A global analysis of the impact of zero‐tillage on soil physical condition, organic carbon content, and plant root response

Bibliographic Data

ID21647563
AuthorsSurajit Mondal (0000-0001-6949-2419, Division of Agricultural Physics ICAR‐Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi 110 012 India), Debashis Chakraborty (0000-0002-2771-4439, Division of Agricultural Physics ICAR‐Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi 110 012 India, corresponding author), Kalikinkar Bandyopadhyay (Division of Agricultural Physics ICAR‐Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi 110 012 India), Pramila Aggarwal (0000-0001-5616-8564, Division of Agricultural Physics ICAR‐Indian Agricultural Research Institute New Delhi 110 012 India), D S RANA (0000-0001-8967-464X, International Rice Research Institute)
Year2020
Volume31
Issue5
Pages557-567
Publication date2020-03-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLand Degradation and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1085-3278 • E-ISSN: 1099-145X
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ldr.3470
OpenAlexW2989260025
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited42

Food security involves the sustainable utilization of soil and land resources. Zero‐tillage (ZT) practice is a proponent of better resource utilization, to improve soil physical condition, and a potential sink to atmospheric carbon. However, the impact varies across climates, over the ZT history, cropping systems, and soil depths. A meta‐analysis was performed, based on 4,131 paired data from 522 studies spread globally, to evaluate the effect of ZT in comparison to conventional tillage, on soil physical condition (bulk density; mean weight diameter of aggregates; field capacity water content; and steady‐state infiltration rate), soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and the root response (root length density). Zero‐tillage significantly improved mean weight diameter of aggregates and field capacity water content at surface and subsurface layers by 19–58% and 6–16%, respectively, and resulted in no change in bulk density in either of the layers, but infiltration rate increased by 66%. Surface 0‐ to 5‐ and 5‐ to 10‐cm layers had significantly higher SOC content under ZT, whereas in other layers, the SOC content either reduced or did not change, resulting in a small and insignificant variation in the SOC stock (~1.1%) in favor of ZT. The root length density improved by ~35% in ZT only at 0‐ to 5‐cm soil depth. Effect of climate, soil type, or cropping system could not be broadly recognized, but the impact of ZT certainly increased over time. Improvements in soil aggregation and hydraulic properties are highly convincing with the adoption of ZT, and therefore, this practice leads to the better and sustainable use of soil resources

Agronomy · Bulk density · Conventional tillage · No-till farming · Soil carbon · Soil fertility · Soil horizon · Soil water · Tillage · Water content · Environmental Science · Materials Science · Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism · Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics · Soil Management and Crop Yield · Geology · Soil Science

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