Scholarly record
INVESTIGATION OF CONSEQUENCES OF ORGANIC FARMING BASED ON THE STUDY OF SOILS OF ANCIENT AGRICULTURE TERRACES
Abstract
It was shown that organic agriculture in the Middle Ages resulted in significant changes of chemical and microbiological properties of soil of ancient agricultural fields and these changes have preserved up to now. Estimation of the changes in soil properties in result of centuries old intensive organic agriculture was made. As objects with intensive form of agriculture soils of agricultural terraces in submountain zone of North Caucasus (Russia) were chosen. Agricultural terraces are unique example of centuries old organic agriculture. It was shown that long time soil cultivation with organic fertilisers does not cause a decrease in soil fertility, but it also leads to a significant improvement in the balance of basic elements of plant nutrition. For the first time, it was shown that application of organic fertilisers more than 3000 years ago led to the accumulation of the nitrate form of nitrogen in ploughed soils. In the soils of ancient terraces increase of organic carbon content and its stabilization was observed. Increasing of organic carbon content resulted in an increase in active microbial biomass in buried soils, and hence general biological activity of soils. It was shown that in ancient ploughed soils that were manuring long periods of time mineral phosphates are dominated. Ploughing and manuring are stimulating microbiological activity and decomposition of organic-P compounds as a result more available forms of phosphates for plants uptake is occurred. In ancient ploughed soils an increase in enzyme activity, first of all, in phosphatase activities was shown. Variation of the level of enzyme activity in buried terraced soils of different age may show the change in intensity of application of organic fertilisers in different periods of time.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References15
Reganold J.P., Wachter J.M., Organic agriculture in the twenty-first century, Nature Plants, vol. 2/issue 6, pp 1-8, 2016.
Trewavas A., Urban myths of organic farming, Nature, vol. 410, pp 409-410, 2001.
Emsley J., Going one better than nature?, Nature, vol. 410, pp 633-634, 2001.
Connor D.J., Minguez M.I., Evolution not revolution of farming systems will best feed and green the world, Global Food Security, vol. 1, pp 106-113, 2012.
Mondelaers K., Aertsens J., Van Huylenbroeck G., A meta-analysis of the diferences in environmental impacts between organic and conventional farming, British Food Journal, vol. 111, pp 1098-1119, 2009.
Pickett J.A. Food security: intensifcation of agriculture is essential, for which current tools must be defended and new sustainable technologies invented, Food and Energy Security, vol. 2, pp 167-173, 2013.
Wilkinson T.J., Extensive Sherd Scatters and Land-Use Intensity: Some Recent Results, Journal of Field Archaeology, vol. 16/issue 1, pp 31-46, 1989.
Borisov A.V., Korobov D.S., Prehistoric and medieval agriculture in the Kislovodsk basin: some results of pedological and archaeological studies, TAUS, Moscow, Russia, 273 p, 2013.
Anderson J.P.E., Domsch K.H., A physiological method for the quantitative measurement of microbial biomass in soils, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 10, pp 215-221, 1978.
Margenot A.J., Nakayama Yu., Parikh S.J., Methodological recommendations for optimizing assays of enzyme activities in soil samples, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 125, pp 350-360, 2018.
Kudeyarov V.N., Soil nitrogen cycle and fertilizer efficiency, Nauka, Moscow, Russia, 216 p, 1989.
Umarov M.M., Kurakov A.V., Stepanov A.L, Microbiological transformation of nitrogen in soil, GEOS, Moscow, Russia, 138 p, 2007.
Stepanov A.L., N2O – laughing gas: is there any reason for fun?, Priroda, Russia, issue 2, pp 35-40, 2012.
Parham J.A., Deng S.P., Raun W.R., Johnson G., Long-term cattle manure application in soil. I. Effect on soil phosphorus levels, microbial biomass C, and dehydrogenase and phosphatase activities, Biology and Fertility of Soils, vol. 35, pp 328-337, 2002.
Floch C., Capowiez Y., Criquet S., Enzyme activities in apple orchard agroecosystems: how are they affected by management strategy and soil properties, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, vol. 41, 61-68, 2009.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.