Impact of winter cover crops on soil organic matter and infiltration in soybean monoculture

RILLO, SERGIO; ALVAREZ, CRISTIAN; NOELLEMEYER, ELKE; DIAZ ZORITA, MARTIN; FENINGER, YÉSICA; QUIROGA, ALBERTO R

Rosario. Santa Fe

Congreso; 7th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture; 2017

The process of agriculture expansion has driven to replace integrated crop-livestock systems for continuous cropping systems, in which predominate soybean. In consequence, we expect a diminution of soil quality, expressed in a reduction of soil organic matter (SOM) and in soil infiltration rates (IB). The inclusion of a cereal winter crop (CC) may mitigate the negative effects of soybean monoculture. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion winter cover crops over SOM balance and soil hydrological properties as infiltration in an Entic Hapludol over 10 years in soybean monoculture (T) between 2005 and 2015. The mean biomass of CC varied between 7370 and 8652 kg ha-1 to oat and rye grass. The SOM contents were higher in CC (2.5%) than in T (1.5%) in the first 20 cm. The IB was 55% lower in T than in CC. We concluded that the inclusion of winter cover crops in a potential technology to mitigate the negative effects of soybean monoculture in sandy loam soils because of the high volume of residues produces, that increase soil coverage and soil organic matter, and associated with both, the water infiltration into soil.