Abstract
Abstract This work presents the results of a three-year field study of agroecosystems designed to restore soil organic matter (SOM) to degraded soils of the Georgia Piedmont. The systems combine a suite of management practices previously demonstrated to increase SOM when studied individually, and examine the effects of these techniques when used in combination in a cropping systems context on soil characteristics, crop production and weed biomass. The systems' components include organic management, alley cropping with perennial legumes, conservation tillage, use of winter cover crops, straw mulch and two compost application rates. Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop. The systems were not able to maintain soil C or N without the addition of compost. Systems incorporating alley cropping, organic management, conservation tillage and compost maintained soil C, and increased in soil C when mulch was not applied. In organic, conservation tillage without alley cropping, soil C did not change significantly, even with annual 44.8 Mg ha −1 of compost additions. Patterns for soil N followed those of soil C. The study demonstrated that alley cropping can maintain and sequester soil C and N beyond organic conservation tillage alone, and more than conventionally tilled, chemically fertilized treatments. Crop yields did not vary by treatment due to high variation within treatments. Winter cover crop residue provided an effective weed barrier for 4 to 6 weeks in the spring, but additional hand weeding was required throughout the summer. The results of this systems-level study demonstrated interactions between management practices when used in combination that would not have been observed when studied individually. It also demonstrates that agroforestry techniques, conservation tillage and compost applications can increase soil C in degraded, clayey soils while they are in cultivation.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
These systems could not maintain soil carbon or nitrogen without compost.
- Taxon
- okra
.jpg?width=60)
Abelmoschus esculentuse1 - Treatment
- without the addition of composte0
- Outcome
- soil C or Ne0
- Direction
- not able to maintaine0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“The systems were not able to maintain soil C or N without the addition of compost”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Alley cropping, organic management, conservation tillage and compost maintained soil carbon.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Treatment
- alley cropping, organic management, conservation tillage and composte0
- Outcome
- soil Ce0
- Direction
- maintainede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Systems incorporating alley cropping, organic management, conservation tillage and compost maintained soil C”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Those systems increased soil carbon when mulch was omitted.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse2
- Treatment
- alley cropping, organic management, conservation tillage and composte1
- Outcome
- soil Ce0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- when mulch was not appliede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“increased in soil C when mulch was not applied”
e1“Systems incorporating alley cropping, organic management, conservation tillage and compost”
e2“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Under organic conservation tillage without alley cropping, soil carbon did not change significantly despite annual compost.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Treatment
- organic, conservation tillage without alley croppinge0
- Outcome
- soil Ce0
- Direction
- did not changee0
- Qualifier
- annual 44.8 Mg ha −1 of compost additionse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In organic, conservation tillage without alley cropping, soil C did not change significantly, even with annual 44.8 Mg ha −1 of compost additions”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil nitrogen followed the same patterns as soil carbon.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Outcome
- soil Ne0
- Comparator
- soil Ce0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Patterns for soil N followed those of soil C”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Alley cropping maintained and sequestered more soil carbon and nitrogen than organic conservation tillage alone or conventional management.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Treatment
- alley croppinge0
- Outcome
- soil C and Ne0
- Direction
- more thane0
- Comparator
- organic conservation tillage alonee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“alley cropping can maintain and sequester soil C and N beyond organic conservation tillage alone, and more than conventionally tilled, chemically fertilized treatments”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Crop yields did not vary by treatment amid high within-treatment variation.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Treatment
- treatmente0
- Outcome
- Crop yieldse0
- Direction
- did not varye0
- Qualifier
- high variation within treatmentse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Crop yields did not vary by treatment due to high variation within treatments”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Winter cover crop residue suppressed weeds for 4 to 6 weeks in spring.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Treatment
- Winter cover crop residuee0
- Interactor
- weede0weed
- Outcome
- weed barriere0
- Value
- 4 to 6 weekse0
Not reportedComparatorDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Winter cover crop residue provided an effective weed barrier for 4 to 6 weeks in the spring”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Additional hand weeding remained necessary throughout summer.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Outcome
- additional hand weeding was required throughout the summere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“additional hand weeding was required throughout the summer”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
Claim · model-written summary
Combining management practices revealed interactions that separate studies would not have observed.
- Taxon
- okraAbelmoschus esculentuse1
- Outcome
- interactions between management practicese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“interactions between management practices when used in combination that would not have been observed when studied individually”
e1“Vegetable crops grown were a rotation of okra, hot pepper and a corn and winter squash intercrop”
The same questions in other papers
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- positive
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2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
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Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.