Science-based intensive agriculture: Sustainability, food security, and the role of technology

Sustainable agriculture describes crop management approaches that address the interdependent goals of increasing or at least maintaining yield while protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and slowing climate change. Numerous authors have espoused limiting synthetic fertilizer and pesticides and promoting organic agriculture (Lechenet et al., 2014; Martinez-Alcantara et al., 2016; Muller at al. 2017), less meat consumption (West et al., 2014; Poore and Nemecek, 2018; Springmann et al., 2018), or combinations of these strategies as viable solutions to achieve those goals, thereby improving agricultural sustainability

Carbon-sensitive pedotransfer functions for plant available water

Currently accepted pedotransfer functions show negligible effect of management-induced changes to soil organic carbon (SOC) on plant available water holding capacity (θAWHC), while some studies show the ability to substantially increase θAWHC through management. The Soil Health Institute\u27s North America Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements measured water content at field capacity using intact soil cores across 124 long-term research sites that contained increases in SOC as a result of management treatments such as reduced tillage and cover cropping. Pedotransfer functions were created for volumetric water content at field capacity (θFC) and permanent wilting point (θPWP). New pedotransfer functions had predictions of θAWHC that were similarly accurate compared with Saxton and Rawls when tested on samples from the National Soil Characterization database. Further, the new pedotransfer functions showed substantial effects of soil calcareousness and SOC on θAWHC. For an increase in SOC of 10 g kg–1 (1%) in noncalcareous soils, an average increase in θAWHC of 3.0 mm 100 mm–1 soil (0.03 m3 m–3) on average across all soil texture classes was found. This SOC related increase in θAWHC is about double previous estimates. Calcareous soils had an increase in θAWHC of 1.2 mm 100 mm–1 soil associated with a 10 g kg–1 increase in SOC, across all soil texture classes. New equations can aid in quantifying benefits of soil management practices that increase SOC and can be used to model the effect of changes in management on drought resilience

Linking soil microbial community structure to potential carbon mineralization: A continental scale assessment of reduced tillage

Potential carbon mineralization (Cmin) is a commonly used indicator of soil health, with greater Cmin values interpreted as healthier soil. While Cmin values are typically greater in agricultural soils managed with minimal physical disturbance, the mechanisms driving the increases remain poorly understood. This study assessed bacterial and archaeal community structure and potential microbial drivers of Cmin in soils maintained under various degrees of physical disturbance. Potential carbon mineralization, 16S rRNA sequences, and soil characterization data were collected as part of the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM). Results showed that type of cropping system, intensity of physical disturbance, and soil pH influenced microbial sensitivity to physical disturbance. Furthermore, 28% of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), which were important in modeling Cmin, were enriched under soils managed with minimal physical disturbance. Sequences identified as enriched under minimal disturbance and important for modeling Cmin, were linked to organisms which could produce extracellular polymeric substances and contained metabolic strategies suited for tolerating environmental stressors. Understanding how physical disturbance shapes microbial communities across climates and inherent soil properties and drives changes in Cmin provides the context necessary to evaluate management impacts on standardized measures of soil microbial activity

Maize plant resilience to N stress and post-silking N capacity changes over time: A review

We conducted a synthesis analysis on data from 86 published field experiments conducted from 1903 to 2014 to explore the specific consequences of post-silking N accumulation (PostN) in New Era versus Old Era hybrids on grain yield (GY) and recovery from plant N stress at flowering (R1 stage). The Old Era encompassed studies using genotypes released before, and including, 1990, and the New Era included all studies using genotypes released from 1991 to 2014. Mean N fertilizer rates for experiments in the Old and New Era were similar (170 and 172 kg ha-1, respectively), but plant densities averaged 5.0 plants m-2 in the Old Era versus 7.3 plants m-2 in the New Era studies. Whole-plant N stress at R1 for each hybrid, environment and management combination was ranked into one of three categories relative to the N Nutrition Index (NNI). The key findings from this analysis are: (i) New Era genotypes increased the proportion of the total plant N at maturity accumulated post-silking (%PostN) as N stress levels at R1 increased - demonstrating improved adaptability to low N environments, (ii) New Era hybrids maintained similar GY on a per plant basis under both low and high N stress at R1 despite being subject to much higher population stress, (iii) PostN is more strongly correlated to GY (both eras combined) when under severe R1 N stress than under less acute N stress at R1, (iv) the New Era accumulated more total N (an increase of 30 kg N ha-1) and higher %PostN (an increase from 30% in Old to 36% in New Era) , and (v) the change in stover dry weight from silking to physiological maturity (ΔStover) has a positive, linear relationship with PostN in the Old Era but less so in the New Era. This increased understanding of how modern genotypes accumulate more N in the reproductive stage and have more PostN and GY resilience to mid-season N stress, even when grown at much higher plant densities, will assist trait selection and N management research directed to improving maize yields and N efficiencies simultaneously

Science-based intensive agriculture: Sustainability, food security, and the role of technology

Sustainable agriculture describes crop management approaches that address the interdependent goals of increasing or at least maintaining yield while protecting the environment, conserving natural resources, and slowing climate change. Numerous authors have espoused limiting synthetic fertilizer and pesticides and promoting organic agriculture (Lechenet et al., 2014; Martinez-Alcantara et al., 2016; Muller at al. 2017), less meat consumption (West et al., 2014; Poore and Nemecek, 2018; Springmann et al., 2018), or combinations of these strategies as viable solutions to achieve those goals, thereby improving agricultural sustainability.This article is published as Jim Gaffney, James Bing, Patrick F. Byrne, Kenneth G. Cassman, Ignacio Ciampitti, Deborah Delmer, Jeffrey Habben, H. Renee Lafitte, Ulrika E. Lidstrom, Dana O. Porter, John E. Sawyer, Jeff Schussler, Tim Setter, Robert E. Sharp, Tony J. Vyn, David Warner, Science-based intensive agriculture: Sustainability, food security, and the role of technology, Global Food Security 23 (2019): 236-244. doi: 10.1016/j.gfs.2019.08.003.</p

An evaluation of carbon indicators of soil health in long-term agricultural experiments

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is closely tied to soil health. However, additional biological indicators may also provide insight about C dynamics and microbial activity. We used SOC and the other C indicators (potential C mineralization, permanganate oxidizable C, water extractable organic C, and β-glucosidase enzyme activity) from the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements to examine the continental-scale drivers of these indicators, the relationships among indicators, and the effects of soil health practices on indicator values. All indicators had greater values at cooler temperatures, and most were greater with increased precipitation and clay content. The indicators were strongly correlated with each other at the site-level, with the strongest relationship between SOC and permanganate oxidizable C. The indicator values responded positively to decreased tillage, inclusion of cover crops, application of organic nutrients, and retention of crop residue, but not the number of harvested crops in a rotation. The effect of decreased tillage on the C indicators was generally greater at sites with higher precipitation. The magnitude and direction of the response to soil health practices was consistent across indicators within a site but measuring at least two indicators would provide additional confidence of the effects of management, especially for tillage. All C indicators responded to management, an essential criterion for evaluating soil health. Balancing the cost, sensitivity, interpretability, and availability at commercial labs, a 24-hr potential C mineralization assay could deliver the most benefit to measure in conjunction with SOC.Samuel Roberts Noble FoundationOpen access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Linking soil microbial community structure to potential carbon mineralization: A continental scale assessment of reduced tillage

Potential carbon mineralization (Cmin) is a commonly used indicator of soil health, with greater Cmin values interpreted as healthier soil. While Cmin values are typically greater in agricultural soils managed with minimal physical disturbance, the mechanisms driving the increases remain poorly understood. This study assessed bacterial and archaeal community structure and potential microbial drivers of Cmin in soils maintained under various degrees of physical disturbance. Potential carbon mineralization, 16S rRNA sequences, and soil characterization data were collected as part of the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM). Results showed that type of cropping system, intensity of physical disturbance, and soil pH influenced microbial sensitivity to physical disturbance. Furthermore, 28% of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), which were important in modeling Cmin, were enriched under soils managed with minimal physical disturbance. Sequences identified as enriched under minimal disturbance and important for modeling Cmin, were linked to organisms which could produce extracellular polymeric substances and contained metabolic strategies suited for tolerating environmental stressors. Understanding how physical disturbance shapes microbial communities across climates and inherent soil properties and drives changes in Cmin provides the context necessary to evaluate management impacts on standardized measures of soil microbial activity.Foundation for Food and Agriculture ResearchOpen access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Evaluation of aggregate stability methods for soil health

Aggregate stability is a commonly used indicator of soil health because improvements in aggregate stability are related to reduced erodibility and improved soil–water dynamics. During the past 80 to 90 years, numerous methods have been developed to assess aggregate stability. Limited comparisons among the methods have resulted in varied magnitudes of response to soil health management practices and varied influences of inherent soil properties and climate. It is not clear whether selection of a specific method creates any advantage to the investigator. This study assessed four commonly used methods of measuring aggregate stability using data collected as part of the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements. The methods included water stable aggregates using the Cornell Rainfall Simulator (WSACASH), wet sieved water stable aggregates (WSAARS), slaking captured and adapted from SLAKES smart-phone image recognition software (STAB10), and the mean weight diameter of water stable aggregates (MWD). Influence of climate and inherent soil properties at the continental scale were analyzed in addition to method responses to rotation diversity, cash crop count, residue management, organic nutrient amendments, cover crops, and tillage. The four methods were moderately correlated with each other. All methods were sensitive to differences in climate and inherent soil properties between sites, although to different degrees. None measured significant effects from rotation diversity or crop count, but all methods detected significant increases in aggregate stability resulting from reduced tillage. Significant increases or positive trends were observed for all methods in relation to cover cropping, increased residue retention, and organic amendments, except for STAB10, which expressed a slightly negative response to organic amendments. Considering these results, no single method was clearly superior and all four are viable options for measuring aggregate stability. Therefore, secondary considerations (e.g., cost, method availability, increased sensitivity to a specific management practice, or minimal within-treatment variability) driven by the needs of the investigator, should determine the most suitable method.General Mills IncOpen access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]