Wind erosion control utilizing standing corn residue in Northeast China

Soil wind erosion is a serious concern in agricultural regions. Wind erosion is of particular concern in Northeast China where a north continental monsoon climate is prevalent and land is prepared for seeding using an ancient ridge culture technique. Cultural reluctance to adopting a cropping strategy that leaves residues is also based on local population use of corn stalks as animal fodder and fuel. In order to evaluate the conservation effects of standing residue on controlling soil wind erosion, a 4-year study (2011–2014) was conducted near Changchun city in Northeast China. Four experimental treatments were used: un-fixed corn residue coverage (shattering/cutting the corn stalks into small sections and spreading them on the soil surface) and three treatments with the standing corn residue of different height for each treatment; 30-, 40- and 50-cm.11The treatment with soil surface covered with small pieces of un-fixed, loose corn residue is designated as PA. The 30-cm high standing corn residue treatment is designated as PB; 40-cm treatment as PC; and 50-cm treatment as PD. Saltation probability is designated as Pi. The corn stalk residue above that which remained in each treatment was removed from the field as much as practical. The standing residue treatments also resulted in some soil coverage by fugitive leaves and small stalk pieces. The experimental design was four treatments replicated four times, with years as replicates. Soil loss from the un-fixed corn residue coverage treatment and soil sediment from the standing residue coverage treatments was measured. Standing residue with the heights of 30-, 40- and 50-cm increased mean aerodynamic roughness length (equivalent to the height at which the wind speed theoretically becomes zero) by 19.87, 43.77 and 61.62, respectively, and increased mean threshold wind speed by 11, 25 and 33%, respectively. Mean monthly soil loss mass balance for un-fixed corn residue was 1.27Mgha−1, and the mean monthly values for soil sediment mass balance were 0.725, 1.088 and 1.967Mgha−1 for 30-, 40- and 50-cm standing residue treatments, respectively. These experiments indicate that standing residue conservation management can act as an effective way to control soil wind erosion, while providing a portion of corn stalks for the local population to continue using as animal fodder and fuel.