Sustainable control of carbon mineralization and nitrate concentration in soil, based on tillage and seeding practices in a semiarid Mediterranean agrosystem

Abstract

In recent years, tillage and cropping systems have been changed to reduce soil erosion through sustainable practices involving less intensive cultivation. In particular, the band seeding method is modifying the usual forms of soil management in extensive crops with the aim of improving soil moisture and fertilizer uptake. No extensive studies have been carried out about the extent to which the mineralization rates of soil organic matter depend on the tillage practices. In conventional tillage systems, a rapid flow of microbial activity immediately after plowing has been reported (Blevins el al., 1984). In no-tillage soils, however, the observed increased levels of organic carbon and moisture (Dick el al., 1998) should also provide an improved habitat for enhanced biological activity over a long period of time. The present experiment was designed in order to determine, in the course of the growing season, the effect of tillage and seeding practices on the resistance of organic matter to mineralization and on the accumulation in soil of NO3-nitrogen.