Logo image
Back
Long-term conservation agriculture increases sulfur pools in soils together with increased soil organic carbon compared to conventional practices
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Long-term conservation agriculture increases sulfur pools in soils together with increased soil organic carbon compared to conventional practices

U. Kumar, M. Cheng, M.J. Islam, M. Maniruzzaman, S.S. Nasreen, M.E. Haque, M.T. Rahman, M. Jahiruddin, R.W. Bell and M.M.R. Jahangir
Soil and Tillage Research, Vol.223, Art. 105474
2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2022.105474
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Long term depletion of sulfur (S) in soils is common in many cropping systems globally, and especially in intensive, rice-based rotations in Asia. We hypothesized that Conservation Agriculture (CA) practices (minimal soil disturbance and crop residue retention) will increase S in soils primarily through changes in soil organic carbon (SOC). A long term experiment was sampled after 24 crops of continuous practice of (A) contrasting soil disturbance (strip planting = SP and conventional tillage = CT) and (B) two levels of crop residue retention (low residue = LR and high residue = HR). Sulfur fractions and dynamics in soil at five depths (0–5, 5–15, 15–30, 30–45 and 45–60 cm) along with bulk density (BD), pH, SOC, total nitrogen (TN) and extractable nutrients were determined. Levels of total S (584 – 668 mg kg−1), organic S (50.0– 153 mg kg−1), available S (7.9 – 21.6 mg kg−1) and water soluble S (6.0 – 17.0 mg kg−1) were the highest in SP with HR (P < 0.05), while inorganic S (505 – 533 mg kg−1) and adsorbed S (2.3 – 4.4 mg kg−1) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in HR plots irrespective of tillage systems at 0–30 cm soil depth. All the S fractions were positively and strongly correlated with SOC and except for inorganic and adsorbed S, all other S fractions were positively correlated with TN, extractable P, Zn, B and Fe. All S fractions were negatively correlated with BD. Inorganic S was the dominant S fraction but highly significant and positive correlations of available S with organic S (r = 0.92) and water–soluble S (r = 0.92) suggests these two fractions were the main sources of plant available S. This study suggests that both minimal soil disturbance and increased crop residue retention, core components of CA, increased S pools in soils primarily due to increased SOC sequestration.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#2 Zero Hunger
#13 Climate Action
#14 Life Below Water
#15 Life on Land

Source: InCites

Metrics

79 Record Views
32 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
3.45 Soil Science
3.45.112 Soil Carbon Dynamics
Web Of Science research areas
Soil Science
ESI research areas
Agricultural Sciences
Logo image