Abstract
Core Ideas Conservation agriculture practices evaluated in this study were agronomically effective, but expensive. Reduced tillage resulted in similar yields in all crops of the potato–oat/vetch–barley–faba rotation to conventional tillage. Retaining crop and cover crops residues in the field rather than for animal fodder will make the greatest contribution to soil nutrient cycling, but likely to be the least accepted conservation agriculture practice evaluated in this study by regional farmers. The Illangama region of Ecuador's highlands is typical of much of the Andean region throughout South and Central America. Steep slopes, frequent soil disturbance and the short fallow periods threaten the sustainability of soil quality and crop production in this region. We evaluated several conservation agricultural practices, including deviation ditches, crop residue retention, and reduced tillage in the context of a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)–oat/vetch ( Avena sativa L. /Vicia sativa L.)–barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.)–faba bean ( Vicia faba L.) rotation from 2011 to 2014 on crop productivity, crop and soil nutrient concentration, and nutrient removal from the system. Crop productivity tended to be higher in plots that had deviation ditches, and where crop and cover residues were retained in the field. Reduced tillage systems had yields similar to conventional tillage systems in all crops. Retaining crop and cover crop residues in the field had the greatest impact on recycling nutrients back to the soil, but was also the most costly conservation practice that we evaluated. Overall, conservation agricultural practices showed considerable agronomic promise for cropping systems in the Illangama region of Ecuador, but will require a longer evaluation period and a comprehensive outreach plan to help gain acceptance with regional farmers. Retaining crop and cover crops residues in the field rather than for animal fodder will make the greatest contribution to soil nutrient cycling, but likely to be the least accepted conservation agriculture (CA) practice evaluated in this study.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Conservation agriculture practices were agronomically effective but expensive in the potato-based rotation.
- Taxon
- potato
Solanum tuberosume0 - Outcome
- agronomically effectivee6
- Qualifier
- but expensivee6
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e6“Conservation agriculture practices evaluated in this study were agronomically effective, but expensive”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced tillage gave yields similar to conventional tillage in all crops of the rotation.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- Reduced tillagee3
- Outcome
- yieldse3
- Direction
- similare3
- Comparator
- conventional tillagee3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e3“Reduced tillage systems had yields similar to conventional tillage systems in all crops”
Claim · model-written summary
Retaining crop and cover crop residues in the field had the greatest impact on recycling nutrients back to the soil.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- Retaining crop and cover crop residues in the fielde4
- Outcome
- recycling nutrients back to the soile4
- Direction
- greatest impacte4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e4“Retaining crop and cover crop residues in the field had the greatest impact on recycling nutrients back to the soil, but was also the most costly conservation practice that we evaluated”
Claim · model-written summary
Retaining crop and cover crop residues in the field was the most costly conservation practice evaluated.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- Retaining crop and cover crop residues in the fielde4
- Outcome
- conservation practicee4
- Direction
- most costlye4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e4“Retaining crop and cover crop residues in the field had the greatest impact on recycling nutrients back to the soil, but was also the most costly conservation practice that we evaluated”
Claim · model-written summary
Deviation ditches tended to raise crop productivity in the potato-based rotation.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- deviation ditchese1
- Outcome
- Crop productivitye1
- Direction
- highere1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e1“Crop productivity tended to be higher in plots that had deviation ditches”
Claim · model-written summary
Retaining crop and cover residues in the field tended to raise crop productivity.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Treatment
- crop and cover residues were retained in the fielde2
- Outcome
- Crop productivitye1
- Direction
- highere1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e1“Crop productivity tended to be higher in plots that had deviation ditches”
e2“where crop and cover residues were retained in the field”
Claim · model-written summary
Conservation agriculture showed considerable agronomic promise in the Illangama region of Ecuador.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Outcome
- considerable agronomic promisee5
- Setting
- Illangama region of Ecuadore5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e5“Overall, conservation agricultural practices showed considerable agronomic promise for cropping systems in the Illangama region of Ecuador, but will require a longer evaluation period and a comprehensive outreach plan”
Claim · model-written summary
Conservation agriculture practices will require a longer evaluation period and a comprehensive outreach plan.
- Taxon
- potatoSolanum tuberosume0
- Outcome
- a longer evaluation period and a comprehensive outreach plane5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.)”
e5“Overall, conservation agricultural practices showed considerable agronomic promise for cropping systems in the Illangama region of Ecuador, but will require a longer evaluation period and a comprehensive outreach plan”
The same questions in other papers
tillage · yield · Solanum tuberosum (potato)Results differ
17 papers in the same direction as this paper · 34 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- positive
- no effect
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See all 52 papers →organic · nutrient: content · Solanum tuberosum (potato)Positive and negative results
6 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- negative
- no effect
6 papers more in this group
See all 10 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.