Article
Agronomy
Lionel Alletto, Ana Cassigneul, Apolline Duchalais, Simon Giuliano, Julie Brechemier, Eric Justes
Summary: The study found that implementing conservation tillage and cover crops in maize monoculture systems can reduce environmental impacts and improve agronomic performance. The specific cover crop species and termination dates can affect soil water content, and leaving the soil bare can decrease maize yields.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Xing Wang, Cong He, Bai-Jian Lin, Xin Zhao, Ran Zhang, Ling-Tao Zhong, Xiao-Ping Xiao, Hai-Lin Zhang
Summary: Periodic targeted tillage can improve soil management problems such as soil stratification and reduced yield. This method can enhance soil physicochemical properties, increase nutrient availability, and decrease soil acidification. In double-cropped rice systems in southern China, periodic targeted tillage is a more sustainable method compared to continuous no-tillage and ploughing tillage, as it can improve yield and increase the seed setting rate.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Silin Liu, Zhiyi Ma, Ying Zhang, Zhongwen Chen, Xiao Du, Yinghui Mu
Summary: This study investigated the potential of white clover and ryegrass as cover crops to inhibit weed growth and the impact of their residue on subsequent crops. The results showed that ryegrass effectively suppressed weed growth but reduced corn yield, while white clover enhanced corn yield with less noticeable weed suppression. Based on this, it is recommended to use ryegrass as a pre-crop to reduce herbicide use in corn cultivation.
Article
Agronomy
Etiendem Achankeng, Wim Cornelis
Summary: This study investigates the impact of ridge tillage (RT) and strip tillage (ST) on crop yields in Europe in comparison with no-till (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). The results show that, on average, NT leads to a 5.1% reduction in crop yields, while RT and ST each result in a 5% increase in crop yield over CT.
FIELD CROPS RESEARCH
(2023)
Review
Agronomy
Xiaoshang Deng, Qianxi Yang, Dan Zhang, Shoukun Dong
Summary: In the context of climate change, agriculture cultivation is threatened and conservation tillage is considered a potential method to enhance climate resilience. Our research found that conservation tillage has the potential to improve soil health, reduce greenhouse gases, and enhance climate resilience. Despite some negative impacts on crop yield and greenhouse gases, adopting appropriate agricultural practices along with conservation tillage can maximize its benefits and mitigate the possible negative effects.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zhen Cao, Guohui Chen, Song Zhang, Shangshu Huang, Yan Wu, Fangjin Dong, Yuming Guo, Jianhao Wang, Fahui Jiang
Summary: Soil erosion is a global threat, especially in China. No-tillage (NT) and mulching (NTS) are effective soil management techniques for reducing erosion, but their utilization is limited. This study evaluated the impact of NT and NTS on water erosion in China's croplands from 2000 to 2018 and found that they significantly reduced soil loss, especially in southern regions. However, considering economic losses and ecosystem benefits, NT and NTS should be primarily implemented in northern parts of China.
Article
Soil Science
C. MacLaren, J. Labuschagne, P. A. Swanepoel
Summary: Reduced tillage practices are generally considered more sustainable than conventional tillage practices, but controlling weeds remains a challenge for many producers. Crop rotation is often recommended for weed management in reduced tillage systems, but uncertainties exist about how different tillage practices and crop rotations interact. Our study in South Africa's winter rainfall region found that different tillage practices did not significantly affect weed density in wheat monoculture. Both crop rotations generally had lower weed densities and reduced dominance of grass weeds compared to monoculture, but zero tillage with crop rotation showed similar weed seed bank densities to monoculture, suggesting an antagonistic relationship in this system. Producers seeking to reduce tillage in the region should opt for minimum tillage over zero tillage and avoid wheat monoculture, while weed researchers and agronomists should be cautious of potential antagonistic interactions between weed management practices in different systems.
SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Aline F. Martini, Nerilde Favaretto, Fabiano D. De Bona, Matheus F. Duraes, Luiz C. de Paula Souza, Gabriel D. Goularte
Summary: The study evaluated the impact of soil use and management on water quality in a small watershed in Southern Brazil, highlighting the importance of best management practices such as terracing, riparian vegetation, and crop rotation even with no-tillage to avoid water resource degradation.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Tong Li, Yuze Li, Xuechun Gao, Shengnan Wang, Ziting Wang, Yang Liu, Xiaoxia Wen, Fei Mo, Juan Han, Yuncheng Liao
Summary: Conservation tillage practices, particularly chisel plough tillage (CPT) technique, show significant improvements in soil nutrient content, crop growth, and rhizosphere bacterial communities in maize and soybean fields on the Loess Plateau of China. The study suggests that CPT practice has the potential to enhance relationships between underground and aboveground components in agroecosystems in semi-arid agricultural areas.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Manal H. Askar, Brittany R. Hanrahan, Kevin W. King, Jedediah H. Stinner
Summary: Eutrophication caused by excessive N and P loss from croplands is a global water quality issue. This study evaluates the effects of cover crops and manure application on discharge and nutrient loss in an Ohio crop production field. While white mustard reduced nitrate concentration, it did not significantly affect drainage discharge or phosphorus loss. The study suggests that cover crops may be effective in reducing nitrate but may not address phosphorus concerns.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Suying Chen, Peipei Yang, Yuming Zhang, Wenxu Dong, Chunsheng Hu, Oene Oenema
Summary: This study investigated the effects of different tillage practices on crop yield and soil quality. The results showed that moldboard ploughing with maize straw return resulted in higher wheat yields and soil organic carbon content compared to other treatments.
Article
Agronomy
Yawen Huang, Bo Tao, Xiaochen Zhu, Yanjun Yang, Liang Liang, Lixin Wang, Pierre-Andre Jacinthe, Hanqin Tian, Wei Ren
Summary: Conservation tillage practices can increase crop water productivity for corn and soybean, but may lead to issues such as subsurface drainage and nutrient loss, which should be complemented with additional management practices for optimization.
AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Xiaojing Hu, Junjie Liu, Aizhen Liang, Lujun Li, Qin Yao, Zhenhua Yu, Yansheng Li, Jian Jin, Xiaobing Liu, Guanghua Wang
Summary: Investigating the impact of various tillage practices on soil microbial communities revealed that reduced tillage (RT) may help stabilize microbial network structure, alleviate potential pathogen transmission risks, and ultimately enhance crop yields.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Review
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
S. S. Tabriz, M. A. Kader, M. Rokonuzzaman, M. S. Hossen, M. A. Awal
Summary: Sugarcane, a globally used industrial crop, faces challenges in Bangladesh due to labor-dependent cultivation and climate change leading to high production costs and low yields. Improved practices focusing on conservation agriculture principles, such as reduced tillage, residue mulching, and intercropping, can help overcome these barriers for sustainable sugarcane farming.
ENVIRONMENT DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Ruixiu Sui, Saseendran S. Anapalli
Summary: The study found that nitrogen rates significantly affected cotton yield, while the tillage radish cover crop had minimal impact. The use of TRCC increased soil water content but did not significantly influence cotton yield.
Article
Agronomy
Remi Mahmoud, Pierre Casadebaig, Nadine Hilgert, Lionel Alletto, Gregoire T. Freschet, Claire de Mazancourt, Noemie Gaudio
Summary: Maintaining yield while reducing inputs is a key objective of sustainable agriculture. Cereal-legume intercropping can help achieve this by utilizing abiotic resources and facilitation mechanisms. Management options, such as species choice and nitrogen fertilization level, play important roles in designing intercropping systems. Field experiments across Europe showed an overall positive biodiversity effect in unfertilized intercrops, with complementarity effect being the main driver. Nitrogen fertilization had varying effects on different intercrops, lowering complementarity effect in durum wheat/pea intercrops and increasing selection effect in durum wheat/faba bean intercrops. These findings highlight the importance of competitive legume species in intercrops when applying nitrogen fertilizers.
AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Nicolas Meyer, Jacques-Eric Bergez, Eric Justes, Julie Constantin
Summary: Cover crops are essential for diversifying cropping systems into more agroecological systems by providing ecosystem services such as reducing nitrate leaching and improving soil carbon storage. However, their management and climate conditions can impact water drainage, nitrogen availability, and stress levels for succeeding crops. Proper selection of cover crop species, sowing and termination dates, and consideration of local climate conditions can help mitigate negative effects and enhance the overall benefits of cover crops.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Omar Kherif, Mounir Seghouani, Eric Justes, Daniel Plaza-Bonilla, Abderrahim Bouhenache, Bahia Zemmouri, Peter Dokukin, Mourad Latati
Summary: This study calibrated the STICS model for chickpea growth and evaluated intercropping with durum wheat, showing good performance in predicting important agronomic parameters and soil outputs for innovative cropping practices.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Clementine Meunier, Lionel Alletto, Laurent Bedoussac, Jacques-Eric Bergez, Pierre Casadebaig, Julie Constantin, Noemie Gaudio, Remi Mahmoud, Jean-Noel Aubertot, Florian Celette, Mae Guinet, Marie-Helene Jeuffroy, Marie-Helene Robin, Safia Mediene, Laurence Fontaine, Bernard Nicolardot, Elise Pelzer, Veronique Souchere, Anne-Sophie Voisin, Blandine Rosies, Marion Casagrande, Guillaume Martin
Summary: This study developed a hybrid modeling chain that combines process-based, statistical and knowledge-based models to assess the ecosystem services provided by multiple cereal-legume intercrops. The chain demonstrated high accuracy and can be used as an educational tool for farmers and students to design intercropping systems.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Sabrina Bruneau, Florent Barbecot, Marie Larocque, Viorel Horoi, Yves Coquet, Sophie Guillon
Summary: The study analyzed the controlling factors and uncertainties of groundwater recharge in a cold and humid environment, and estimated the recharge amount using soil moisture data and a model. The results showed that groundwater recharge is influenced by monthly variations in precipitation and soil properties, and the use of different meteorological datasets can affect the estimation of groundwater recharge.
HYDROGEOLOGY JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Florian Couvidat, Carole Bedos, Nathalie Gagnaire, Mathilde Carra, Bernadette Ruelle, Philippe Martin, Thomas Pomeon, Lionel Alletto, Alexandre Armengaud, Etienne Quivet
Summary: A module was implemented in the CHIMERE air quality model to simulate the volatilization of pesticides, allowing for the spatiotemporal distribution of pesticide atmospheric concentrations. The model was applied to S-metolachlor and folpet, with good performance in reproducing the spatial distribution of S-metolachlor concentrations but facing challenges in simulating folpet concentrations.
JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Lionel Alletto, Aline Vandewalle, Philippe Debaeke
Summary: Crop diversification improves the environmental sustainability of cropping systems by reducing pesticide use, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and irrigation water consumption. However, for certain specialized high-value cropping systems, crop diversification may reduce their economic performance.
AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
G. Jego, J. Sansoulet, E. Pattey, N. Beaudoin, G. Belanger, N. Ziadi, N. Tremblay, C. Grant, G. Tremblay, J. O'Donovan, K. N. Harker, R. Blackshaw, E. Johnson, E. Justes
Summary: This study established new critical N dilution curves for major annual field crops in Canada using both classical and Bayesian approaches, indicating differences between spring wheat and winter wheat in terms of critical N curves, and proposing specific critical N curves for corn in Canada. The study also highlighted the interaction between plant N and water status, showing lower N fertilizer efficiency in western Canada compared to eastern regions.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF AGRONOMY
(2022)
Article
Soil Science
Daniel Plaza-Bonilla, Bruno Mary, Matthieu Vale, Eric Justes
Summary: The sensitivity of C and N mineralization to water potential in soil varies significantly between sites, and can be accurately predicted by specific soil properties. This suggests the potential for improving soil and soil-crop models to better predict water stress on C and N mineralization, particularly in the context of climate change.
Review
Plant Sciences
Jay Ram Lamichhane, Lionel Alletto
Summary: Crops that provide ecosystem services beyond crop production are gaining attention and interest. Cover crops, grown either as the sole crop or in mixtures, contribute to achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals by providing multiple ecosystem services. However, it is not known to what extent the ecosystem services provided by cover crops are affected by interactions between genotype, environment, and management. Understanding these interactions can help maximize the ecosystem services of cover crops while minimizing their impact on ecosystems. Therefore, a paradigm shift in defining, managing, and utilizing cover crops is proposed.
TRENDS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Agronomy
Sylvain Rafflegeau, Marie Gosme, Karim Barkaoui, Leo Garcia, Clementine Allinne, Olivier Deheuvels, Juliette Grimaldi, Patrick Jagoret, Pierre-eric Lauri, Anne Merot, Aurelie Metay, Francesco Reyes, Stephane Saj, George Nicolas Curry, Eric Justes
Summary: This paper proposes a concept called Ecosystem Services functional Spatial Unit (ESSU) for designing, modeling, monitoring, and auditing desired ecosystem services in diversified agricultural systems. ESSU concept allows representation of an entire diversified agroecosystem and can be used for designing efficient agroecological systems, auditing farming practices, and modeling diversified agroecosystems. The concept is highly flexible and applicable to various diversified agroecosystems.
AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Alexandre Wojciechowski, Celia Seassau, Lucas Soerensen, Lionel Alletto, Jay Ram Lamichhane
Summary: The literature presents inconsistent findings on the effects of cover crops (CCs) on maize productivity. This global meta-analysis examined the impact of CCs on maize seed germination, seedling emergence, root colonization, plant height, biomass growth, and grain yield. Results showed that CCs had positive effects on root colonization, biomass, and grain yield, but negative effects on seed germination and seedling emergence. Different CC families had varying effects on maize performance.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Daniel Wallach, Taru Palosuo, Peter Thorburn, Henrike Mielenz, Samuel Buis, Zvi Hochman, Emmanuelle Gourdain, Fety Andrianasolo, Benjamin Dumont, Roberto Ferrise, Thomas Gaiser, Cecile Garcia, Sebastian Gayler, Matthew Harrison, Santosh Hiremath, Heidi Horan, Gerrit Hoogenboom, Per-Erik Jansson, Qi Jing, Eric Justes, Kurt-Christian Kersebaum, Marie Launay, Elisabet Lewan, Ke Liu, Fasil Mequanint, Marco Moriondo, Claas Nendel, Gloria Padovan, Budong Qian, Niels Schuetze, Diana-Maria Seserman, Vakhtang Shelia, Amir Souissi, Xenia Specka, Amit Kumar Srivastava, Giacomo Trombi, Tobias K. D. Weber, Lutz Weihermueller, Thomas Woehling, Sabine J. Seidel
Summary: A major effect of environment on crops is through crop phenology, and the capacity to predict phenology for new environments is important. Mechanistic crop models are a major tool for such predictions, but calibrating these models is difficult. This study presents an original calibration protocol that combines expert knowledge and data-based model selection, and it was found to reduce variability between modeling teams by 22% and prediction error by 11%.
AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Remi Vezy, Sebastian Munz, Noemie Gaudio, Marie Launay, Patrice Lecharpentier, Dominique Ripoche, Eric Justes
Summary: This study proposes a set of simple and generic formalisms for simulating key interactions in bi-specific intercropping systems that can be readily included into existing dynamic crop models. The proposed formalisms provide a comprehensive simulation of soil-plant interactions in various types of bispecific intercrops.
AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Antoine Couedel, Lionel Alletto, Eric Justes
Summary: This study assessed the performances of bispecific crucifer-legume mixtures in providing multiple-nutrient catch-crop and recycling related ecosystem services. The results showed that these mixtures exhibited synergetic uptake of nutrients through niche complementarity and facilitation processes. However, some net negative competition occurred for certain nutrients, indicating the need for further investigation.
FRONTIERS IN AGRONOMY
(2023)
