Impacts of Diverse Crop Rotations and Cover Crops Under Different Tillage Systems on Soil Health in South Dakota, USA.

Poster Presentation at the MANAGING GLOBAL RESOURCES FOR A SECURE FUTURE

2017 Annual Meeting | October 22-25 | Tampa, FL

Section:  Soil Health for Agroecosystems

Title: Impacts of Diverse Crop Rotations and Cover Crops Under Different Tillage Systems on Soil Health in South Dakota, USA.

Jasdeep Singh and Sandeep Kumar

South Dakota State University, Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science, Brookings, SD, 57007, USA

Presenter: Jasdeep Singh (jasdeep.singh@sdstate.edu)

Poster Presentation Abstract

ABSTRACT

The overall health of soil can be enhanced by inclusion of cover crops in crop rotations managed under conservation tillage systems. The present study was conducted under a long-term (>25 years) experimental site located in Beresford, South Dakota to investigate the impacts of diversified crop rotations on soil health parameters. The studied parameters included microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN), hot water extractable (HWE), cold water extractable (CWE) and acid (1M and 6M) fractions of soil organic carbon (SOC) and enzymatic activities (urease and β-D-glucosidase). The soils of the experimental plots falls under Egan soil series (Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Udic Haplustolls) located on nearly flat areas. Soil samples were/will be collected multiple times under corn phase (before planting, after planting, V6 stage and harvesting) at surface depth (0-7.5 cm) in 2017 under two tillage systems (no-till and conventional-till) from three rotation systems (corn/soybean, corn/soybean/oat, corn/soybean/oat/winter wheat) with and without cover crop treatments. These treatments were laid out under randomized complete block design with four replicates. The data before planting showed that inclusion of cover crops increased MBC, MBN, HWEC, CWEC and β-D-glucosidase activity by 27, 73, 33, 29 and 29%, respectively, in comparison to without the cover crops. However, the results for acid fractions were not statistically significant. The preliminary results showed that inclusion of cover crops in rotation pattern may improve soil health irrespective of the type of tillage and rotation.