Evaluation of soil quality under conventional agricultural management methods in Zanjan province

Document Type : Complete scientific research article

Authors

1 Ph.D Student, Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan

3 Assistant Professor, Soil and Water Research Institute, Karaj

4 Associate Professor, Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan

5 Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, Zanjan Province

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Soil quality plays an important role in the link between high production and sustainability of land resources and can affect the quality of air, water and environment. Assessing the impact of management practices under agricultural land uses on soil quality is one of the necessary processes to achieve sustainable soil management in agricultural ecosystems. Therefore, this research was carried out with the aim of investigating the effects of conventional agricultural management systems on soil quality in Zanjan province.
Materials and Methods: 154 soil samples were collected from 77 farms in Zanjan province (27 sites in irrigated and 50 sites in rainfed) at 0-30 and 30-60 cm depths. Considering the main threats which are associated with soil in Zanjan province, 30 soil physical, chemical and biological properties were measured and evaluated as the soil quality indicators. Additive soil quality index was determined by integrating soil quality indicators. Statistical parameters were applied to compare conventional management approaches in irrigated and rain-fed land uses on soil quality.
Results: Under rainfed land use, at 0-30 cm depth, the aggregate stability and saturated hydraulic conductivity were decreased 49.49% and 22.04% respectively compared to the irrigated land use. Soil bulk density in irrigated land use was 3.68% lower than rainfed land use. Organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, soil respiration and carbon and nitrogen stock index were higher under irrigated than rainfed land use. Under rainfed land use, soil organic carbon was decreased 33.87% and 31.43%, at 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm depth respectively, compared to the irrigated land use. The electrical conductivity at 0-30 cm depth was 50.46% lower than irrigated land use. Under rainfed land use, available zinc was decreased 66.54% and 63.43%, at 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm depth respectively, compared to the irrigated land use. The metabolic quotient in rainfed land use was higher than the irrigated land use and was identified as an indicator of soil degradation in this study. The metabolic quotient was reduced in irrigated land use by 40% and 33.33% at 0-30 and 30-60 cm depth respectively, compared to the rainfed land use. A significant positive correlation was found between organic carbon and soil physical properties including aggregate stability and saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil biological properties including microbial biomass carbon and soil respiration. The additive soil quality index at 0-30 cm depth, was significantly higher in irrigated land use (0.64) than rainfed land use (0.55).
Conclusion: The results showed that in terms of soil productivity and quality, irrigated management has better conditions than rainfed management. However, higher soil electrical conductivity in irrigated land use indicates the necessity of better chemical fertilizer management and assessing water quality used for irrigating lands in Zanjan province. Soil organic carbon was identified as the most important indicator that influenced the quality of studied soils. Using efficient management approaches including conservational tillage, operating appropriate crop rotation and application of equivalent chemical and organic fertilizers which result in increasing soil organic material are essential for both land uses, particularly under rainfed farming.

Keywords

References

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Journal of Soil Management and Sustainable Production
Volume 9, Issue 4
March 2020
Pages 1-24

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