Effects of No-Tillage and Diverse Cropping Systems On Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration.

No-tillage (NT) practices have been promoted as an alternative to intensive tillage (CT) for increasing agricultural sustainability. The NT system can be more benefitted by using the cover crops. Thus, present study was conducted to evaluate the NT and cover crop effects on bulk density, organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) contents in comparison with those of conventional tillage (CT) systems for some soils of Midwestern region of USA. A total of 15 farm locations were selected based on soil types and land use management across the staes of Ohio and Michigan. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected under NT and CT plots from the 0-10, 10-20, 20-40, and 40-60 cm depths in triplicates. The study hypothesized that the C and N accumulations are influenced by different land use and management systems, and soil aggregate size fractions. Results from this study support the conclusion that the long-term NT practices when used with cover crops improve soil aggregation as compared to CT, and store higher SOC and N concentrations. Cover crops in NT practices improved the SOC stock as compared to that without cover crops. On an average, soil bulk density for the NT under cover crops was 10-15% lower as compared to that under CT. For the 0-60 cm depth, SOC stock stored under NT with cover crops was 20-30% higher as compared to that of CT system. Data show that use of cover crops under NT practices improve SOC stock and soils’ aggregate formation and stabilization. Long-term usage of cover crops not only improves crop productivity but also benefits the environment.