cropping residue

CROP RESIDUE Agricultural residue management ways

Failure ... Success Prepare : Raji Ali Alawadi Check by : Prof.Dr.Ali Arfan ERCIYES UNIVERSITY

Crop residue Crop residue is plant material remaining after harvesting Including leaves, stalks, roots

Crop residues remaining after harvest can act as a mulch that counter acts the destructive impact of rain and wind on soils and also help retain soil moisture, enhancing yields for subsequent crops (Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, 2014)

The effects of crop residue leftover soil surface/applied as mulch on improving soil physical properties, conserving soil moisture, N fertilizer saving, and controlling weeds are well-recognized (Jalota et al., 2007)

Crop residue management Crop residue management refers to maintain the soil surface cover and protecting the soil from nutrient losses as well as erosion, in addition, it helps in improving different physical chemical, and biological processes within soil (Johnson, J., et al 2014)

Agreat wealth Plants and animals remains are a great wealth that farmers do not exploit due to lack of awareness or lack of knowledge of the means by which these wastes can be converted into useful things

Objectives • Reducing environmental pollution rates resulting from burning plant residues and the emission of carbon dioxide - carbon monoxide • Reducing the rates of use of industrial-chemical fertilizers and replacing them with organic fertilizers • Increasing farmers income as a result of increasing land productivity, decreasing rates of mineral fertilizer use and decreasing rates of chemical pesticide use

Why Do Farmers Burn?!

In some areas, soil has a high clay content.

This type of soil is prone to drainage and compaction problems, which can make burning appear to be a more option than tillage.

It has become a traditional practice for farmers to burn in some areas.

Collect residue crop instead of burning it

Burning Agricultural Crop residues and their impact on Soil and the environment

burning crop residues biomass destruction Air pollution with toxic fumes Loss of essential elements in the soil 50 % sulfur 75 % potassium 25 % Nitrogen and phosphorous

Harms of burning crop residues • burning of crop residues and scarcity of fodder, leading to significant increase in prices of fodder in recent years • burning of crop residues elevates soil temperature causing death of active beneficial microbial population The burning of crop residues immediately increases the exchangeable NH4

• Residue burning has extremely bad effects on both the soil and aerial environment, along with human health and visibility.

It is a recognized threat to rice– wheat cropping

The benefit of crop residues in the soil • Residues help to improve the soil tilth and structure • Residues serves as a source of nutrients for plants • Residues protect the soil from erosion, and improve water infiltration • Residues help minimize soil temperature fluctuations • Improved crop Water Use efficiency under dryland conditions

• Conserve moisture by reducing the amount of water loss through evaporation, particularly at 015 cm soil depth • Organic mulches serve as insulators, keeping the soil cooler during the summer, and warmer during the winter • Residues improve the nutrient content in soils, providing nutrients for uptake by the or follow-up crops

• Thick layers of mulch help to smother weed growth • Residues help to buffer the soil pH

• Cut off the life cycle of many insects that live inside this waste • Preserving the environment from pollution resulting from the accumulation of waste and plant and animal remains

impacts contributed by surface residues to reduce erosion rates • Protection of surface soil particles from wind or erosion • Increased earthworm activity under surface residue cover increases the stability of surface soil particles, reducing , as well as increasing water infiltration • Sediments concentrate on surface water ponds, preventing run off

• Water ponds or concentration of water on the surface, infiltrates through wormholes (from earthworms) and macrospores • Protection from the impact of rain drops

Agricultural residue and its content of basic elements Crop residues N P K BROTIEN ASH %

%

%

%

%

Wheat straw

0.54 0.11 1.06

2.6

7.8

Cotton wood

0.88 0.15 1.43

3.6

6.5

Corn stover

0.55 0.31 1.11

2.1

7.4

Rice straw

0.58 0.10 1.38

2.0

16.2

Animals residues

N %

P %

0.56 1.40

1:19

Sheep waste

1.87

0.79 0.92

1:29

Poultry waste

3.77

1.36 1.76

1:12

Cow waste

1.9

K %

C|N

Data from SDSU indicates that wheat straw contains approximately 10 lbs of nitrogen (N) 3 lbs of phosphate (P2O5), 31 lbs of potash (K2O) and 2 lbs of sulfur (S) per ton.

The value of these nutrients can amount to $12-14/ton straw.

How to choice the crop ?!

The selection of crops depends on the contribution of each crop to: (1) Its contribution to soil organic matter content (2) Provides pest management (3) Erosion control

(4) It mates with other crops to produce hybrid off spring (5) What is related to the goal that the farmer aspires to achieve (7) Weed management (8) Increase the available nitrogen in the soil

Competing uses of crop residues

• A crop residues are used as animal bedding In the animal shed each kilogram of straw absorbs about 2-3 kg of urine, which enriches it with N. • residues of rice crop from one hectare land, on composting, give about 3 tons of manure as rich in nutrients as farmyard manure

Impact of crop residues on soil health and crop yield

• Increasing hydraulic conductivity and reduce density of soil • plant residues raises the minimum soil temperature in winter • The channels (macro pores) created by earthworms and old plant roots, when left intact with no-till, improve infiltration to help reduce or eliminate run off

• Reduced evaporation from the upper of soil • The crop residues act as a reservoir for plant nutrients, prevent leaching of nutrients, increase cation exchange capacity (CEC) provide congenial environment for biological N2 fixation, increase microbial biomass and enhance activities of enzymes

• Increased microbial biomass can enhance nutrient availability in soil as well as act as sink and source of plant nutrients • Leaving amounts of crop residues distributed over the soil surface reduces wind and water erosions, increases water infiltration and moisture retention, and reduces surface sediment and water run off

• The crop residues play an important role in improving of soil acidity through the release of hydroxyls especially during the decomposition of residues with higher C:N, and soil alkalinity through application of residues from lower C:N crops, including legumes, oilseeds and pulses

How do we estimate crop residues?

Agricultural crop residues are typically estimated by multiplying the crop yields by a harvest index (ratio of non-grain plant material to grain material) As an example assume wheat production averages 3.0 dry metric tons (DMT) of grain / hectare, and has a harvest index of 1.3 then 3.9 DMT of straw are produced per hectare

Impact of crop residues on pests

Crop residues in conservation agriculture has direct and indirect effects on pests.

For example, crop residues directly affect egg laying of beetles and cutworms.

Lower soil temperature and higher soil moisture content under crop residues would also affect pest infestation.

Crop residues generally increase diversity of useful arthropods and help in reducing pest pressure.

Population of termite and white grubs generally increases under the reduced tillage. white grubs do not damage the crop even at a very high density (Agricultural Research New Delhi ,2012)

Planting in crop residues

Crop residues will add organic material to the soil and some of it will become mixture as soil organic matter For example an 80% residue cover of wheat straw can add up to 2,200 kg/ha

Benefit of Agricultural residue • • • • •

Production of food for humans Feed production for animals and birds.

Production of dietary protein.

Biofuel production.

Organic fertilizer production.

Impact of agricultural residue recycling on the environment • Getting rid of insects and their stages that live on waste • Elimination of radiation resulting from the decomposition of the elements of organic compounds • Maintaining the groundwater reserves from pollution

• Preserving the structural composition of the soil from deterioration and pollution due to the establishment of landfill pits • Preserving the air from pollution, as a result of the emission of toxic gases resulting from the burial and burning of waste

Model plan for managing crop residues at local and regional scales

Recommendation Crop residues used as part of no-till farming, or applied as mulches are recommended to improve soil quality, especially on the top 15 cm of the soil layer.

Benefits of mulches or surface residues include to protect from the impact of wind or rain, and to reduce evapotranspiration, which may reduce soil drying and compaction (Moura et al., 2016)

The incorporation of animal feedbased residues is recommended as a beneficial option for sequestering carbon stored in the soil, as it has been found that such residues actually reduce 40% of the livestock food supply [Hegde, N.G., 2020]

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