Soil Compaction in Tropical Organic Farming Systems and Its Impact on Natural Soil-Borne Disease Suppression: Challenges for Management

Authors: Ishak, L., McHenry, M. T., Brown, P. H.

Abstract:

Organic farming systems still depend on intensive, mechanical soil tillage. Frequent passes by machinery traffic cause substantial soil compaction that threatens soil health. Adopting practices as reduced tillage and organic matter retention on the soil surface are considered effective ways to control soil compaction. In tropical regions, however, the acceleration of soil organic matter decomposition and soil carbon turnover on the topsoil layer is influenced more rapidly by the oscillation process of drying and wetting. It is hypothesized therefore, that rapid reduction in soil organic matter hastens the potential for compaction to occur in organic farming systems. Compaction changes soil physical properties and as a consequence it has been implicated as a causal agent in the inhibition of natural disease suppression in soils. Here we describe relationships between soil management in organic vegetable systems, soil compaction, and declining soil capacity to suppress pathogenic microorganisms.

Keywords: Organic farming systems, soil compaction, soil disease suppression, tropical regions.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1088944

References:

[1] Soane, B.D. and C. Van Ouwerkerk, Implications of soil compaction in crop production for the quality of the environment. Soil and Tillage Research, 1995. 35(1): p. 5-22.
[2] Flowers, M. and R. Lal, Axle load and tillage effect on soil physical properties and soybean grain yield on a mollic ochraqualf in northwest Ohio. . Soil Tillage Research 1998. 48: p. 21–35.
[3] Carder, J., Grasby, J., A framework for regional soil conservation treatments in the medium and low rainfall agricultural district. , in Research Report 1986, Department of Agriculture Western Australia. p. 120.
[4] Bajgai, Y., et al., Comparison of organic and conventional managements on yields, nutrients and weeds in a corn–cabbage rotation. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 2013: p. 1-11.
[5] Jensen, L.S., D.J. McQueen, and T.G. Shepherd, Effects of soil compaction on N-mineralization and microbial-C and -N. I. Field measurement. Soil & Tillage Research, 1996. 38: p. 175-188.
[6] Arvidsson, J. and I. Håkansson, Do effects of soil compaction persist after ploughing? Results from 21 long-term field experiments in Sweden. Soil & Tillage Research, 1996. 39: p. 175-197.
[7] Defossez, P. and G. Richard, Models of soil compaction due to traffic and their alternatives. Soil & Tillage Research, 2002. 67: p. 41-64.
[8] Breland, T.A. and S. Hansen, Nitrogen mineralization and microbial biomass as affected by soil compaction. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 1996. 28(4/5): p. 655-663.
[9] Lipiec, J. and W. Stepniewski, Effects of soil compaction and tillage systems on uptake and losses of nutrients. Soil & Tillage Research, 1995. 35: p. 37-52.
[10] Hillocks, R.J. and J.M. Waller, Soilborne Diseases of Tropical Crops. 1997, Wallingford, UK: CAB International.
[11] Mazzola, M., Mechanisms of natural soil suppressiveness to soilborne diseases. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, 2002. 81(1): p. 557-564.
[12] Bailey, K.L. and G. Lazarovits, Suppressing soil-borne diseases with residue management and organic amendments. Soil & Tillage Research, 2003. 72: p. 169-180.
[13] Thurston, H.D., Tropical Plant Diseases. 1998, St Paul Minnesota: American Phytopathological Society. 208pp.
[14] Alabouvette, C., Fusarium wilt suppressive soils: an example of disease-suppressive soils. Australasian Plant Pathology, 1999. 28: p. 57-64.
[15] Kloepper, J.W., et al., Pseudomonas siderophores: a mechanism explaining disease-suppressive soils. Current microbiology, 1980. 4(5): p. 317-320.
[16] Haggag, W., M., Sustainable agriculture management of plant diseases. OnLine Journal of Biological Sciences, 2002. 2(4): p. 280-284.
[17] Harrison, U.J. and J.L. Frank, Disease management through suppressive soils, 1999, Department of Plant Pathology: North Carolina University Draft Document. p. 23.
[18] Ghorbani, R., et al., Soil management for sustainable crop disease control: a review. Ebvironmental Chemistry Letters, 2008. 6: p. 149-162.
[19] van Bruggen, A.H.C. and A.M. Semenov, In search of biological indicators for soil health and disease suppression. Applied Soil Ecology, 2000. 15: p. 13-24.
[20] Braunack, M.V. and D. McGarry, Is all that tillage necessary? . Australian Sugarcane 1998. 1(5): p. 12–14.
[21] Six, J., et al., Soil organic matter, biota and aggregation in temperate and tropical soils--Effects of no-tillage. Agronomie-Sciences des Productions Vegetales et de l'Environnement, 2002. 22(7-8): p. 755-776.
[22] Carter, M.R., Influence of reduced tillage systems on organic matter, microbial biomass, macro-aggregate distribution and structural stability of the surface soil in a humid climate. Soil and Tillage Research, 1992. 23(4): p. 361-372.
[23] Azooz, R.H. and M.A. Arshad, Soil infiltration and hydraulic conductivity under long term no-tillage and conventional tillage systems. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 1996 76: p. 143–152.
[24] Bajgai, Y., et al., A laboratory study of soil carbon dioxide emissions in a vertisol and an Alfisol due to incorporating corn residues and simulating tillage. Journal of Organic Systems 2011. 6(3): p. 20-26.
[25] Ogle, S.M., F.J. Breidt, and K. Paustian, Agricultural management impacts on soil organic carbon storage under moist and dry climatic conditions of temperate and tropical regions. Biogeochemistry, 2005. 72(1): p. 87-121.
[26] Feller, C. and M.H. Beare, Physical control of soil organic matter dynamics in the tropics. Geoderma, 1997. 79: p. 69-116.
[27] Hill, G.T., et al., Methods for assessing the composition and diversity of soil microbial communities. Applied Soil Ecology, 2000. 15(1): p. 25-36.
[28] Canbolat, M.Y., et al., Effect of plant growth-promoting bacteria and soil compaction on barley seedling growth, nutrient uptake, soil properties and rhizosphere microflora. Biological Fertility Soils, 2006. 42: p. 350-357.
[29] Dick, R.P., D.D. Myrold, and E.A. Kerle, Microbial biomass and soil enzyme activity in compacted and rehabilitated skid soils. Soil Science Society of American Journal, 1988. 52: p. 512-516.
[30] Pupin, B., O.d.S. Freddi, and E. Nahas, Microbial alterations of the soil influenced by induced compaction. Revista Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, 2009. 33(5): p. 1207-1213.
[31] Whalley, W.R., E. Dumitru, and A.R. Dexter, Biological effects of soil compaction. Soil & Tillage Research, 1995. 35: p. 53-68.
[32] Miransari, M., et al., Using arbuscular mycorrhiza to reduce the stressful effects of soil compaction on corn (Zea mays L.) growth. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2007. 39(8): p. 2014-2026.
[33] Pengthamkeerati, P., et al., Soil compaction and poultry litter effects on factors affecting nitrogen availability in a claypan soil. Soil and Tillage Research, 2006. 91(1): p. 109-119.
[34] Brzezinska, M., et al., Effect of oxygen deficiency on soil dehydrogenase activity in a pot experiment with triticale cv. Jago vegetation. International Agrophysics, 2001. 15(3): p. 145-150.
[35] Taylor, J.P., et al., Comparison of microbial numbers and enzymatic activities in surface soils and subsoils using various techniques. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 2002. 34(3): p. 387-401.
[36] Teep, R., et al., Nitrous oxide emission and methane consumption following compaction of forest soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2004. 68: p. 605-611.