Soil health indicators after 21 yr of no-tillage in south coastal British Columbia
2019
Thomas, Ben W. | Hunt, Derek | Bittman, Shabtai | Hannam, Kirsten D. | Messiga, Aimé J. | Haak, Dennis | Sharifi, Mehdi | Hao, Xiying
The lower Fraser Valley is one of the most intensively cropped regions in Canada. Yet, how soil health indicators respond to long-term intensive agricultural management is poorly documented in this region. Thus, we evaluated a suite of soil health indicators in response to 21 growing seasons of continuous silage corn (Zea mays L.) under conventional tillage or no-tillage (0–20 cm soil layer). Wet aggregate stability, available water capacity, active carbon (permanganate oxidizable, POXC), and extractable potassium and extractable magnesium were significantly greater with no-till than conventional tillage, whereas 8 of 13 indicators were similar. Soil health indicators responded more favourably to no-till than conventional tillage.
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