Abstract
Two of the most important agricultural practices aimed at improving soil properties are crop rotations and no-tillage, yet relatively few studies have assessed their long-term impacts on crop yields and soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of tillage and crop rotation on soil GHG emissions and yields following 15 years of treatment implementation in a long-term cropping systems experiment in Illinois, USA. The experimental design was a split-plot RCBD with crop rotation as the main plot: (continuous corn [Zea mays L.] (CCC), corn-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] (CS), continuous soybean (SSS), and corn-soybean-wheat [Triticum aestivum L.] (CSW); with each phase of each crop rotation present every year) and tillage as the subplot: chisel tillage (T) and no-tillage (NT). Tillage increased the yields of corn and soybean. Tillage and crop rotation had no effect on methane (CH4) emissions (p = 0.4738 and p = 0.8494 respectively) and only rotation had an effect on cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) (p = 0.0137). However, their interaction affected cumulative nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions significantly (p = 0.0960); N2O emissions from tilled CCC were the greatest at 6.9 kg-N ha−1-yr−1; while emissions from NT CCC (4.0 kg-N ha−1-yr−1) were not different than both T CS or NT CS (3.6 and 3.3 kg-N ha−1−yr−1, respectively). Utilizing just a CS crop rotation increased corn yields by around 20% while reducing N2O emissions by around 35%; soybean yields were 7% greater and N2O emissions were not affected. Therefore results from this long-term study indicate that a CS rotation has the ability to increase yields and reduce GHG emissions compared to either CCC or SSS alone, yet moving to a CSW rotation did not further increase yields or reduce N2O emissions.
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Claims 14
Claim · model-written summary
Tillage increased corn yields.
- Taxon
- corn
Zea mays subsp. mayse0 - Treatment
- Tillagee0
- Outcome
- yields of corne0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Comparator
- no-tillagee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Tillage increased the yields of corn and soybean”
e1“no-tillage (NT)”
Claim · model-written summary
Tillage increased soybean yields.
- Taxon
- soybean
Glycine maxe0 - Treatment
- Tillagee0
- Outcome
- yields of corn and soybeane0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Comparator
- no-tillagee1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Tillage increased the yields of corn and soybean”
e1“no-tillage (NT)”
Claim · model-written summary
Tillage did not significantly affect methane emissions.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Tillage and crop rotation had no effect on methane (CH4) emissions (p = 0.4738 and p = 0.8494 respectively)”
Claim · model-written summary
Crop rotation did not significantly affect methane emissions.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Tillage and crop rotation had no effect on methane (CH4) emissions (p = 0.4738 and p = 0.8494 respectively)”
Claim · model-written summary
Rotation affected cumulative carbon dioxide emissions.
Not reportedTaxonDirection
Verbatim
e0“only rotation had an effect on cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) (p = 0.0137)”
Claim · model-written summary
Tillage by rotation interaction affected cumulative nitrous oxide emissions.
- Outcome
- cumulative nitrous oxide (N2O) emissionse0
Not reportedTaxonDirection
Verbatim
e0“their interaction affected cumulative nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions significantly (p = 0.0960)”
Claim · model-written summary
Tilled continuous corn had the greatest N2O emissions at 6.9 kg-N ha−1-yr−1.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- tilled CCCe0
- Outcome
- N2O emissionse0
- Direction
- greateste0
- Value
- 6.9 kg-N ha−1-yr−1e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“N2O emissions from tilled CCC were the greatest at 6.9 kg-N ha−1-yr−1”
e1“continuous corn [Zea mays L.] (CCC)”
Claim · model-written summary
NT continuous corn N2O emissions did not differ from tilled or NT corn-soybean rotation.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- NT CCCe0
- Outcome
- emissions from NT CCCe0
- Direction
- not differente0
- Value
- 4.0 kg-N ha−1-yr−1e0
- Qualifier
- 3.6 and 3.3 kg-N ha−1−yr−1e0
- Comparator
- T CS or NT CSe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“emissions from NT CCC (4.0 kg-N ha−1-yr−1) were not different than both T CS or NT CS (3.6 and 3.3 kg-N ha−1−yr−1, respectively)”
e1“continuous corn [Zea mays L.] (CCC)”
Claim · model-written summary
Corn-soybean rotation increased corn yields by around 20%.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse0
- Treatment
- CS crop rotatione0
- Outcome
- corn yieldse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- around 20%e0
- Comparator
- CCCe1
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Utilizing just a CS crop rotation increased corn yields by around 20%”
e1“continuous corn [Zea mays L.] (CCC)”
Claim · model-written summary
Corn-soybean rotation reduced N2O emissions by around 35%.
- Treatment
- CS crop rotatione0
- Outcome
- N2O emissionse0
- Direction
- reducinge0
- Value
- around 35%e0
- Comparator
- CCCe1
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“Utilizing just a CS crop rotation increased corn yields by around 20% while reducing N2O emissions by around 35%”
e1“continuous corn [Zea mays L.] (CCC)”
Claim · model-written summary
Soybean yields were 7% greater under corn-soybean rotation.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxe0
- Outcome
- soybean yieldse0
- Direction
- greatere0
- Value
- 7%e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“soybean yields were 7% greater”
Claim · model-written summary
Soybean-related N2O emissions were unaffected.
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“N2O emissions were not affected”
Claim · model-written summary
Adding wheat to the corn-soybean rotation did not further increase yields.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume1 - Treatment
- CSW rotatione0
- Outcome
- yieldse0
- Direction
- did not further increasee0
- Comparator
- CS crop rotatione2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“moving to a CSW rotation did not further increase yields”
e1“corn-soybean-wheat [Triticum aestivum L.] (CSW)”
e2“CS crop rotation”
Claim · model-written summary
Adding wheat to the corn-soybean rotation did not further reduce N2O emissions.
- Treatment
- CSW rotatione0
- Outcome
- N2O emissionse0
- Direction
- did not further increase yields or reducee0
- Comparator
- CS crop rotatione2
Not reportedTaxon
Verbatim
e0“moving to a CSW rotation did not further increase yields or reduce N2O emissions”
e1“corn-soybean-wheat [Triticum aestivum L.] (CSW)”
e2“CS crop rotation”
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See all 390 papers →tillage · yield · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
811 papers in the same direction as this paper · 230 in the opposite direction · 57 reporting no difference from an alternative
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See all 1,099 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.