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One of the important areas of soil erosion science is the development of soil conservation measures. The analysis of published works shows that in Russia most of the techniques and methods to control soil erosion were developed in the 1960s–1980s. In recent decades, interest in scientific and practical developments in this area has been declining. Published data on erosion control measures are poorly systematized, and their generally accepted classification is absent. The typification of erosion-control measures proposed by the authors made it possible to systematize all these measures found in the works and to create their register in the form of a table. Information about the efficiency of erosion control measures is scarce and contradictory. The results of agrotechnical measures are best studied. Non-inversive tillage is the most efficient among agrotechnical measures, it helps to reduce soil erosion by 70–90% according to published data; other agrotechnical measures, on average, reduce the rate of soil erosion by half. Climate change and socioeconomic transformation in the agricultural and industrial complex of Russia in recent decades have led to significant changes in the rate and volume of soil erosion. However, the analysis of literature indicates a shortage of works aimed at adapting existing erosion control measures, or developing new measures with due account for global and regional changes in erosion/deposition processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gridded landcover datasets like the NASS Cropland Data Layer (CDL) provide a useful resource for analyses of cropland management. However, many farm operation decisions are made at the field level, not the pixel level. To capture relationships between land cover and field characteristics – size, contiguity, etc. – some method is needed to aggregate gridded data into crop fields. To provide a uniform and consistent approach for aggregation of gridded data at the field level over a series of years, this research project developed a set of Crop Sequence Boundaries (CSBs), which are polygons that delineate areas of homogeneous cropping sequences for the contiguous US. The CSBs are open-sourced algorithm-based, geospatial polygons derived using historic CDLs together with road and rail networks to capture areas with common cropping sequences. The CSB approach used geospatial functions in Google Earth Engine (GEE) and in the ArcGIS Pro application. These geospatial functions are run in parallel by sub-dividing the contiguous US into smaller regions based on road and rail boundaries to prevent overlaps or gaps in the data. As a new set of algorithmically delineated field polygons, the CSBs enhance applications requiring large-scale crop mapping with vector-based data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of lag fertilization techniques on Pakistani wheat production, highlighting the need to understand and mitigate the environmental impacts of farming methods. The basic purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of CO2 emission from fertilization and other factors on wheat production in Pakistan, using a time series of data from 1990 to 2020. CO2 emission from fertilization (CO2EF) is estimated using the default values provided by the IPCC guidelines. The ARDL approach analyses the short-run and long-run effects of CO2EF, technology level, energy use, agricultural land, and agricultural labor on wheat production. The results show that all factors have significantly impacted wheat production in Pakistan at levels of 1% and 5% significance, both in the short and long run. These findings suggest that reducing CO2EF, technology level, energy use, agricultural land, and agricultural labor on wheat production can help to increase wheat production in Pakistan. The study also highlights the importance of adopting sustainable and efficient fertilization practices, exploring alternative fertilizers, and using crop rotation systems to mitigate the adverse effects of carbon emissions from nitrogen fertilization, energy use, and the use of technology. These measures can contribute to a more sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture sector in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar incorporation into soil has shown potential, in enhancing nitrogen fertilizer (N-fertilizer) efficacy and soil organic carbon content (SOC). This study addresses a critical gap in the literature by investigating the effects of biochar addition over a seven-year period (2014–2020) on inorganic N, SOC, and pH in Haplic Luvisol. The research involved a rain-fed field experiment, with a crop rotation comprising spring barley, maize, spring wheat, and pea. Biochar, applied at the rates of 0, 10, and 20 t ha−1 in 2014, was reapplied to specific plots in 2018. Biochar was also combined with N-fertilizer at three level (N0, N1, and N2). Results showed a significant interactive influence of biochar and N-fertilizer combination on NO3− and NH4+ contents. Intriguingly, the addition of 10 t biochar ha−1 consistently decreased soil inorganic N levels across most of the examined months. Increasing biochar application rates led to a significant rise in pH, establishing a clear, negative correlation between soil pH and inorganic N content. Biochar significantly increased SOC compared to the control, particularly after the reapplication in 2018. However, this effect showed a diminishing trend over time. The study suggests that incorporating biochar treatments may enhance N-fertilizer effectiveness. However, the long-term implications of biochar application with N-fertilizer on N mineralization are specific to individual soil and biochar combinations. Except the application of 20 t ha−1 biochar at N2 in 2019, biochar did not affect the crop yields. Studied soil properties, including those influenced by biochar had nuanced impact on different aspects of crop yield. Article Highlights: Biochar obtained from mixed paper fiber sludge and the grain husks resulted in a significant increase of SOC over 7 years. Biochar aging resulted in a decrease in pH one year after its application in 2015 and 2019. The combination of N-fertilizer with biochar caused an improvement in soil inorganic N content in 2014 and reapplication in 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean is a crop with major benefits for the environment, under the conditions of using good agricultural practices, by fixing atmospheric nitrogen which reduces fertilization with mineral nitrogen and its leaching. The integration of soybean in the crop rotation is beneficial and can create conditions for its relaunch and long-term viability so that European consumption can be covered and the dependence on imports can be reduced. The case study carried out on two farms in Romania, South - Muntenia Region, highlighted that, under irrigation conditions, this crop had productions of over 4,000 kg/ha. The capitalization price increased during the analysis period, so the farms recorded a positive and ascending result in the period 2019-2021, except the 600 ha farm, which in 2019, recorded a loss because the crop was not irrigated and the production average (1,712 kg/ha) was insufficient for profit obtaining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to analyze the glebagan system's effect on shallot farming performance in Central Java, Indonesia. The glebagan system is a yearly cropping rotation with plantation crops under the control of state-owned enterprises. This study employed economic production theory as the fundamental analysis. Brebes district was selected as the study site since the region is one of the centers of shallot production at the national level. Samples for the study were obtained from farmers who grew shallot in the glebagan and conventional systems, with a sample size of 100 for each group. The sample selection criteria include the farmers adopting the glebagan system for two years in technically irrigated lands in the peak season of shallot. The control group was selected based on the same seasons. Production function was employed to analyze the impact of the glebagan system. The results show that farmers growing shallots in the glebagan system gained many advantages. The production of shallot farming in the glebagan system was higher than that of its counterpart, and the system improved the productivity of the land. These findings imply that the glebagan system is functional and can be socialized with other farmers. The system can be modified to shallot and other horticultural crops. The study is novel regarding the analytical model that includes control variables to show the attributable impact of the glebagan system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The net ecosystem carbon balance was extended for harvest residues (HR). • The balance term related to HR can be in the range of other cumulative carbon terms. • Therefore, it is imperative to consider HR in the carbon balance of croplands. • Soil carbon loss/gain are mostly controlled by the fast-decomposing carbon pools. Over the past two decades, major efforts have been made to quantify the extent to which and under what conditions croplands are sources or sinks for carbon. For this purpose, the net carbon stock change of the study site is typically quantified based on net CO 2 fluxes monitored with an eddy covariance or chamber system, on measured C import by organic fertilizer and C export by harvest. While in cropland studies this balance is usually referred to as net biome productivity (NBP), we prefer to use the term net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) here. NECB is basically the sum of the stock change of plant carbon (ΔPC) and soil organic carbon (ΔSOC). In the standard approach, the assumption is that at an annual cropland site the bulk of plant biomass is typically removed at harvest, and that ΔPC can therefore be neglected. In this case, ΔSOC equals NECB. In this paper we show that this assumption is problematic, particularly if in crop rotation systems the budget is determined over a single cropping period. The present contribution extends the concept of NECB to include harvest residues (HR) and applies it to a case study over a maize - winter wheat - winter wheat rotation at a cropland site in southwest Germany. In all three cropping periods, the sign of NECB was opposite that of ΔSOC. Accordingly, neglecting HR led to an incorrect result concerning the question whether the site is a sink or a source for soil carbon. Our findings demonstrate that for croplands HR must be included to obtain an accurate and meaningful carbon balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global population growth and water scarcity are raising concerns about agricultural systems' ability to meet future food, fuel, feed, and fiber demands. Water productivity (WP), the ratio of crop production to water use, is crucial for assessing agricultural resilience and sustainability. Yet, research on WP often lacks long-term observational data to understand the impact of management and climate variability. Long-term monitoring of crop yield and water use, using Eddy Covariance technique, allows for accurate assessment of crop performance and their response to climate change in major cropping systems. In this study, we used data collected over a 20-year period (2001–2020) to investigate the interannual variability in yield (Y), crop evapotranspiration (ET), and water productivity (WP , ratio of Y and ET), and their response to management and climate in three major cropping systems located in Eastern Nebraska: irrigated continuous maize, irrigated maize-soybean rotation, and rainfed maize-soybean rotation. Our results showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in WP between irrigated and rainfed sites, mainly attributed to variations in Y rather than ET , while there was no significant effect of crop rotation on measured responses. WP was 18.4% higher in irrigated maize in rotation relative to the rainfed site. Water input (mm, sum of precipitation and irrigation) was the main management factor in rainfed maize WP (R =0.67, p = 0.05) and Y (R =0.79, p < 0.05). Vapor pressure deficit was negatively correlated with Y in rainfed maize (R =−0.72, p < 0.05) and therefore was considered a determinant in WP (R =−0.7, p < 0.05). For soybean, soil water content had the highest correlations with Y and WP (irrigated: R =−0.77; rainfed: R =0.49, only significant in irrigated sites). These findings can aid in formulating strategies to enhance water productivity and resilience in the US Corn Belt. • Irrigated maize has higher water productivity compared to rainfed cropping systems. • Annual changes in water productivity are mainly attributed to changes in yield. • Among management factors, water input had the highest effects on water productivity. • Vapor pressure deficit had the highest correlations with maize's water productivity. • Soil water content had the highest effect on soybean's water productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]