Conservation tillage improves soil properties and crop yields in North China. Li Hongwen

5th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture

Conservation tillage improves soil properties and crops yields in North China

China: He Jin, Li HW, Li H, Liu Lijing

Australia: J.N. Tullberg (Unviersity of Queenlans)

A.D. McHugh (University of South Queensland)

Prof. Li Hongwen

Changjiang Scholar, China Agricultural UniversityHead, Conservation Tillage Research Center

(CTRC), MOA, P.R. China

lhwen@cau.edu.cn

http://www.cn-ct.net

Why CA?

1. Severe soil degradation

Soil, water and nutrient loss For instance, in China’s ‘Yellow’ River catchment, loess soils are

being lost at average rates of up to 100t/ha.yr or about 8mm/yr

Dryland farm : 60% of total farmland Annual rainfall < 400mm: 15 Provinces Draught : 60% of yield loss by natural disaster

2. Drought and water shortage

3. Declining of groundwater level

North China Plain

Groundwater over-exploitation The formation of underground funnel

Average annual groundwater level decline more than 1m in some regions

4. Low and unstable crops yields

Soil erosion

Blowing dust

Traditional tillage aggravated environmental destruction

SOM loss Soil erosion Low yield

High fuel consumption Increased CO2 emission High cost and low income

Conservation tillage:

------No or minimum tillage ------Permanent organic soil mulch cover ------Temporal and/or spatial diversity of crops

Objectives

Identify the impacts of long-term conservation tillage on soil properties and crop yields in dryland farming areas in North China

Present suggestions for further research to enhance the development of conservation tillage in China

Material and Methods

Daxing,Beijing

Linfen,Shanxi

Wuchuan,Inner Mongolia

1. Experimental sites1. Experimental sites

Experimental sites Altitude(m)

Mean annual rainfall(mm)

Mean annual temperature(oC)

Linfen, Loess Plateau(1992-2007)

360-500 500 10-12

Daxing,North China Plain

(2000-2007)45 526 10-12

Wuchuan,farming pastoral ecotone

(1998-2008)

1500-2000 360 2.5

2. Weather information2. Weather information

4. No-till planter4. No-till planter

2BMF-7 no-till wheat planter

2BMD-12 Strip-chopping no-till planter Daxing

Linfen, Wuchuan

Heavy residues cover

Low residues cover

Results and Discussion

1. Soil organic matter (g/kg)

0-10cm: Linfen: CT > TT, ↑21.7% Daxing: CT > TT, ↑10.5% Wuchuan: CT > TT, ↑23.1%

Higher SOM in CT due to:

Ⅰ. Greater straw cover; Ⅱ. Reduced biological oxidation; Ⅲ. Less soil disturbance.

2. Total N and Available P

Sites TreatmentTotal N (g/kg) Available P

(mg/kg)Soil depth

0-10cm 10-20cm 0-10cm 10-20cm

Linfen, Loess Plateau

CT 1.03a 0.67a 35.0a 10.5a

TT 0.68b 0.66a 22.4b 22.9b

Daxing,North China Plain

CT 1.38a 1.02a 20.2a 16.9a

TT 1.11b 0.86b 13.6b 13.9b

Wuchuan,farming pastoral ecotone

CT 0.52a 0.30a 17.9a 8.3a

TT 0.42b 0.24a 16.2b 10.1b In 0-10cm layer, Total N in CT was 51.5%, 24.3% and 23.8% higher than

in Traditional Tillage in Linfen, Daxing and Wuchuan.

In 0-10cm depth, the AP was 56.3%, 48.5% and 10.5% higher for CT than for TT in Linfen, Beijing and Wuchuan;

The topsoil accumulation of P in CT due to: Ⅰ. Limited downward movement of particle-bound P in soils; Ⅱ. Upward movement of nutrients from deeper layers

through nutrient uptake by roots.

Available P (AP):

Change of soil surface conditions under CT and TT after 16 years in Linfen

Conservation tillage

Traditional tillage

3. Crops yields

Wheat (kg/ha):

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

CT TT Linfen

Mean yield: CT>TT, ↑579kg/haMean yield: CT>TT, ↑138kg/ha

3000

4000

5000

6000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

CT TT Daxing

Mean yield: CT>TT, ↑171kg/ha

0

1000

2000

3000

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

CT TT Wuchuan

Maize:

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

CT TT

Mean yield: CT>TT, ↑423kg/ha

Daxing

Conclusion

CA can improve soil properties and crops yields in North China;

Conservation tillage is a solution for Chinese agro-environment and food security

Introduction of Conservation Tillage Research Centre, MOA农业部保护性耕作研究中心介绍

and Conservation Tillage in China以及中国保护性耕作状况

Conservation Tillage Research Centre, MOA农业部保护性耕作研究中心

The only organization specially on CT research in China; Locates in College of Engineering, China Agricultural University

专门从事保护性耕作研究的机构，挂靠中国农业大学工学院

•Use our hands to protect our soil and get good harvest

Machine Development

Conservation Agriculture

Yields产量

Cost 成本

Wind erosion

Water erosion

Soil Moisture

Weeds Control

GHG EmissionOthers

Tasks 任务

1. CA Machines

1992 ： Started Conservation Tillage research with ACIAR Projects

Results: With No till Seeders developed by CTRC ， answered:Is CA practicable in China?How to do CA ?What are the benefits of CA?Can we use machines to do CA in China?

Corn No-till Planter

5 Rows 6 rows

9 rows7 rows 10 rows

No Till wheat Seedersfor areas with one crop a

year

1998 年 : started to do research on no till seeding into maize stubble cover field

Series No-till Wheat Planter in Annual Two-

crop Regions

Strip chop no-till seeder

Subsoiler

Shallow Tillage Weeder

2. Conservation Tillage /Environment

（ Runoff, Sediment transport, green house gas emission ）

Experimental and Monitoring Sites

★★★★阳高★张北★武川

★正蓝旗 ★赤峰★凌源★阜新

500 km400 km

300 km

★丰宁

150 km

Around Beijing

(1) Water Erosion 水蚀

Rainfall Simulation

降雨模拟

Runoff Experiments

径流试验区

(2) Wind Erosion

Satellite Image

Sampling in the field

Wind Tunnel

12

10

8

6

4

2

0Fengning ZhangBei Inner Mongolia Beijing

丰宁 张北 内蒙古 延庆↘50%

(3) Soil Fertility 培肥地力

SOM 有机质： Increase 0.03% per year

Earth Worm

After years ： 3 ～ 5/m2

After years: 10 ～ 15/m2

(4) CO2 FluxDouble Cropping Area

Single cropping area

North of China

Study Sites

321

Conventional Tillage (11.30g/m2) produced more CO2 emission than Rotary till (9.63g/m2) and No-till (7.99g/m2) for the whole year.

传统耕作 11.30g/m2 ， 比旋耕 9.63g/m2 和免耕 7.99g/m2

0100

200300

400500600

700800

9001000

5- Apr 20- Apr 5- May 20- May 4- J un 19- J un 4- J ul 19- J ul 3- Aug 18- Aug 2- Sep 17- Sep 2- Oct 17- Oct 1- Nov 16- Nov

date

CO2

flux

mg m

（-2

h-1

）

convent i onal t i l l ageRotary t i l l ageNo t i l l age

5/Apr 5/May 4/Jun 4/July 3/Aug 2/Sep 2/Oct 1/Nov

3. Controlled Traffic/Permanent Raised

Bed

4. Integration of Mechanical and Electrical Industry in CT

机电一体化技术在保护性耕作中的应用

Tractor Guidance 机械方式拖拉机导向系统

Control systemSteering systemDetecting system

The tractor can be guided to follow the crop row at lower speed

拖拉机可以顺着原有玉米行行走

Camera Guidance 数码方式导向

Automatic monitoring Stubble Cover Rate利用数码照片快速测定覆盖率

Papers

More than 20 English Papers, 100 Chinese papers

Own more than 40 Patents

State Intellectual Property Office of P.R.C

Min-till seeders for wheat into maize stubble

Training

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010Year

Are

a /M

ha

Development of CT in China中国保护性耕作发展A

rea

/M h

a 面

积 （百

万公顷）

Year 年份

Thank you!