Perennial biofuel and cover crops systems are important for enhancing soil health and can provide numerous soil, agricultural, and environmental benefits. The study objective was to investigate the effects of cover crops and biofuel crops on soil hydraulic properties relative to traditional management for claypan soils. The study site included selected management practices: cover crop (CC) and no cover crop (NC) with corn/soybean rotation, switchgrass (SW), and miscanthus (MI). The CC mixture consisted of cereal rye, hairy vetch, and Austrian winter pea. The research site was located at Bradford Research Center in Missouri, USA, and was implemented on a Mexico silt loam. Intact soil cores (76‐mm diam. by 76‐mm long) were taken from the

Soil water use and water storage vary by vegetative management practices, and these practices affect land productivity and hydrologic processes. This study investigated the effects of agroforestry buffers (AB), grass buffers (GB), and biofuel crops (BC), relative to row crops (RC) on soil water use for a claypan soil in northern Missouri, USA. The experiment located at the Greenley Memorial Research Center included RC, AB, GB, and BC established in 1991, 1997, 1997, and 2012, respectively. Soil water reflectometer sensors installed at 5‐, 10‐, 20‐, and 40‐cm depths monitored soil water from April to November in 2017 and 2018. Results showed significant differences in weekly volumetric water content (VWC) among treatments for all fou

High tunnels, or unheated plastic greenhouses, are becoming increasingly popular among organic vegetable growers across the United States. However, the intensive production typical of these systems presents soil health challenges, including salinization due to high fertilizer or compost inputs coupled with lack of rainfall to leach salts. Legume cover crops may improve soil health in high tunnels by reducing the need for external inputs, while adding organic matter. We tested the soil health effects of a winter hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) cover crop used to replace fertilizer N in an organic tomato cropping system in high tunnels. Studies were replicated across three sites differing in climate and soil type (Kansas, Kentucky, and Minne

Sustainable vegetative management plays a significant role in improving soil quality in degraded agricultural landscapes by enhancing soil microbial biomass. This study investigated the effects of grass buffers (GBs), biomass crops (BCs), grass waterways (GWWs), and agroforestry buffers (ABs) on soil microbial biomass and soil organic C (SOC) compared with continuous corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation (row crop [RC]) on claypan soils. The RC, AB, GB, GWW, and BC treatments were established in 1991, 1997, 1997, 1997, and 2012, respectively, and are located at Greenley Memorial Research Center in Missouri. Soil samples were collected in May 2018 from the 0‐ to

The twelve samples of agricultural soils from four regions in Al-Najaf governorate with sampling plant with soil. Physical properties of the soil where studied, such as electrical conductivity ranged from (136.33-1070.00)μS/cm^-3, and moisture which ranged between the values (0.39-36.48)%. The chemical analysis of the soil have included the proportion of calcium carbonate the ratio between (44.00-48.00%) has been observed increasing amounts of calcium carbonate in surface models. The pH where results indicate that pH values ​​were close to study models ranged between (6.88-7.42) these values ​​generally within the normal range for the measured pH values ​​of the Iraqi soil. The amount of gypsum ranged betwe

This study is conducted to investigate the validity of using different levels of Rustumiya sewage water for irrigation and their effects on corn growth and some of the chemical properties of the soil such as electrical conductivity and soil pH in extract soil paste , the micro nutrient content in soil and plant which are ( Fe , Mn , Zn , Cu , Cd , Pb ). Three levels of sewage water ( 0 , 50 , 100 )% in two stages were used ,the three levels of wastewater ( without soil fertilization ) were used in the first stage , Where 80 Kg N /D+50Kg P2O5 /D was added to the soil as fertilizer in the control (0%) treatment and 40 Kg N/D+25Kg P2O5/D were added to 50 and 100% levels in the second stage .Corn seeds were planted in 12kg plastic pots in Com