Monday, 6 October 2008: 4:15 PM

George R. Brown Convention Center, 361AB

Deborah Stinner, Ohio State University - OARDC, The Ohio State Univeristy OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, OH 44691, Alan Sundermeier, Ohio State University - OARDC, 639 S Dunbridge Road Ste 1, Bowling Green, OH 43402, Y. Raut, The Ohio State University South Centers, 1864 Shyville Road, Piketon, OH 45661, Irfan Aziz, Dept. of Agronomy, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, J. N. Ahmed, Bahauddin Zakaria University, New Multan, Multan, Pakistan and Khandakar Islam, Ohio State University - OARDC, OSU South Centers, 1864 Shyville Rd, Piketon, OH 45661-9749

Organic amendments are important to maintain and/or improve soil quality. The impact (2000 to 2007) of organic transition in field crops (conventional vs. organic) on soil quality was evaluated. Soil cores were collected at 0-15 cm depth, composited, 2-mm sieved, analyzed for total microbial biomass (Cmic), Cmic:Corg, basal (BR) and specific maintenance (qCO2) respiration rates, Cmic cell quotient (qD), and mineralizable C as biological indicators; total organic C (Corg), total N (TN), available N (AN), available P (P), glucose, active organic C (Cactive), particulate organic matter (POM), POM-P, POM-N, and POM-C as chemical indicators; and bulk density (rb), mean weight diameter (MWD), geometric mean diameter (GMD), macro-aggregates (Mag), microaggregates (Mig), and aggregate ratios (AR) as physical indicators of soil quality. An inductive additive approach, based on normalization, summation, and average of measured properties into biological, chemical, and physical soil quality indices, was used to calculate a simple soil quality index. Results showed that the values of soil quality indicator properties were significantly higher in organic system compared with conventional system. The organic soil had 29% higher biological quality, 36% higher chemical quality, and 16% higher physical quality. Likewise, 26% higher overall soil quality in organic soil than conventional soil. Regression analyses showed that biological, chemical and physical quality accounted 81, 84, and 74% variability in overall soil quality.

See more of: Emissions of Atmospheric Pollutants and Carbon Sequestration: I (includes Graduate Student Competition)
See more of: S11 Soils & Environmental Quality

2008 Joint Annual Meeting (5-9 Oct. 2008): Management Systems Impact on Soil Quality.

606-9 Management Systems Impact on Soil Quality.