Tillage System Affects Soil Organic Carbon Storage and Quality in Central Morocco
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Rachid Moussadek, Rachid Mrabet, Rachid Dahan, Abdelmajid Zouahri, Mohamad El Mourid, Eric Van Ranst. (2/9/2014). Tillage System Affects Soil Organic Carbon Storage and Quality in Central Morocco. Applied and Environmental Soil Science, 2014.
Abstract
Stabilizing or improving soil organic carbon content is essential for sustainable crop production under changing climate conditions.
Therefore, soil organic carbon research is gaining momentum in theMediterranean basin. Our objective is to quantify effects of no
tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT) on soil organic carbon stock (SOCs) in three soil types (Vertisol, Cambisol, and Luvisol)
within Central Morocco. Chemical analyses were used to determine how tillage affected various humic substances. Our results
showed that, after 5 years, surface horizon (0–30 cm) SOC stocks varied between tillage systems and with soil type. The SOCs was
significantly higher in NT compared to CT (10% more in Vertisol and 8% more in Cambisol), but no significant difference was
observed in the Luvisol. Average SOCs within the 0–30 cm depth was 29.35 and 27.36Mg ha−1 under NT and CT, respectively. The
highest SOCs (31.89Mg ha−1) was found in Vertisols under NT. A comparison of humic substances showed that humic acids and
humin were significantly higher under NT compared to CT, but fulvic acid concentrations were significantly lower.These studies
confirm that NT does have beneficial effects on SOCs and quality in these soils.
