Pagán-Roig, Ian C.

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    Restorative effects of combined sustainable practices on the biological, physical and chemical properties of a soil and crop productivity
    (2013) Pagán-Roig, Ian C.; Chong, Joaquín A.; College of Agricultural Sciences; Dumas, José A.; Estévez de Jensen, Consuelo; Román Paoli, Dr. Elvin; Department of Crops and Agro-Environmental Sciences; Cardona Martínez, Dr. Nelson
    Unsuitable agricultural practices have exacerbated worldwide soil degradation, thus limiting food production. There is a need to develop and better understand the effect of sustainable production practices that have the potential to increase the fertility of soils and the sustainability of the agricultural systems. Compost incorporations, the use of coordinated fallows and other sustainable technologies are alternatives for soil restoration and increase of crop yields. There is scarce information on the effect of combined organic amendments management over soil properties and their impact in vegetable production. The objective of the present work was to assess the effect of a combination of organic amendments, applied in 67-day cycles, on soil chemical, physical and biological properties and eggplant yield. The soil amendments consisted of incorporating organic matter from coffee pulp compost, planting and incorporation of a mixture of four green manure species, a mycorrhizae culture and compost liquid inoculant. Treatments were the following: CL0, CL1, CL2 and CL3, consisting of 0 (unamended), 1, 2 and 3 consecutively applied 67-day cycles, respectively. The results showed that CL1 was enough to significantly increase organic matter (OM), P, K and S content in the soil compared with the non-amended soil. Calcium and Mg content were increased by three (CL3) and two (CL2) 67-day cycles of combined practices, respectively. All treatments significantly changed soil pH, buffering it toward neutrality, with increasing cycles when compared with pH 7.9 of un-amended soils. Treatments CL1, CL2 and CL3 increased humic acids content 2.8, 3.8 and 5.9 times respectively, when compared with CL0. Humic acids extracted from un-amended soils exhibited more condensation and more aromaticity when compared with that of amended soil, nevertheless the humic acids of amended soils showed high levels of polymerization due to the use of high quality compost. All amendment treatments significantly increase aggregate stability and reduced bulk density relative to the CL0 treatment. Soil macroporosity, defined as porosity with radius > 38 µm, was significantly increased by treatments CL2 and CL3. All of the organic matter fractions, including total organic matter, humic acids content, microbial biomass C and microbial biomass N were significantly increased by one or more of the amendment treatments. Aggregate stability was highly correlated with all organic matter fractions. The production of stable aggregates appeared to influence all the other physical parameters assessed in this study. The enhancement in soil properties promoted by the combination of practices resulted in an increase in eggplant fruit yield and biomass. This study shows clearly that organic amendments can have positive effects on soil physical, chemical and biological properties and crop productivity.