Soil Quality Is Enhanced Under a Solar Corridor Cropping System.

The solar corridor crop system (SCCS) is designed for improved crop productivity based on highly efficient use of solar radiation by integrating row crops with drilled or solid-seeded crops in broad strips (corridors) that also facilitate establishment of lower-stature grain or cover crops. The SCCS is an agroecosystem with diverse system structure that should inherently provide many features to build soil quality. Management strategies within SCCS including reduced tillage, intercropping, and soil conservation through crop residue retention likely improve soil quality attributes of soil structure, C and N content and quality, nutrient cycling, and microbial activity. To confirm the beneficial impact of SCCS on soil quality, ten corn hybrids that have shown vigorous growth and yield responses to the SCCS plus a current conventional hybrid were grown in a SCCS on a Mexico silt loam in mid-Missouri in 2013. Selected soil analyses representing soil quality indicators were conducted on soils collected periodically during the growing season; leaf chlorophyll was measured using SPAD meter; and grain yields were determined for corn grown in conventional 76-cm rows and by incorporating 152-cm alleys as the solar corridor. Impacts of SCCS on these parameters will be discussed.