Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco
Conservation agriculture (CA) relies on low soil disturbance, mulching, and crop rotation, and these characteristics present CA as a good candidate to control soil degradation and preserve soil fertility. Therefore, agricultural scientists promote it as an efficient technique to sustain agricultural...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Federation of Eurasian Soil Science Societies
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Eurasian Journal of Soil Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ejss.fesss.org/10.18393/ejss.663502 |
| _version_ | 1797723660444762112 |
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| author | Rachid Aboutayeb Brahim El Yousfi Oussama El Gharras |
| author_facet | Rachid Aboutayeb Brahim El Yousfi Oussama El Gharras |
| author_sort | Rachid Aboutayeb |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Conservation agriculture (CA) relies on low soil disturbance, mulching, and crop rotation, and these characteristics present CA as a good candidate to control soil degradation and preserve soil fertility. Therefore, agricultural scientists promote it as an efficient technique to sustain agricultural production. Conventional tillage (CT) dominates many semi-arid regions of Morocco, like Chaouia. However, crop/livestock management worsens degradation of soil organic matter and thus soil fertility. Since the eighties’, controlled experimental trials tried to promote No-Till (NT) system in these regions. But it is still experiencing a low level of adoption. This on-farm research study aimed to evaluate NT effect on some Vertisols' physicochemical properties of this region. Analysis of variance only found a significant NT effect on soil organic matter (SOM), but factorial analysis provided evidence of a behavior of its effect on several physicochemical properties such as active limestone (CaCO3), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-), calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Furthermore, pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and sodium (Na+) did not show any significant difference between the two tillage treatments. This study also found that continuous cereal cropping with no mulching management mostly explains this low improvement in soil quality. This last approach, reduce CA to NT process. To promote CA in these regions, more efforts are still needed for a satisfactory up-scaling and a sustainable soil fertility conservation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:05:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f6715475fd544cc7855bd35963215f03 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2147-4249 2147-4249 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:05:55Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | Federation of Eurasian Soil Science Societies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Eurasian Journal of Soil Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-f6715475fd544cc7855bd35963215f032023-09-02T11:21:22ZengFederation of Eurasian Soil Science SocietiesEurasian Journal of Soil Science2147-42492147-42492020-04-019211912510.18393/ejss.663502Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of MoroccoRachid Aboutayeb0Brahim El Yousfi1Oussama El Gharras2National Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA), Settat, 26000, MoroccoNational Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA), Settat, 26000, MoroccoNational Institute for Agronomic Research (INRA), Settat, 26000, MoroccoConservation agriculture (CA) relies on low soil disturbance, mulching, and crop rotation, and these characteristics present CA as a good candidate to control soil degradation and preserve soil fertility. Therefore, agricultural scientists promote it as an efficient technique to sustain agricultural production. Conventional tillage (CT) dominates many semi-arid regions of Morocco, like Chaouia. However, crop/livestock management worsens degradation of soil organic matter and thus soil fertility. Since the eighties’, controlled experimental trials tried to promote No-Till (NT) system in these regions. But it is still experiencing a low level of adoption. This on-farm research study aimed to evaluate NT effect on some Vertisols' physicochemical properties of this region. Analysis of variance only found a significant NT effect on soil organic matter (SOM), but factorial analysis provided evidence of a behavior of its effect on several physicochemical properties such as active limestone (CaCO3), total nitrogen (TN), nitrate (NO3-), calcium (Ca2+), potassium (K+) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Furthermore, pH, Electrical Conductivity (EC) and sodium (Na+) did not show any significant difference between the two tillage treatments. This study also found that continuous cereal cropping with no mulching management mostly explains this low improvement in soil quality. This last approach, reduce CA to NT process. To promote CA in these regions, more efforts are still needed for a satisfactory up-scaling and a sustainable soil fertility conservation.http://ejss.fesss.org/10.18393/ejss.663502conservation agriculturemoroccono-tillon-farm researchsemi-arid regionsoil quality. |
| spellingShingle | Rachid Aboutayeb Brahim El Yousfi Oussama El Gharras Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco Eurasian Journal of Soil Science conservation agriculture morocco no-till on-farm research semi-arid region soil quality. |
| title | Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco |
| title_full | Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco |
| title_fullStr | Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco |
| title_short | Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco |
| title_sort | impact of no till on physicochemical properties of vertisols in chaouia region of morocco |
| topic | conservation agriculture morocco no-till on-farm research semi-arid region soil quality. |
| url | http://ejss.fesss.org/10.18393/ejss.663502 |
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