Impact of No-Till on physicochemical properties of Vertisols in Chaouia region of Morocco

Yıl 2020, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2, 119 - 125, 01.04.2020

Rachid Aboutayeb Brahim El Yousfi Oussama El Gharras

https://doi.org/10.18393/ejss.663502

Cited By: 5

Öz

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.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Conservation agriculture, Morocco, No-Till, on-farm research, semi-arid region, soil quality

Kaynakça

• Ali, A., Ayuba, S.A., Ojeniyi S.O., 2006. Effect of tillage and fertilizer on soil chemical properties, leaf nutrient content and yield of soyabean in the Guinea Savanna zone of Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Soil Science 16(1): 126-130.
• Ashworth, A.J., Allen, F.L., Tyler, D.D., Pote, D.H., Shipitalo, M.J., 2017. Earthworm populations are affected from long-term crop sequences and bio-covers under no-tillage. Pedobiologia 60: 27-33.
• Bessam, F. Mrabet R., 2003. Long‐term changes in soil organic matter under conventional tillage and no‐tillage systems in semiarid Morocco. Soil Use and Management 19(2): 139-143.
• Bravo, C., Torrent, J., Giráldez, J.V., González, P., Ordóñez, R., 2006. Long-term effect of tillage on phosphorus forms and sorption in a Vertisol of southern Spain. European Journal of Agronomy 25(3): 264-269.
• Busari, M.A., Kukal, S.S., Kaur, A., Bhatt R., Dulazi, A.A., 2015. Conservation tillage impacts on soil, crop and the environment. International Soil and Water Conservation Research 3(2): 119-129.
• Coulombe, C.E., Wilding, L.P., Dixon, J.B., 1996. Overview of Vertisols: Characteristics and Impacts on Society, Advances in Agronomy 57: 289-375.
• Drouineau, G., 1942. Dosage rapide du calcaire actif des sols. Annales of Agronomy 12: 441-450.
• Duiker, S.W. Beegle, D.B., 2006. Soil fertility distributions in long-term no-till, chisel/disk and moldboard plow/disk systems. Soil and Tillage Research 88(1-2): 30-41.
• Estefan, G., Sommer R., Ryan, J., 2013. Methods of Soil, Plant, and Water Analysis: A manual for the West Asia and North Africa region. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). 3rd Edition. Lebanon. 244p.
• FAO, 2011. What is Conservation Agriculture? FAO Conservation Agriculture. Available at [Access date: 19.02.2018]: http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture/overview/what-is-conservation-agriculture/en/
• Fernández-Ugalde, O., Virto, I., Bescansa, P., Imaz, M.J., Enrique, A., Karlen, D.L., 2009. No-tillage improvement of soil physical quality in calcareous, degradation-prone, semiarid soils. Soil and Tillage Research 106(1): 29-35.
• Garcia, R.A., Li Y. Rosolem, C.A., 2013. Soil organic matter and physical attributes affected by crop rotation under no-till. Soil Science Society of America Journal 77(5): 1724-1731.
• Govaerts, B., Fuentes, M., Mezzalama, M., Nicol, J.M., Deckers, J., Etchevers, J.D., Figueroa-Sandoval, B., Sayre, K.D., 2007. Infiltration, soil moisture, root rot and nematode populations after 12 years of different tillage, residue and crop rotation managements. Soil and Tillage Research 94(1): 209-219.
• Gregorich, E.G., Carter, M.R., Angers, D.A., Monreal, C.M. Ellert, B.H., 1994. Towards a minimum data set to assess soil organic matter quality in agricultural soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 74(4): 367- 385.
• Hadjidemetriou, D.G., 1982. Comparative study of the determination of nitrates in calcareous soils by the ion-selective electrode, chromotropic acid and phenoldisulphonic acid methods. Analyst 107: 25-29.
• Hess, C. Shoen, U., 1964. Tirsification et classification des Vertisols : Apport de l’analyse minéralogique des argiles à la connaissance des Tirs. Al Awamia 13: 42-119.
• Hobbs, P.R., 2007. Conservation agriculture: what is it and why is it important for future sustainable food production? Journal of Agricultural Science 145(2): 127-137.
• IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Rel. 20. 2011. Chicago: SPSSInc.
• Ibno-Namr, K., 2005. Effet à moyenterme du travail du sol, de la gestion des résidus de récolte et de la rotation céréalière sur la qualitéchimique d’un sol calcimagnésique à caractère vertique dans le semi-arideMarocain. Thèse de Doctorat d’Etat, Faculté des Sciences, El Jadida, Maroc, 143p.
• Icole, M., 1964. Pédogenèse des Vertisols en Chaouia. Rapport technique. Al Awamia 11: 71-87.
• Ismail, L., Blevins, R.L., Frye, W.W.,1994. Long-term no-tillage effects on soil properties and continuous corn yields. Soil Science Society of America Journal 58(1): 193-198.
• Johnson, R.A. Wichern, D.W., 2007. Applied Multivariate Statistical Analysis. Sixth Edition. Prentice-Hall edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, USA. 794p.
• Karrou, M., Oweis, T., 2014. Assessment of the severity and impact of drought spells on rainfed cereals in Morocco. African Journal of Agricultural Research 9(49): 3519-3530.
• Kassam, A., Friedrich, T., Derpsch, R., Lahmar, R., Mrabet, R., Basch, G., González-Sánchez, E.J., Serraj, R., 2012. Conservation agriculture in the dry Mediterranean climate. Field Crops Research 132: 7-17.
• Knudsen, D., Peterson, G.A., Pratt, P.F., 1982. Lithium, sodium and potassium, In: Methods of soil analysis. Part 2 Chemical and microbiological properties. 2nd edition. Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R., (Eds.).American Society of Agronomy Inc., Madison, WI, USA. pp.225-246.
• Laghrour, M., Moussadek, R., A. Zouahri, A., Mekkaoui, M., Dahan, R., El Mourid, M., 2015. Impact of No Tillage on physical proprieties of a clay soil in Central Morocco. Journal of Materials and Environmental Science 6: 391-396.
• Larson, W.E., Pierce, F.J., 1991. Conservation and enhancement of soil quality. In: Proceeding of the Evaluation for sustainable land management in the developing world. International Board for Soil Research and Management. 15-21 September 1991. Bangkok, Thailand. pp. 175-203.
• Littell, R.C., Milliken, G.A., Stroup, W.W. Wolfinger, R.D., 1996. SAS system for mixed models. SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC.
• McLean, E.O., 1982. Soil pH and Lime Requirement. In: Methods of soil analysis. Part 2 Chemical and microbiological properties. 2nd edition. Page, A.L., Miller, R.H., Keeney, D.R., (Eds.).American Society of Agronomy Inc., Madison, WI, USA. pp. 199-224.
• Moreno, F., Murillo, J.M., Pelegrín, F., Girón, I.F., 2006. Long-term impact of conservation tillage on stratification ratio of soil organic carbon and loss of total and active CaCO3. Soil and Tillage Research 85(1-2): 86-93.
• Moussadek, R., Mrabet, R., Dahan, R., Douaik, A., Verdoodt, A., Van Ranst, E., Corbeels, M., 2011. Effect of tillage practices on the soil carbon dioxide flux during fall and spring seasons in a Mediterranean Vertisol. Journal of Soil Science and Environmental Management 2(11): 362-369.
• Mrabet, R., El-Brahli, A., Bessam, F., Anibat, I., 2003. No-tillage technology: Research review of impacts on soil quality and wheat production in semi-arid Morocco. Options Méditerranéennes 60: 133–138.
• Mrabet, R., Ibno-Namr, K., Bessam, F., Saber, N., 2001. Soil chemical quality changes and implications for fertilizer management after 11 years of no‐tillage wheat production systems in semiarid Morocco. Land Degradation and Development 21(6): 505-517.
• Mrabet, R., Moussadek, R., Fadlaoui, A., van Ranst, E., 2012. Conservation agriculture in dry areas of Morocco. Field Crops Research 132: 84-94.
• Neugschwandtner, R.W., Liebhard, P., Kaul, H.P., Wagentrist, H., 2014. Soil chemical properties as affected by tillage and crop rotation in a long-term field experiment. Plant, Soil and Environment 60(2): 57–62.
• Olsen, S.R, Cole, C.V., Watanabe, F.S., Dean, L.A., 1954. Estimation of available phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate, US Dept. of Agric, Circ. 939. Washington DC, USA.
• Paustian, K., Cole, C.V., Sauerbeck, D., Sampson, N., 1998. CO2 mitigation by agriculture: An overview. Climatic Change 40(1): 135-162.
• Rahman, M.H., Okubo, A., Sugiyama, S., Mayland, H.F., 2008. Physical, chemical and microbiological properties of an Andisol as related to land use and tillage practice. Soil and Tillage Research 101(1-2): 10-19.
• Ryan J., De Pauw E., Gomez H., Mrabet, R., 2006. Drylands of the Mediterranean zone: biophysical resources and cropping systems. In: Dryland Agriculture. Peterson, G.A., (Ed.). ASA Monograph No. 23, Wisconsin, pp. 577-624.
• Six J., Eliott E.T., Paustian K., 2000. Soil macroaggregate turnover and microaggregate formation: a mechanism for C sequestration under no-tillage agriculture. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 32(14): 2099-2103.
• Verhulst, N., Govaerts, B., Verachtert, E., Castellanos-Navarrete, A., Mezzalama, M., Wall, P., Deckers, J., Sayre, K.D., 2010. Conservation Agriculture, Improving Soil Quality for Sustainable Production Systems? In: Advances in Soil Science: Food Security and Soil Quality.Lal, R., B.A. Stewart (Eds.). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp. 137-208.
• Walkey, A., Black, I.A., 1934. An examination of the Degtjareff method for determining organic carbon in soils: Effect of variations in digestion conditions and of inorganic soil constituents. Soil Science 63(4): 251-263.
• Zheng, C., Jiang Y., Chen, C., Sun, Y., Feng, J., Deng, A., Song, Z., Zhang, W., 2014. The impacts of conservation agriculture on crop yield in China depend on specific practices, crops and cropping regions. The Crop Journal 2(5): 289-296.