Combined impact of no-till and cover crops with or without short-term water stress as revealed by physicochemical and microbiological indicators

Combining no-till and cover crops (NT + CC) as an alternative to conventional tillage (CT) is generating interest to build-up farming systems’ resilience while promoting climate change adaptation in agriculture. Our field study aimed to assess the impact of long-term NT + CC management and short-term water stress on soil microbial communities, enzymatic activities, and the distribution of C and N within soil aggregates. High-throughput sequencing (HTS) revealed the positive impact of NT + CC on microbial biodiversity, especially under water stress conditions, with the presence of important rhizobacteria (e.g., Bradyrhizobium spp.). An alteration index based on soil enzymes confirmed soil depletion under CT. C and N pools within aggregates showed an enrichment under NT + CC mostly due to C and N-rich large macroaggregates (LM), accounting for 44% and 33% of the total soil C and N. Within LM, C and N pools were associated to microaggregates within macroaggregates (mM), which are beneficial for long-term C and N stabilization in soils. Water stress had detrimental effects on aggregate formation and limited C and N inclusion within aggregates. The microbiological and physicochemical parameters correlation supported the hypothesis that long-term NT + CC is a promising alternative to CT, due to the contribution to soil C and N stabilization while enhancing the biodiversity and enzymes

A survey of relationship between anxiety, depression and duration of infertility

BACKGROUND: A cross sectional study was designed to survey the relationship between anxiety/depression and duration/cause of infertility, in Vali-e-Asr Reproductive Health Research Center, Tehran, Iran. METHODS: After obtaining their consents, 370 female patients with different infertility causes participated in, and data gathered by Beck Depression Inventory(BDI) and Cattle questionnaires for surveying anxiety and depression due to the duration of infertility. This was studied in relation to patients' age, educational level, socio-economic status and job (patients and their husbands). RESULTS: Age range was 17–45 years and duration and cause of infertility was 1–20 years. This survey showed that 151 women (40.8%) had depression and 321 women (86.8%) had anxiety. Depression had a significant relation with cause of infertility, duration of infertility, educational level, and job of women. Anxiety had a significant relationship with duration of infertility and educational level, but not with cause of infertility, or job. Findings showed that anxiety and depression were most common after 4–6 years of infertility and especially severe depression could be found in those who had infertility for 7–9 years. CONCLUSIONS: Adequate attention to these patients psychologically and treating them properly, is of great importance for their mental health and will improve quality of their lives

Psychological adjustment of infertile women entering IVF treatment: differentiating aspects and influencing factors.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychological adjustment of infertile women compared with a control group of mothers and to determine which personal or marital factors influence the amount of emotional disorders in the infertile group. DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire study with a group of infertile women and a group of mothers attending a routine gynecological examination. SETTING: Infertile women and mothers received the questionnaires after a psychological or medical examination respectively, at a Sterility Center in a Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred and twenty-two infertile women, entering an IVF program, and 57 mothers attending a routine care visit. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Stressful events, self-esteem, job and marital satisfaction, care and control measures of intimate bond, state-trait anxiety, depression, psychophysiological symptoms and global emotional factor scores. RESULTS: The organic infertile group was higher than mothers on satisfaction with their relationship with their husbands, perception of care and state-anxiety. The emotional factor scores of infertile women, controlled for stressful events, were influenced by a) number of IVF-cycles and availability for adoption, b) job position, job satisfaction and self-esteem, c) personality dimensions. State and trait anxiety scores were influenced by the level of global marital satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Infertile women, entering an IVF treatment program, do not necessarily show signs of psychological maladjustment. Their level of state-anxiety can be considered a situational response to the treatment stress. The infertility condition and its treatment can be effectively dealt with by women having a good personality disposition, a high level of self-esteem, who are satisfied with their job and relationship with their husband, and who are willing to adopt a child as a last solution for their maternal need

Anxiety and perceptive functioning of infertile women during in-vitro fertilization: exploratory survey of an Italian sample.

The aim of this study was to study the emotional impact of in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and any possible influence due to the type of diagnosis, duration of infertility, number of cycles and type of responses to treatment. The study was carried out on 200 patients admitted to hospital for the final stages of IVF (oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer). The psychological measures taken into consideration were: state and trait anxiety levels (Stait-Trait Anxiety), unconscious and symptomatic anxiety, perception of self and of others (EWI). Monitoring of anxiety levels during hospitalization highlighted significant differences with respect to the state anxiety values (P < 0.01) and general anxiety (P < 0.05), but not with respect to trait anxiety. The level of state anxiety of women with a diagnosis of infertility was significantly lower (P < 0. 05). Women who have experienced infertility of medium to long duration presented a significantly lower state anxiety value (P < 0. 01). The failure of oocyte fertilization determines a significant increase in state anxiety level (P < 0.01) There were no significant differences in anxiety values with respect to the cycle number. Perceptive functioning was normal

Cover crops during transition to no-till maintain yield and enhance soil fertility in intensive agro-ecosystems

Introducing no-till and cover crops in arable agro-ecosystems leads to the restoration of soil fertility, through the increase of soil organic matter (SOM), soil total nitrogen (STN), and available phosphorus (P), therefore maintaining or enhancing crop yield and reducing costs. Although the effects of those practices have been widely examined, many studies show conflicting results and little is known about the combined effects of no-till (NT) and cover crops (CCs) under intensive arable cropland in the Po Valley (Northern Italy). The objectives of this study were: (i) to evaluate if NT management coupled with CCs negatively affects yields during the transition period and how yields evolve; (ii) to assess SOM, STN, and P dynamics in the 60-cm soil depth layer; and (iii) to evaluate the effects of different types of winter cover crops on yield and soil parameters. A six-year field experiment was established in Piacenza, on a silty-clay soil under temperate climate conditions. The crop sequence was: winter wheat, maize, maize, soybean, winter wheat, and maize. The four experimental treatments were: (1) conventional tillage (CT) as control; (2) NT with CC of rye (NT-R); (3) NT with CC of hairy vetch (NT-V); and (4) NT with a mixture of CCs (rye, hairy vetch, crimson clover, Italian rye-grass and radish) [NT-M]). Dry biomass yield of CCs ranged between 2.2 and 3.1 Mg ha 121 for rye; 1.9 and 3.0 Mg ha 121 for hairy vetch; and 1.9 and 3.2 Mg ha 121 for mixture. In the present study, yields of winter wheat, maize, and soybean were generally not reduced with NT-CCs since the first year after conversion. The different composition and thickness of cover crop mulch showed an opposite yield response to rainfall pattern: under NT-R, a negative correlation was observed between grain yield and rainfall, while under NT-V this correlation was positive. After six years, SOM and STN concentrations in the 0-30 cm soil layer increased in NT-CCs. SOM concentration was +30%, +23% and +20% higher than CT for NT-R, NT-M and NT-V, respectively. STN was +28% higher under NT-R and NT-V, and +21% higher under NT-M, than CT. Conversely, P concentration was not influenced by the NT-CCs system, although we observed a tendency to increase under NT-V. In the 30-60 cm soil, layer, the tillage systems did not affect SOM and STN. We concluded that introducing NT with winter CCs into intensive arable agricultural systems is an effective strategy for enhancing soil fertility in fine-textured soils under temperate climates, without penalizing yields

Superficiale o sotterranea, la goccia conviene

Le tecniche di microirrigazione (sia superficiale, sia sotterranea) garantiscono su mais e pomodoro un evidente risparmio della risorsa idrica e rese agronomiche paragonabili o superiori all\u2019irrigazione per aspersione. Anche sul fronte della concentrazione di nitrati nel terreno i vantaggi sono indiscutibil

May conservation tillage enhance soil C and N accumulation without decreasing yield in intensive irrigated croplands? Results from an eight-year maize monoculture

Intensive management of agroecosystems has been widely indicated as major responsible for soil degradation, thus negatively impacting on relationships between agriculture and climate change. Conservation tillage (i.e. no-till and minimum tillage) has been recommended for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (STN) stocks while having a positive impact on food security, biodiversity, water quality and the environment. Nevertheless, positive responses were mainly reported in hot and semiarid climates, with rainfed crops and low N fertilization rates. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to test the adoption of conservation tillage in intensive maize cropping systems under temperate soil, with high N fertilization rate (&gt; 200 kg N ha−1 yr−1) and organic matter input (i.e. manure distribution and high biomass return), and with permanent optimum water moisture due to irrigation. We conducted an 8-year field experiment on a maize (Zea mays L.) monoculture to assess: (i) the effect of no-till (NT) and minimum tillage (MT), on grain yield and biomass return as compared with conventional tillage (CT); (ii) how tillage systems affect the evolution of SOC and STN levels over time under these conditions; (iii) soil aggregation processes and mechanisms leading to SOC and STN changes in the long-term. Results showed that MT increased maize grain yield (+7 %) and total biomass (+10 %) compared with CT. Conversely, NT reduced maize grain and biomass production during the initial 5-year transition, but afterwards increased maize yield up to that of CT. At the end of the experiment, SOC sequestration was increased under NT and MT by 1.45 and 1.52 Mg C ha−1 yr−1 compared with CT, respectively. Also, STN accumulation was higher under NT and MT than under CT (+0.15 and +0.17 Mg N ha−1 yr−1, respectively). Most of such a SOC and STN increase was located into C- and N-rich macroaggregates. Within those macroaggregates (large macroaggregates, LM; small macroaggregates, sM), we found that C and N pools associated to mM accounted for between 41 and 65 % of total C and N content in NT and MT systems across the different soil layers, which is beneficial for long-term C and N stabilization in soils. Thus, introducing conservation tillage within intensive agricultural context devoted to maize monoculture as that of the Po Valley should be recommended to: (i) maintain (or even increase) maize yield, and (ii) enhance SOC and STN accumulation and stabilization

Reducing N fertilization without yield penalties in maize with a commercially available seed dressing

Introducing smart and sustainable tools for climate change adaptation and mitigation is a major need to support agriculture\u2019s productivity potential. We assessed the effects of the processed gypsum seed dressing SOP\uae COCUS MAIZE+ (SCM), combined with a gradient of N fertilization rates (i.e., 0%, 70% equal to 160 kg N ha 121, and 100% equal to 230 kg N ha 121) in maize (Zea mays L.), on: (i) grain yield, (ii) root length density (RLD) and diameter class length (DCL), (iii) biodiversity of soil bacteria and fungi, and (iv) Greenhouse Gases (GHGs, i.e., N2O, CO2, and CH4) emission. Grain yield increased with SCM by 1 Mg ha 121 (+8%). The same occurred for overall RLD (+12%) and DCL of very fine, fine, and medium root classes. At anthesis, soil microbial biodiversity was not affected by treatments, suggesting earlier plant-rhizosphere interactions. Soil GHGs showed that (i) the main driver of N losses as N2O is the N-fertilization level, and (ii) decreasing N-fertilization in maize from 100% to 70% decreased N2O emissions by 509 mg N-N2O m 122 y 121. Since maize grain yield under SCM with 70% N-fertilization was similar to that under Control with 100% N-fertilization, we concluded that under our experimental conditions SCM may be used for reducing N input ( 1230%) and N2O emissions ( 1223%), while contemporarily maintaining maize yield. Hence, SCM can be considered an available tool to improve agriculture\u2019s alignment to the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) and to comply with Europe\u2019s Farm to Fork strategy for reducing N-fertilizer inputs

The interaction between types of cover crop residue and digestate application methods affects ammonia volatilization during maize cropping season

Organic and mineral fertilizers are important sources of ammonia (NH3) emissions from agricultural fields. The objectives of this study were (a) to evaluate how different cover crop (CC) residues (i.e., rye [Secale cereale L.], white mustard [Sinapis alba L.], and bare soil as control) in combination with different application methods of digestate (surface broadcast vs. shallow injection) affect NH3 volatilization before planting maize (Zea mays L.) and (b) to assess the residual effect of previous CCs on NH3 volatilization after urea top-dress application at the V5-V6 phonological stage of maize. Ammonia volatilization was measured using semi-static chambers for 14 d (335 h) after planting and for 6 d (150 h) at the V5-V6 stage. Overall, NH3 emissions decreased by 67\u201377% with digestate injection compared with surface broadcasting. However, the reduction in NH3 volatilization using the injection method was significantly lower with mustard residue (6.72 kg NH3\u2013N ha\u20131) than with rye residue (14.15 kg NH3\u2013N ha\u20131), which allowed for more volatilization by increasing the exposure of digestate to the air. Broadcast digestate method did not affect the cumulative NH3\u2013N losses obtained with different CC types. After urea top-dressing at the V5-V6 stage of maize, the cumulative losses of NH3 (during 150 h) were 2.99 kg NH3\u2013N ha\u20131 with rye as previous CC and 2.49 kg NH3\u2013N ha\u20131 with mustard. Our study shows that digestate injection before maize planting and urea top-dressing application followed immediately by irrigation (15 mm) could be considered as useful strategies to mitigate NH3 volatilization and increase N use efficiency in maize