Crop Nutrition Changes in Zero Till Over Time

Crop Nutrition Changes in Zero Till Over Time

Rigas E. Karamanos

Western Cooperative Fertilizers Limited,

P.O. BOX 2500, Calgary, AB T2P 2N1

Crop Nutrition is defined as the supply and absorption of chemical compounds needed for growth and metabolism (Mengel and Kirkby 1979). Implementation of zero tillage results in a number of changes in the whole soil-plant-system that can directly or indirectly affect crop nutrition. Some of the most important changes are related to the effect of accumulation of residues directly on the soil surface and lack of soil disturbance in a zero tillage system.

Any change in crop nutrition under long-term zero tillage will be reflected in the supplying power and, hence, availability of nutrients. Therefore, this presentation looks at the impact zero tillage might have on the supplying process(s) of soil nutrients and soil properties that might affect the same. A brief conclusive statement on the findings from a variety of scientists is included in the Tables below.

Changes in crop nutrition of nitrogen in zero till over time.

Supply Processes	Changes through Zero Till	Location	References
Mineralization (Conversion of organic N to inorganic N as a result of microbial decomposition)	No effect	SW Saskatchewan	Jowkin and Schoenau 1995
	Reduction especially under drier conditions	Lethbridge and Vauxhall, AB	Carefoot et al. 1990
	Conclusion: Nitrogen mineralization may be decreased through zero tillage
Mineralizable (or Labile) N (Pool of soil N that contains forms which can be converted to inorganic N by micro organisms)	Greater mineralizable N levels	CO, NE, SD, ND	Doran et al. 2000
	Increased after 7-8 years depending on soil texture	Swift Current, SK	Campbell et al. 1997
	Increased with magnitude depending on rotation	Seven sites in SK	Curtin et al. 1996
	Increased after 11 years	Cantaur, SK	Campbell et al. 1995
	Increased after 16 years	South Texas	Salinas-Garcia et al. 1997
	Increased after 16 years	Sidney, NE	Tracy et al. 1990
	Increased after 14 years	Melfort, SK	Selles et al. 1984
	Conclusion: Mineralizable nitrogen increases through zero tillage

Changes in crop nutrition of nitrogen in zero till over time (continued).

Supply Processes	Changes through Zero Till	Location	References
Immobilization (Conversion of inorganic N to organic N)	Higher, i.e., potential for N conservation	Ellerslie, AB	Haugen-Kozyra et al. 1993
	Higher – indirectly through higher total N levels	Eastern Kansas	Havlin et al. 1990
	Conclusion: Nitrogen immobilization increases through zero tillage
NO₃-N accumulation (Residual NO₃-N)	Lower (mechanism? Lower mineralization or higher denitrification?)	Indian Head, SK	Grant and Lafond 1994
	No difference in a continued wheat system, but increased in a fallow-wheat system	Cantaur, SK	Campbell et al. 1995
	No difference	SW Quebec	Burgess et al. 1999
	Lower (attributed to lower net mineralization in zero till plots)	Central AB	Nyborb and Malhi 1989
	No difference in a corn-soybean rotation	Quebec	Rembon and MacKenzie 1997
	Conclusion: Generally nitrate-nitrogen or "available" nitrogen levels are not affected by tillage
Symbiotic Fixation (Conversion of atmospheric N to protein by heterotrophic bacteria living in association with a host legume)	Higher (due to reduced soil nitrate found in zero tillage)	Indian Head, SK	Matus et al. 1996
Readily available from crop residues (Direct leaching from crop residues)	Higher by 25%	Growth chamber	Roppel 1991

Changes in crop nutrition of sulphur in zero till over time.

Supply Processes	Changes through Zero Till	Location	References
Mineralization	Higher at surface 2 inches	Sidney, NE	Tracy et al. 1990
Available -Labile	No impact	Indian Head, SK	Grant and Lafond 1994

Changes in crop nutrition of phosphorus in zero till over time.

Supply Processes	Changes through Zero Till	Location	References
Available -Labile	No impact	Indian Head, SK	Grant and Lafond 1994
	No impact	Michigan	Daroub et al. 2000
	No impact on organic P pool, but labile inorganic P was increased	Ste. Anne de Bellevue, PQ	O’Halloran 1993
	Increased in the top 2 inches	Lexington, KY	Ismail et al. 1994
	Conclusion: Generally "available" phosphorus levels are not affected by tillage
Mineralization	Higher	Sidney, NE	Tracy et al. 1990
Readily available from crop residues (Direct leaching from crop residues)	Higher	Growth chamber	Schoenau 1995
Mycorrhizae (fungi living in association with plant roots)	Higher (however, no yield benefit due to other factors limiting early growth)	Guelph, ON	McGonigle and Miller 1996
	Conclusion: Generally phosphorus supplying processes are enhanced under zero tillage but yield benefits are not always evident

Changes in crop nutrition of potassium in zero till over time.

Supply Processes	Changes through Zero Till	Location	References
Available -Labile	No impact	Indian Head, SK	Grant and Lafond 1994
	Higher	Ft. Collins, CO	Follett and Peterson 1988
	Higher (due to increase in organic matter levels under 16 years of zero tillage)	Lexington, KY	Evangelou and Blevins 1988
	Increased in the top 2 inches	Lexington, KY	Ismail et al. 1994
	Conclusion: Generally "available" potassium levels are increased under zero tillage

Changes in soil biological/biochemical characteristics/properties in zero till over time.

Characteristic/Property	Changes through Zero Till	Location	References
Microbial biomass	No impact	Brandon and Minnedosa, MB	Banerjee et al. 1999
	Increased or remained the same	Ft. Vermillion, AB	Lupwayi et al. 1999
	Higher than conventional tillage	Sidney, NE	Follett and Schimel 1989
	Higher than conventional tillage	CO, NE, SD, ND	Doran et al. 2000
	Higher than conventional tillage only after 11 years	Swift Current, SK	Campbell et al. 1997
	Higher than conventional tillage	Seven sites in SK	Curtin et al. 1996
	Conclusion: Generally zero tillage resulted in higher microbial biomass compared to conventional tillage
Enzymatic activity	No impact (on arylsulfatase or acid and alkaline phosphatase)	Brandon and Minnedosa, MB	Banerjee et al. 1999
	Increased (dehydrogenase, urease, glutaminase, B-glucosidase, arylsulfatase and phosphatase)	NW Ontario	Bergstrom and Monreal 1995
	Increased	760 soils	Monreal and Bergstrom 2000
	Conclusion: Generally zero tillage resulted in higher enzymatic activity compared to conventional tillage
Respiration	Decreased	Ft. Vermillion, AB	Lupwayi et al. 1999
Humidified C fractions	Increased	S Ontario	Yang and Kay 2001

Changes in soil physical characteristics/properties in zero till over time.

Characteristic/Property	Changes through Zero Till	Location					References
Aggregate stability and/or aggregate size distribution	Increased	Seven sites in SK					Curtin et al. 1996
	Greater	Biggar, SK					Ellitt and Efetha 1999
	Greater	Ohio					Mahboubi et al. 1993
	Conclusion: Generally zero tillage resulted in greater aggregate stability and/or aggregate size distribution
Water infiltration	Greater		Biggar, SK				Ellitt and Efetha 1999
	Greater after 20 years		S. Alberta				Chang and Lindwall 1989
	Conclusion: Generally zero tillage resulted in greater water infiltration
Bulk density	No difference			Lethbridge and Vauxhall, AB			Carefoot et al. 1990
	No difference after 24 years			S Alberta			Miller et al. 1999
	No difference after 20 yrs (but conventional tillage was very shallow)			S. Alberta			Chang and Lindwall 1989
	Conclusion: Generally bulk density of surface horizons was not affected by tillage
Soil water content	Increased or remained the same				Lethbridge and Vauxhall, AB			Carefoot et al. 1990
	Increased				Saskatoon, SK			Moazed anf Maule 1996
	Conclusion: Generally zero tillage resulted in greater soil water content
Soil pores	Pores from 100- to 500-mm diameter increased after 4 years					S Ontario		VandenBygaart et al. 1999
	Larger pores (30-40, 40-67, 67-200, >200 mm) higher					S Alberta		Miller et al. 1999
	No difference after 20 yrs (but conventional tillage was very shallow, 3.5")					S. Alberta		Chang and Lindwall 1989
	Conclusion: Generally zero tillage resulted in greater number of larger pores

Changes in soil physical characteristics/properties in zero till over time (continued).

Plant-available water-holding capacity	Decreased	S Alberta	Miller et al. 1999
	Increased	Wooster and A Charleston, OH	Mahboubi et al. 1993
	No difference after 20 yrs (but conventional tillage was very shallow, 3.5")	S. Alberta	Chang and Lindwall 1989

Conclusions

Zero tillage was introduced primarily as a means of conserving water in arid and semi-arid areas of the world. However, implementation of zero tillage results in significant changes of many of the physical, chemical, physicochemical, biological and biochemical properties of soils. All these changes are expressed in a modification of crop nutrition, i.e., the supply and absorption of chemical compounds needed by plants for growth and metabolism. Time since implementation of zero tillage and mode of conventional tillage would largely determined the differences between the two systems and the net benefit, if any, of zero tillage. Of the major nutrients, zero tillage results in significant changes in the supply and absorption of nitrogen and potassium, whereas phosphorus and potassium seemingly remain unaffected or their contribution is superseded by other factors. Improvement in crop nutrition is also a result of improvements in soil quality that influences both supply and absorption of nutrients thus affected.

References

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