys_str_mv AT oliverschmittmann subsoilmeliorationwithorganicmaterialprincipletechnologyandyieldeffects
AT andreaschrist subsoilmeliorationwithorganicmaterialprincipletechnologyandyieldeffects
AT peterschulzelammers subsoilmeliorationwithorganicmaterialprincipletechnologyandyieldeffects