Abstract

To compare different cropping systems, it is crucial to describe explicitly the associated cropping practices. A set of 31 indicators and six composite indexes addressing farm structure, crop diversification, soil disturbance, organic matter inputs, nitrogen fertilisation, crop protection, and yield was used to describe 59 winter wheat fields belonging to conventional, no-till and organic systems, in Switzerland. The aim of this study was to investigate the complementarity and redundancy of the indicators and their potential to characterise these cropping systems. In general, weak correlations were observed between the studied indicators, showing the importance of using a set of indicators to fully characterise cropping practices. The complex indicators were often correlated with simpler ones, but it cannot be excluded that they can prove to be more useful in different contexts. Retaining a combination of simple and complex indicators to obtain a broad picture of cropping practices is thus recommended. The indicators highlighted differences but also similarities between the three systems. For example, the input of organic matter and crop rotation diversification were similar between the three systems. In contrast, total nitrogen fertilisation (lower for organic systems) and soil disturbance (lower for no-till systems) were different. A high within-system variability was observed for some indicators, suggesting that using quantitative indicators rather than simple classifications based on a general description of the systems allows a better characterisation of these systems. Overall, the use of indicators has the potential to improve our understanding of the influence of cropping practices on the soil and environment.

Keywords

Field level indicators; Composite indexes; Crop diversification; Organic matter inputs; Soil disturbance intensity; On-farm study

Published in

European Journal of Agronomy
2019, Volume: 109, article number: 125920
Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Keller, Thomas

  • Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Agroscope
  • Swiss Federal Research Station Agroscope

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2019.125920

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/101254