Evaluation of the residues of rice (Oryza sativa L), Black-eyed pea (Vigna unguiculata L), dill (Anethum graveolens L) and Aubergine (Solanum melongena L) on characteristics of soil, in cultivation without chemical inputs corn (Zea mays L)

Document Type : Scientific - Research

Authors

• Einollah Hesami ¹
• Mohsen Jahan ²

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Agriculture and Plant Breeding, Shushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shushtar, Iran

² Department of Agrotechnology Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22067/agry.2023.84230.1165

Abstract

Introduction

Pre-cultivated plants are types of plants that, after harvesting the economic part, the plant residuals are returned to the soil, to increase the organic matter and to improve the next plants productivity. The use of plant residues can improve biological health in agriculture by reducing the chemical inputs used in agriculture. Due to the fact that in dry areas such as North Khuzestan, the role of pre-cultivated plants and the effect of their residues on growth and performance have been studied less, this research can be done in different humidity conditions before planting the main plant and the effects of plant residues and their role on the qualitative characteristics and organic matter of the soil and the performance of plants such as corn are promising and help farmers and researchers.

Material and method

This experiment was conducted in two neighboring farms. In each year, two experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with four replications in two years and two locations. Before planting corn in two fields, cultivation treatments and mixing residues of four plant species including rice, cowpea, dill and eggplant and fallow were used as experimental treatments. After harvesting the pre-cultivation plant and to investigate the effect of plant residues on some soil characteristics over time. In order to determine the amount of moisture stored in the soil, in two stages before planting and in the middle of the corn growing season, the percentage of soil moisture by weight was calculated. In order to determine the amount of organic carbon in the soil before planting and in the middle of the growth of the corn plant, the oxidation of organic carbon was done by potassium dichromate in the vicinity of concentrated sulfuric acid, and then by half-normal ammonium ferrosulphate in the vicinity of the orthophenanthroline reagent using the titration method. (Walkley, 1934). Also, soil nitrogen was measured in the laboratory by the Kjeldahl method (Pag et al., 1982).

Results

In both farms, the stability of the soil grains in the second year was higher than the first year, which is due to the placement of organic materials of plant residues in the structure of the soil grains (Kochaki et al., 2020). Soil stability increased in both farms in the second year, with the difference that the soil stability increased by 64% in WET Planting and 50% in DRY Planting. The first and second years, respectively, 35 and 29% increase in soil moisture compared to the control. The results of this research showed that the positive effect of plant residues in improving the organic matter of the soil after corn cultivation in WET Planting was much higher than that of DRY Planting. That the rice residues increased the soil organic matter by 51 and 47% in WET Planting and DRY Planting. The results of the measurement data before corn cultivation showed a significant increase in the amount of nitrogen in the soil in the second year, and this increase was 55% higher in the field with the method of WET Planting cultivation. The results of the measured data after corn cultivation in the second year showed that the amount of nitrogen in the soil increased and the intensity of the increase in the field using WET Planting method was 44% more than the field using dry method.

Conclusion

The results of this experiment showed that the apparent specific weight of the soil in the second year and with the use of plant residues was affected by the time of decrease. The preservation of plant residues has caused an increase in the amount of nitrogen in the soil, and in WET planting conditions, the intensity of its increase has been 44% more than in DRY Planting conditions. Also, by using plant residues of dill and beans, the amount of phosphorus in the soil increased.

Key words: plant residues, potassium, yield, organic matter, phosphorus.

Keywords

• Phosphorus
• Plant residues
• Potassium
• Organic matter
• Yield

Main Subjects

• Ecological approaches in agroecology

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