Global meta-analysis of the relationship between soil organic matter and crop yields
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 15 January 2019
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Copernicus GmbH in SOIL
- Vol. 5 (1), 15-32
- https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-15-2019
Abstract
Resilient, productive soils are necessary to sustainably intensify agriculture to increase yields while minimizing environmental harm. To conserve and regenerate productive soils, the need to maintain and build soil organic matter (SOM) has received considerable attention. Although SOM is considered key to soil health, its relationship with yield is contested because of local-scale differences in soils, climate, and farming systems. There is a need to quantify this relationship to set a general framework for how soil management could potentially contribute to the goals of sustainable intensification. We developed a quantitative model exploring how SOM relates to crop yield potential of maize and wheat in light of co-varying factors of management, soil type, and climate. We found that yields of these two crops are on average greater with higher concentrations of SOC (soil organic carbon). However, yield increases level off at ∼2 % SOC. Nevertheless, approximately two-thirds of the world's cultivated maize and wheat lands currently have SOC contents of less than 2 %. Using this regression relationship developed from published empirical data, we then estimated how an increase in SOC concentrations up to regionally specific targets could potentially help reduce reliance on nitrogen (N) fertilizer and help close global yield gaps. Potential N fertilizer reductions associated with increasing SOC amount to 7 % and 5 % of global N fertilizer inputs across maize and wheat fields, respectively. Potential yield increases of 10±11 % (mean ± SD) for maize and 23±37 % for wheat amount to 32 % of the projected yield gap for maize and 60 % of that for wheat. Our analysis provides a global-level prediction for relating SOC to crop yields. Further work employing similar approaches to regional and local data, coupled with experimental work to disentangle causative effects of SOC on yield and vice versa, is needed to provide practical prescriptions to incentivize soil management for sustainable intensification.Keywords
This publication has 149 references indexed in Scilit:
- A general and simple method for obtaining R2 from generalized linear mixed‐effects modelsMethods in Ecology and Evolution, 2012
- Closing yield gaps through nutrient and water managementNature, 2012
- Effect of burnt and unburnt rice husk dust on maize yield and soil physico-chemical properties of an ultisol in NigeriaBiological Agriculture & Horticulture, 2012
- Bioassays and application of olive pomace compost on emmer: effects on yield and soil properties in organic farmingActa Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science, 2012
- Influences of Long-Term Fertilizer and Tillage Management on Soil Fertility of the North China PlainPedosphere, 2011
- Ecological management of intensively cropped agro-ecosystems improves soil quality with sustained productivityAgriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2011
- Labile soil organic carbon, soil fertility, and crop productivity as influenced by manure and mineral fertilizers in the tropicsJournal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 2010
- A critical review of the conventional SOC to SOM conversion factorGeoderma, 2010
- Crop residue effect on crop performance, soil N2O and CO2 emissions in alley cropping systems in subtropical ChinaAgroforestry Systems, 2008
- Measurements and Modeling of Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling in Agroecosystems of Southern Wisconsin: Potential for SOC Sequestration during the Next 50 YearsEcosystems, 2001