Search results for " cover crops"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Modeling soil organic carbon stock after 10 years of cover crops in Mediterranean vineyards: improving ANN prediction by digital terrain analysis.
2018
Estimate changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stock after Agro Environment Measures adoption are strategically for national and regional scale. Uncertainty in estimates also represents a very important parameter in terms of evaluation of the exact costs and agro environment payments to farmers. In this study we modeled the variation of SOC stock after 10-year cover crop adoption in a vine growing area of South-Eastern Sicily. A paired-site approach was chosen to study the difference in SOC stocks. A total 100 paired sites (i.e. two adjacent plots) were chosen and three soil samples (Ap soil horizons, circa 0-30 cm depth) were collected in each plot to obtain a mean value of organic carbon c…
Soil Quality as Affected by Intensive Versus Conservative Agricultural Managements
2017
Soils, the earth’s skin, are at the intersection of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The persistence of life on our planet depends on the maintenance of soils as they constitute the biological engines of earth. Human population has increased exponentially in recent decades, along with the demand for food, materials, and energy, which have caused a shift from low-yield and subsistence agriculture to a more productive, high-cost, and intensive agriculture. However, soils are very fragile ecosystems and require centuries for their development, thus within the human timescale they are not renewable resources. Modern and intensive agriculture implies serious concern about…
Cover crops effectiveness for soil erosion control in Sicilian vineyard
2009
In vineyards, which are very common in Mediterranean area, cover crops are becoming increasingly used to reduce soil erosion. Cover crops reduce runoff by increasing infiltration and increasing roughness and then reducing the ovelandflow velocity. The aim of the present study was to quantify soil and water losses under different soil managements systems on vineyards. The study site was a Sauvignon blanc winegrape vineyard located in Southwestern Sicily. Vineyards were managed both traditionally (conventional tillage) and alternative management using cover crops: 1) Vicia faba ; 2) Vicia faba and Vicia sativa; 3) Trifolium subterraneum, Lolium perenne, Festuca rubra; 4)Trifolium subterraneum…