The Solar Corridor Cropping System for Efficient Grain Production and Improved Soil Quality on Claypan Soils.

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 cover crops for year-round soil cover. The SCCS is an agroecosystem with diverse system structure that promotes synergistic relationships between CO2 fixation by plants with carbon utilization by the soil microbial community for driving nutrient transformations and soil organic matter formation. We have evaluated the effect of SCCS on selected soil quality indicators as an assessment of soil quality during four years of field trials with corn. Soil microbial activity is enhanced using the corridor planting arrangement and strongly correlated (r2 ≤ 0.72) with active carbon (AC), showing trends for increased C contents in rows bordering the corridor. Increased carbon fixation by plants at the wide row spacing due to greater exposure to solar radiation also increased carbon substrates released into the rhizosphere for microbial metabolism and influence on soil microbial community structure. Our studies to date demonstrate that an integrated cropping system such as SCCS is an effective management system for maintaining crop production by facilitating synergistic relationships between plants and the soil microbial community that leads to enhanced soil quality and soil conservation.