Search results for " Tillage"

Co-design and test of biodiversity-based pesticide-free Conservation Agriculture in the long-term CA-SYS platform in France

2022

The French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) has established an ambitious experimental infrastructure (the CA-SYS platform) in autumn 2018 after 5 years of co-design with farmers, crop advisors and researchers. CA-SYS covers an area of 125ha divided into 42 fields. The originality of CA-SYS is that it is explicitly conceivedfor the design and evaluation of biodiversity-based and pesticide-free agroecological systems across agriculturallyrealistic scales. An agroecological system will comprise a matrix of fields of one (or a few) cropping systems over anumber of years interacting with adjacent semi-natural habitats (hedges, grass margin strips, flower strips). Thisspatio-te…

Strategic tillage in Conservation Agriculture : consequences on weed communities and winter wheat productivity

2021

In Europe, Conservation Agriculture is currently challenged by higher weed pressure, potential glyphosate ban andreduced crop yield. The introduction of strategic tillage could be a viable option to diversify selection pressures onweeds and increase crop yield. Three types of fallow management (ploughing (CT), reduced tillage (RT), no-till withglyphosate (NT)) were compared on four fields after 17 years of no-plough, which ended with 7 years of NT. Weeddensity, weed composition, crop productivity and yield components were assessed in the following winter wheat.The reintegration of tillage after 17 years of Conservation Agriculture proved to be a major driver of weed communities before weedi…

Can conservation agriculture deeply change the structure of weed communities

2023

International audience

Soil water repellency assessment in olive groves in Southern and Eastern Spain

2016

Soil water repellency (SWR) has been reported under different soils, land uses and regions of the world, particularly in forest land and after wildfires, yet the understanding of this variable in agricultural lands is still rather limited. This study presents the characterization from field-based measurements of SWR in four contrasted olive groves (Olea europaea L.) in Spain in terms of different environmental conditions and management: abandoned and commercial farms under permanent cover crop, conventional tillage and herbicide use. The main objectives were [1] to evaluate the potential occurrence, intensity and persistence of soil water repellency in different types of olive groves and [2…

Effects of compost input and tillage intensity on soil microbial biomass and activity under Mediterranean conditions

2010

Organic amendment and tillage reduction are two common practices to contrast soil organic matter decline, thus promoting sustainable cropping and carbon sequestration. In a horticultural land use system under Mediterranean climate, we evaluated the 9-year effects of two compost inputs (15 and 30 t ha−1 y−1, low and high input, respectively) and two tillage intensities (intensive and reduced) on soil macronutrients concentration, microbial biomass and activity. Total organic C, total N and POlsen were smaller in plots amended at low input, whilst intensive tillage decreased them at both compost inputs. These decreases in intensively tilled plots was ascribed to the disruption of soil aggrega…

Long-term cropping systems and tillage management effects on soil organic carbon stocks and steady state level of C sequestration rates in a semiarid…

2010

A calcareous and clayey xeric Chromic Haploxerept of a long-term experimental site in Sicily (Italy) was sampled (0–15 cm depth) under different land use management and cropping systems (CSs) to study their effect on soil aggregate stability and organic carbon (SOC). The experimental site had three tillage managements (no till [NT], dual-layer [DL] and conventional tillage [CT]) and two CSs (durum wheat monocropping [W] and durum wheat/faba bean rotation [WB]). The annually sequestered SOC with W was 2·75-times higher than with WB. SOC concentrations were also higher. Both NT and CT management systems were the most effective in SOC sequestration whereas with DL system no C was sequestered. …

APPLICAZIONE DI UN PROTOTIPO DI MOTOVANGATRICE PER PRESERVARE LA FERTILITÀ DEL SUOLO

Negli ambienti caratterizzati da forti pendenze o sistemati a terrazze, nell’ambito delle lavorazioni superficiali, viene impiegato diffusamente il motocoltivatore provvisto di zappatrice rotativa. Tuttavia, l’effetto dell’uso ripetuto della zappatrice per lavorazione del terreno ha una notevole influenza sulle caratteristiche del terreno, che si presenta finemente polverizzato, soffice e astrutturato. Al fine di limitare tali inconvenienti, è stata progettata dalla sezione Meccanica del Dipartimento Scienze Agrarie e Forestali dell’Università di Palermo, in collaborazione con la ditta costruttrice Agrotec di Padova, una macchina innovativa semovente provvista di organi di lavoro del tipo a…

Microbial biomass carbon dynamics in a long-term tillage and crop rotation experiment under semiarid Mediterranean conditions

2015

Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) of soil is an important ecological indicator of nutrient cycling and soil fertility. In addition, it responds to the changes of soil fertility more rapidly than soil organic matter. The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of a long-term implementation of a conservative soil management strategy (No Tillage [NT]) compared to the inversion tillage (conventional tillage [CT]) on the soil MBC in a range of crops - continuous durum wheat (WW), wheat after fababean (FW) and faba bean after wheat (WF). MBC of NT plots was higher than CT. In addition, the content of MBC varied with sampling time during the growing season; this variation did not show a co…

Effect of different soil management in sloping vineyards on soil penetration resistance.

2013

In environments characterized by steep slopes or arranged in terraces, among the shallow tillage systems, rototilling is extensively used. However, the effect of the repeated use of rototilling has a considerable influence on soil characteristics; it appears finely powdered, soft and without structure. In order to limit these inconveniences, an innovative self-propelled machine equipped with working tools as a spade, to be used in steep slopes or arranged in terraces areas, was designed by the Mechanics Section of the SAF (Scienze Agrarie e Forestali) Department of the University of Palermo in cooperation with Agrotec company, Padua, Italy. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of…

Soil physical-mechanical properties evaluation in different tillage systems

2014

In environments characterized by steep slopes or arranged in terraces, among the shallow tillage systems, rototilling is extensively used. However, the effect of the repeated use of ro-totilling has a considerable influence on soil characteristics; it appears finely powdered, soft and without structure. In order to limit these inconveniences, an innovative self-propelled machine equipped with working tools as a spade, to be used in steep slopes or arranged in terraces areas, was designed by the Mechanics Section of the Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, in cooperation with Agrotec company, Padua, Italy. The aim of this study is to compare the effects of t…