No-till farming for managing soil organic matter in semiarid, temperate regions

Authors: PENG, QIUPING - Washington State University; Huggins, David

Submitted to: Advances in Soil Science
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/23/2021
Publication Date: 12/8/2021
Citation: Peng, Q., Huggins, D.R. 2021. No-till farming for managing soil organic matter in semiarid, temperate regions. In: Lal, R., editor. Soil Organic Matter and Feeding the Future. 1st edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 365-406. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003102762.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003102762

Interpretive Summary: Semi-arid regions cover 17.7% of the earth’s land area with annual precipitation ranging from 200 to 700 mm. Semi-arid temperate regions are mainly located in eastern and western Europe, northeast China, the Great Plains region of North America, semi-arid pampas in South America, southern Africa, and Mediterranean areas of Europe, North America and Australia and support about 14.4% of the world’s population in the year 2000. Global maps of cropland distribution indicate that semi-arid, temperate regions of Europe, Australia and New Zealand primarily produce wheat and barley along with other mixed crops of corn, rice and soybean; while in northeastern China mixed crops dominate. In semi-arid regions of North America, corn and soybean are the main crops in the southern Great Plains and are primarily replaced by wheat and barley in the northern Great Plains of US and Canada.The over-arching question to be addressed in this chapter is can no-tillage (NT) agriculture meet the broad demands of sustainable intensification and provide multiple, diverse ecosystem services (ES). Importantly, NT addresses soil erosion and significantly curtails the foremost soil degradation process of the world. Adoption of NT, however, also changes multiple soil properties, impacts many ongoing processes in the soil-plant-air continuum and has many social-economic and biophysical challenges. Complex feedback loops affect other ES including provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural outcomes under NT. Specific objectives of this chapter are to: (1) further the synthesis of previous findings regarding NT performance in semi-arid, temperate regions; and (2) illustrate the value of long-term, site-specific research that pursues a broader evaluation of NT performance outcomes. The synthesis will be meaningful for scientist, agricultural professionals, conservation entities and producers.

Technical Abstract: Semi-arid regions cover 17.7% (about 2,625 Mha) of the earth’s land area with annual precipitation ranging from 200 to 700 mm and aridity indices between 0.20 and 0.50. Semi-arid temperate regions are mainly located in eastern and western Europe, northeast China, the Great Plains region of North America, semi-arid pampas in South America, southern Africa, and Mediterranean areas of Europe, North America and Australia and support about 14.4% of the world’s population in the year 2000. Global maps of cropland distribution indicate that semi-arid, temperate regions of Europe, Australia and New Zealand primarily produce wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) along with other mixed crops of corn (Zea mays L.), rice (Oryza sativa) and soybean (Glycine max ); while in northeastern China mixed crops dominate. In semi-arid regions of North America, corn and soybean are the main crops in the southern Great Plains and are primarily replaced by wheat and barley in the northern Great Plains of US and Canada.The over-arching question to be addressed in this chapter is can no-tillage (NT) agriculture meet the broad demands of sustainable intensification and provide multiple, diverse ecosystem services (ES). Inevitably, as no agricultural system is perfect, there will be synergies, tradeoffs and knowledge gaps associated with various NT performance outcomes. Importantly, NT addresses soil erosion and significantly curtails the foremost soil degradation process of the world. Adoption of NT, however, also changes multiple soil properties, impacts many ongoing processes in the soil-plant-air continuum and has many social-economic and biophysical challenges. Complex feedback loops affect other ES including provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural outcomes under NT. Specific objectives of this chapter are to: (1) further the synthesis of previous findings regarding NT performance in semi-arid, temperate regions; and (2) illustrate the value of long-term, site-specific research that pursues a broader evaluation of NT performance outcomes.