Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 89-105 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | GEODERMA |
| Volume | 219-220 |
| Publication status | Published - May 2014 |
Abstract
The cultivation of row crops on mountainous farmland can generate severe soil erosion due to low ground cover, especially in the early growth stages. Organic farming, due to the absence of herbicides, can support the development of weeds and increase the ground cover compared to conventional farming. However, the benefits towards soil erosion, and the conservation potential of organic farming systems, in terms of herbicide application and weed growth, have not been investigated. Aim of this study was to identify how conventional and organic farming influence the erosion rate of soil, due to row crops cultivated on mountainous farmland in the presence or absence of agricultural chemicals. We measured multiple vegetation parameters of crops and weeds of conventional and organic farms cultivated with bean, potato, radish, and cabbage in a mountainous watershed in South Korea. We simulated the long-term soil erosion rates with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) by using 13years of recorded rainfall data in order to account for the temporal variability of monsoonal rainfall. We determined average annual erosion rates for the study area to be between 30.6tha -1yr -1 and 54.8tha -1yr -1, with maximum values when radish was grown, due to the shorter growing period, higher soil disturbance at harvest, and low amounts of residue. Organic farming reduced soil loss for radish by 18% as a result of a high weed biomass density and cover at the end of the growing season. For potato, organic farming increased soil loss by 25% due to a reduced crop coverage, which is suspected to have been a consequence of crop-weed competition or increased herbivory associated with the absence of agricultural chemicals. Our results demonstrate that organic farming can potentially decrease the soil erosion risk for row crops because it supports weed development in the furrows, but it can also produce higher erosion rates when crop yields are reduced as a consequence, outweighing the protective effect of the weeds. However, the simulated erosion rates under both farming systems exceeded by far any tolerable soil loss. We conclude that organic farming alone cannot be used to effectively control erosion, and that both farming systems require additional conservation measures, such as winter cover crops and residue mulching, to sufficiently prevent soil loss for row crop cultivation.
Keywords
- Farming system, Herbicide, Korea, Row crop, Soil erosion, Weed cover
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Soil Science
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In: GEODERMA, Vol. 219-220, 05.2014, p. 89-105.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Conventional and organic farming: Soil erosion and conservation potential for row crop cultivation
AU - Arnhold, S.
AU - Lindner, S.
AU - Lee, B.
AU - Martin, E.
AU - Kettering, J.
AU - Nguyen, T.T.
AU - Koellner, T.
AU - Ok, Y.S.
AU - Huwe, B.
N1 - Funding information: This study was carried out within the framework of the International Research Training Group TERRECO funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF), and with the support of the Cooperative Research Program for Agricultural Science and Technology Development (Project no. PJ9070882012 ) of the Rural Development Administration in Korea. The authors thank especially Heera Lee, Miyeon Park, Marianne Ruidisch, Melanie Hauer, Balint Jakli, Feelgeun Song, and Hoyun Jang for their help during the field measurements and sample preparation, Bumsuk Seo for his invaluable support in programming the R algorithms, and Eunyoung Jung for translation and for negotiating the permissions to carry out this study.
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - The cultivation of row crops on mountainous farmland can generate severe soil erosion due to low ground cover, especially in the early growth stages. Organic farming, due to the absence of herbicides, can support the development of weeds and increase the ground cover compared to conventional farming. However, the benefits towards soil erosion, and the conservation potential of organic farming systems, in terms of herbicide application and weed growth, have not been investigated. Aim of this study was to identify how conventional and organic farming influence the erosion rate of soil, due to row crops cultivated on mountainous farmland in the presence or absence of agricultural chemicals. We measured multiple vegetation parameters of crops and weeds of conventional and organic farms cultivated with bean, potato, radish, and cabbage in a mountainous watershed in South Korea. We simulated the long-term soil erosion rates with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) by using 13years of recorded rainfall data in order to account for the temporal variability of monsoonal rainfall. We determined average annual erosion rates for the study area to be between 30.6tha -1yr -1 and 54.8tha -1yr -1, with maximum values when radish was grown, due to the shorter growing period, higher soil disturbance at harvest, and low amounts of residue. Organic farming reduced soil loss for radish by 18% as a result of a high weed biomass density and cover at the end of the growing season. For potato, organic farming increased soil loss by 25% due to a reduced crop coverage, which is suspected to have been a consequence of crop-weed competition or increased herbivory associated with the absence of agricultural chemicals. Our results demonstrate that organic farming can potentially decrease the soil erosion risk for row crops because it supports weed development in the furrows, but it can also produce higher erosion rates when crop yields are reduced as a consequence, outweighing the protective effect of the weeds. However, the simulated erosion rates under both farming systems exceeded by far any tolerable soil loss. We conclude that organic farming alone cannot be used to effectively control erosion, and that both farming systems require additional conservation measures, such as winter cover crops and residue mulching, to sufficiently prevent soil loss for row crop cultivation.
AB - The cultivation of row crops on mountainous farmland can generate severe soil erosion due to low ground cover, especially in the early growth stages. Organic farming, due to the absence of herbicides, can support the development of weeds and increase the ground cover compared to conventional farming. However, the benefits towards soil erosion, and the conservation potential of organic farming systems, in terms of herbicide application and weed growth, have not been investigated. Aim of this study was to identify how conventional and organic farming influence the erosion rate of soil, due to row crops cultivated on mountainous farmland in the presence or absence of agricultural chemicals. We measured multiple vegetation parameters of crops and weeds of conventional and organic farms cultivated with bean, potato, radish, and cabbage in a mountainous watershed in South Korea. We simulated the long-term soil erosion rates with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) by using 13years of recorded rainfall data in order to account for the temporal variability of monsoonal rainfall. We determined average annual erosion rates for the study area to be between 30.6tha -1yr -1 and 54.8tha -1yr -1, with maximum values when radish was grown, due to the shorter growing period, higher soil disturbance at harvest, and low amounts of residue. Organic farming reduced soil loss for radish by 18% as a result of a high weed biomass density and cover at the end of the growing season. For potato, organic farming increased soil loss by 25% due to a reduced crop coverage, which is suspected to have been a consequence of crop-weed competition or increased herbivory associated with the absence of agricultural chemicals. Our results demonstrate that organic farming can potentially decrease the soil erosion risk for row crops because it supports weed development in the furrows, but it can also produce higher erosion rates when crop yields are reduced as a consequence, outweighing the protective effect of the weeds. However, the simulated erosion rates under both farming systems exceeded by far any tolerable soil loss. We conclude that organic farming alone cannot be used to effectively control erosion, and that both farming systems require additional conservation measures, such as winter cover crops and residue mulching, to sufficiently prevent soil loss for row crop cultivation.
KW - Farming system
KW - Herbicide
KW - Korea
KW - Row crop
KW - Soil erosion
KW - Weed cover
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84893023863&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2013.12.023
DO - 10.1016/j.geoderma.2013.12.023
M3 - Article
VL - 219-220
SP - 89
EP - 105
JO - GEODERMA
JF - GEODERMA
SN - 0016-7061
ER -