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Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in agricultural soils is an important tool for climate change mitigation within the EU soil strategy for 2030 and can be achieved via the adoption of soil management strategies (SMS). These strategies may induce synergistic effects by simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or nitrogen (N) leaching. In contrast, other SMS may stimulate emissions of GHG such as nitrous oxide (N2O) or methane (CH4), offsetting the climate change mitigation gained via SOC sequestration. Despite the importance of understanding trade‐offs and synergies for selecting sustainable SMS for European agriculture, knowledge on these effects remains limited. This review synthesizes existing knowledge, identifies knowledge gaps and provides research recommendations on trade‐offs and synergies between SOC sequestration or SOC accrual, non‐CO2 GHG emissions and N leaching related to selected SMS. We investigated 87 peer‐reviewed articles that address SMS and categorized them under tillage management, cropping systems, water management and fertilization and organic matter (OM) inputs. SMS, such as conservation tillage, adapted crop rotations, adapted water management, OM inputs by cover crops (CC), organic amendments (OA) and biochar, contribute to increase SOC stocks and reduce N leaching. Adoption of leguminous CC or specific cropping systems and adapted water management tend to create trade‐offs by stimulating N2O emissions, while specific cropping systems or application of biochar can mitigate N2O emissions. The effect of crop residues on N2O emissions depends strongly on their C/N ratio. Organic agriculture and agroforestry clearly mitigate CH4 emissions but the impact of other SMS requires additional study. More experimental research is needed to study the impact of both the pedoclimatic conditions and the long‐term dynamics of trade‐offs and synergies. Researchers should simultaneously assess the impact of (multiple) agricultural SMS on SOC stocks, GHG emissions and N leaching. This review provides guidance to policymakers as well as a framework to design field experiments and model simulations, which can address knowledge gaps and non‐intentional effects of applying agricultural SMS meant to increase SOC sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering future tasks in soil health, resource management, and environmental protection, farmers are challenged to develop sustainable strategies for managing soil and land resources. In this study, the long-term sustainability of two fertilization strategies—current, with synthetic fertilizers (SYN) vs. conservative, with organic sources of nitrogen (organic amendments plus green manure with a legume, CONS)—was assessed in a processing tomato/durum wheat rotation. The EPIC model was used, validated with field data, and then run to simulate the management for 30 years under three current and future climates. Yield, soil organic carbon (SOC) stock change, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), water use efficiency (WUE), and nitrate leaching were considered sustainability indicators. Under all of the future climate scenarios, tomato yield increased with CONS, remaining almost stable with SYN. Wheat yield increased both with CONS and SYN; however, the average yield with CONS was considerably lower than with SYN. NUE and nitrate leaching followed the same trend, both decreasing with CONS, while WUE was higher with CONS compared to SYN. The effect of CONS on SOC was always positive. Thus, the alternative N fertilization strategy proposed can be a favorable option for maintaining soil health and sustainable crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting soil and crop management practices that conserve or enhance soil structure is critical for supporting the sustainable adaptation of agriculture to climate change, as it should help maintain agricultural production in the face of increasing drought or water excess without impairing environmental quality. In this paper, we evaluate the evidence for this assertion by synthesizing the results of 34 published meta-analyses of the effects of such practices on soil physical and hydraulic properties relevant for climate change adaptation in European agriculture. We also review an additional 127 meta-analyses that investigated synergies and trade-offs or help to explain the effects of soil and crop management in terms of the underlying processes and mechanisms. Finally, we identify how responses to alternative soil–crop management systems vary under contrasting agro-environmental conditions across Europe. This information may help practitioners and policymakers to draw context-specific conclusions concerning the efficacy of management practices as climate adaptation tools. Our synthesis demonstrates that organic soil amendments and the adoption of practices that maintain "continuous living cover" result in significant benefits for the water regulation function of soils, mostly arising from the additional carbon inputs to soil and the stimulation of biological processes. These effects are clearly related to improved soil aggregation and enhanced bio-porosity, both of which reduce surface runoff and increase infiltration. One potentially negative consequence of these systems is a reduction in soil water storage and groundwater recharge, which may be problematic in dry climates. Some important synergies are reductions in nitrate leaching to groundwater and greenhouse gas emissions for nonleguminous cover crop systems. The benefits of reducing tillage intensity appear much less clear-cut. Increases in soil bulk density due to traffic compaction are commonly reported. However, biological activity is enhanced under reduced tillage intensity, which should improve soil structure and infiltration capacity and reduce surface runoff and the losses of agro-chemicals to surface water. However, the evidence for these beneficial effects is inconclusive, while significant trade-offs include yield penalties and increases in greenhouse gas emissions and the risks of leaching of pesticides and nitrate. Our synthesis also highlights important knowledge gaps on the effects of management practices on root growth and transpiration. Thus, conclusions related to the impacts of management on the crop water supply and other water regulation functions are necessarily based on inferences derived from proxy variables. Based on these knowledge gaps, we outlined several key avenues for future research on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting soil and crop management practices that conserve or enhance 1 soil structure is critical for supporting the sustainable adaptation of agriculture to climate change, as it should help maintain agricultural production in the face of increasing drought or water excess without impairing environmental quality. In this paper, we evaluate the evidence for this assertion by synthesizing the results of 34 published meta-analyses of the effects of such practices on soil physical and hydraulic properties relevant for climate change adaptation in European agriculture. We also review an additional 127 meta-analyses that investigated synergies and trade-offs or help to explain the effects of soil and crop management in terms of the underlying processes and mechanisms. Finally, we identify how responses to alternative soil-crop management systems vary under contrasting agro9 environmental conditions across Europe. This information may help practitioners and policymakers to draw context-specific conclusions concerning the efficacy of management practices as climate adaptation tools. Our synthesis demonstrates that organic soil amendments and the adoption of practices that maintain "continuous living cover" result in significant benefits for the water regulation function of soils, mostly arising from the additional carbon inputs to soil and the stimulation of biological processes. These effects are clearly related to improved soil aggregation and enhanced bio-porosity, both of which reduce surface runoff and increase infiltration. One potentially negative consequence of these systems is a reduction in soil water storage and groundwater recharge, which may be problematic in dry climates. Some important synergies are reductions in nitrate leaching to groundwater and greenhouse gas emissions for non-leguminous cover crop systems. The benefits of reducing tillage intensity appear much less clear-cut. Increases in soil bulk density due to traffic compaction are commonly reported. However, biological activity is enhanced under reduced tillage intensity, which should improve soil structure, infiltration capacity, and reduce surface runoff and the losses of agro chemicals to surface water. However, the evidence for these beneficial effects is inconclusive, while significant trade-offs include yield penalties and increases in greenhouse gas emissions and the risks of leaching of pesticides and nitrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intensification of agricultural systems has caused a noticeable impact on agro-ecosystem services. Thus, the adoption of more sustainable agricultural practices such as crop diversification and reduction of external inputs represent an alternative strategy to minimize the impacts of intensive agricultural systems to the environment. This study aimed at evaluating the effects of crop rotation, conservation tillage, and low-input strategies on soil quality and farming performance using a set of 7 indicators based on a fuzzy logic approach. Data were collected from three Mediterranean long-term field experiments (LTEs) mostly oriented on cereal-based and vegetables cropping systems, located in Spain and Italy. The selected agro-environmental indicators clearly discriminated both from a geographical point of view and between monoculture and diversification, showing their suitability for the evaluation of diversified cropping systems. Such indicators highlighted that implementing crop diversification and reducing soil disturbance and chemical inputs enhanced soil quality. In this context, the most significant effects of diversified cropping strategies were the increase of crucial variables such as soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (P av), and bulk density (BD) maintaining a stability of yields in all the three LTEs. These results provide strong evidence for the benefits of crop diversification in Mediterranean areas, highlighting that diversification represents a very promising strategy for more sustainable land management. Simple and composite indicators calculated using fuzzy method can be proposed as tool to assess the effects of diversification strategies on cropping systems performance. This approach can be used to define local solutions to help the re-design of cropping system through crop diversification transition across Europe. • This study assesses the crop diversification effects in 3 Mediterranean areas. • Indicators based on a fuzzy logic approach to evaluate crop diversification effects. • Rotation, no-tillage, biodynamic vegetable systems enhanced soil quality. • All the measured indicators are affected by soil management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic management of crop residues is essential to enhance soil quality for sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the specific amounts of crop residues needed to improve soil quality characteristics which are key to develop economic plans. In this study, we investigated the effects of applying crop residue at five rates, including 100% (R100), 75% (R75), 50% (R50), 25% (R25), and 0% (R0), on wheat yield and soil properties. Field experiments were conducted for two cropping seasons in a wheat-corn rotation under conventional (CT) and no-till (NT) systems to observe the first results obtained during short-term periods (one-year application). During the study, the wheat and corn fields were irrigated. Application of plant residue resulted in increased soil organic carbon (SOC) and available nutrients and improved soil physical properties, i.e., aggregates mean weight diameter in wet (MWDw) and dry (MWDd) conditions, water-stable aggregates (WSA), dry-stable aggregates, (DSA), soil water infiltration (SWI), soil available water (SAW), and yield of wheat and corn. The effects were stronger at higher residue application rates. In the CT system, compared to R0, R100 resulted in the highest increase equal to 38, 29, 23, 34, 35, 41, and 11% for SOC, MWDw, MWDd, WSA, DSA, SAW, and wheat grain yield, respectively. This was equivalent to 28, 19.5, 19, 37, 44, 52, and 6% for the NT system, respectively. Generally, the NT system resulted in a stratification of the soil properties within 0–10 cm compared to 10–20 cm soil depth, but a uniform distribution for both depths under CT system. Overall, these results show that crop residue application can improve soil quality and yield in cereal production systems under semi-arid conditions during the first year of application. It will be key to monitor these changes in along-term field studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, various crop diversification systems such as crop rotation, intercropping and multiple cropping, as well as low-input management practices, have been promoted to sustain crop productivity while maintaining environmental quality and ecosystem services. We conducted a data analysis to identify the benefits of crop associations, alternative agricultural practices and strategies in four selected regions of Europe (Atlantic, Boreal, Mediterranean North and Mediterranean South) in terms of crop production (CP). The dataset was derived from 54 references with a total of 750 comparisons and included site characteristics, crop information (diversification system, crop production, tillage and fertilization management) and soil parameters. We analyzed each effect separately, comparing CP under tillage management (e.g., conventional tillage vs. no tillage), crop diversification (e.g., monoculture vs. rotation), and fertilization management (e.g., mineral fertilization vs. organic fertilization). Compared with conventional tillage (CT), CP was higher by 12% in no tillage (NT), in fine- and medium-textured soils (8–9%) and in arid and semiarid sites located in the Mediterranean Region (24%). Compared to monoculture, diversified cropping systems with longer crop rotations increased CP by 12%, and by 12% in soils with coarse and medium textures. In relation to fertilization, CP was increased with the use of slurry (40%), and when crop residues were incorporated (39%) or mulched (74%). Results showed that conversion to alternative diversified systems through the use of crop rotations, with NT and organic fertilization, results in a better crop performance. However, regional differences related to climate and soil-texture-specific responses should be considered to target local measures to improve soil management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate-smart sustainable management of agricultural soil is critical to improve soil health, enhance food and water security, contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity preservation, and improve human health and wellbeing. The European Joint Programme for Soil (EJP SOIL) started in 2020 with the aim to significantly improve soil management knowledge and create a sustainable and integrated European soil research system. EJP SOIL involves more than 350 scientists across 24 Countries and has been addressing multiple aspects associated with soil management across different European agroecosystems. This study summarizes the key findings of stakeholder consultations conducted at the national level across 20 countries with the aim to identify important barriers and challenges currently affecting soil knowledge but also assess opportunities to overcome these obstacles. Our findings demonstrate that there is significant room for improvement in terms of knowledge production, dissemination and adoption. Among the most important barriers identified by consulted stakeholders are technical, political, social and economic obstacles, which strongly limit the development and full exploitation of the outcomes of soil research. The main soil challenge across consulted member states remains to improve soil organic matter and peat soil conservation while soil water storage capacity is a key challenge in Southern Europe. Findings from this study clearly suggest that going forward climate-smart sustainable soil management will benefit from (1) increases in research funding, (2) the maintenance and valorisation of long-term (field) experiments, (3) the creation of knowledge sharing networks and interlinked national and European infrastructures, and (4) the development of regionally-tailored soil management strategies. All the above-mentioned interventions can contribute to the creation of healthy, resilient and sustainable soil ecosystems across Europe. • Survey in 20 countries: 314 stakeholders, 10 soil challenges, 4 soil knowledge. • Increasing organic matter and conserve peat soils is the priority soil challenge. • The 2nd most important soil challenge is soil water storage capacity. • The priority barriers are the lack of research funding and communication. • The most important opportunity is to fully exploit the outcomes of soil research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]