Department of Soil Sciences, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse 113, 5070 Frick, Switzerland.
Department of International Cooperation, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse 113, 5070 Frick, Switzerland.
FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2024 Oct 25;100(11). doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiae127.
The adverse effects of intensified cropland practices on soil quality and biodiversity become especially evident in India, where nearly 60% of land is dedicated to cultivation and almost 30% of soil is already degraded. Intensive agricultural practice significantly contributes to soil degradation, highlighting the crucial need for effective countermeasures to support sustainable development goals. A long-term experiment, established in the semi-arid Nimar Valley (India) in 2007, monitors the effect of organic and conventional management on the plant-soil system in a Vertisol. The focus of our study was to assess how organic and conventional farming systems affect biological and chemical soil quality indicators. Additionally, we followed the community structure of the soil microbiome throughout the vegetation phase under soya or cotton cultivation in the year 2019. We found that organic farming enhanced soil organic carbon and nitrogen content, increased microbial abundance and activity, and fostered distinct microbial communities associated with traits in nutrient mineralization. In contrast, conventional farming enhanced the abundance of bacteria involved in ammonium oxidation suggesting high nitrification and subsequent nitrogen losses with regular mineral fertilization. Our findings underscore the value of adopting organic farming approaches in semi-arid subtropical regions to rectify soil quality and minimize nitrogen losses.
集约化耕地措施对土壤质量和生物多样性的不利影响在印度尤为明显，印度近 60%的土地用于耕种，近 30%的土壤已经退化。集约化农业实践显著导致了土壤退化，突出表明需要采取有效的对策来支持可持续发展目标。一个长期实验于 2007 年在印度半干旱的尼罗河谷（Nimar Valley）建立，监测有机和常规管理对变性土中植物-土壤系统的影响。我们的研究重点是评估有机和常规农业系统如何影响生物和化学土壤质量指标。此外，我们还在 2019 年大豆或棉花种植的植被阶段，跟踪了土壤微生物组的群落结构。我们发现，有机农业提高了土壤有机碳和氮含量，增加了微生物丰度和活性，并促进了与养分矿化特性相关的独特微生物群落。相比之下，常规农业增加了参与氨氧化的细菌丰度，表明硝化作用高，随后在常规矿物施肥过程中会有大量氮素损失。我们的研究结果强调了在亚热带半干旱地区采用有机农业方法来纠正土壤质量和减少氮素损失的重要性。
