Location: Water Management and Systems Research
Project Number: 3012-13660-010-013-N
Project Type: Non-Funded Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Mar 31, 2022
End Date: Mar 30, 2027
Objective:
1. Long-term influence of different commercial fertilizer rates on soil quality parameters and soil C dynamics.
2. Long-term tillage, cover crop, and crop rotation impact on soil quality parameters.
Approach:
Field plots experiment was initiated in 1995 to investigate the effects of cover crops as strategy to improve tillage performance in improving soil quality and soil carbon content in cropping system. The study consists of two tillage treatments, reduced tillage (RT) and no-tillage (NT); two cover crop treatments, no-cover and sunn hemp; and three nitrogen rates (0, 60, and 90 kg N ha-1) in a wheat-sorghum-fallow cropping system. The experiment arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Soil samples were collected to evaluate changes in quality parameters. The USDA-ARS scientist will quantify some aspect of soil quality parameters (such as aggregate and POM if applicable) and soil carbon content.
