Moussadek Rachid, PhD ICARDA/INRA Morocco
GLOBAL SYMPOSIUM ON SOIL BIODIVERSITY | 19-22 April 2021 Soil Organic Carbon and Enzymatic Activity under Conservation Agriculture in Moroccan Dry land Moussadek R.,1,2, Laghrour M. 2,3 Thami A.I.2, Elouadihi N. 4 1International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Rabat, Moroccoe-mail: 2 National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA), Morocco 3 Mohammed V University, Faculty of Science of Rabat, Morocco, 4 IbnTofail University, Faculty of Science, Kenitra, Morocco
[email protected] Land use in Morocco
Legumes Others Cash Fodder 4% 1% crops 5% 3%
Fruit trees 15% Cereals 52% Fallow 20%
Source: MAPMEFDR
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Fahs-AnjraM'Diq-Fnideq
Tanger-Assilah Tétouan
Larache Chefchaouen Driouch Al Hoceima Nador Ouezzane Berkane Kénitra Oujda-Angad Sidi Kacem Taounate
Sidi Slimane Moulay Yacoub Taza Guercif Taourirt Meknès Jerada RabatSalé Fès
Skhirate- Témara Sefrou Khémisset El Hajeb CasablancaMohammadia MédiounaBenslimane Nouaceur Ifrane Boulemane Berrechid
El Jadida Khénifra Khouribga Settat Figuig Sidi Bennour Midelt
Fquih Ben Salah Béni Mellal Safi Rehamna El Kelâa des Sraghna Youssoufia Azilal
Marrakech
Errachidia Essaouira Chichaoua Al Haouz Tinghir
Ouarzazate
Agadir-Ida -Ou-Tanane Zagora Taroudannt
Inezgane- Ait Melloul Tata Chtouka- Ait Baha
[email protected] Will soil remain productive?
• Soil organic carbon pool of most soils has been depleted by soil erosion and widespread use of subsistence and intensive farming systems.
• Soil Organic Carbon ranges between 0.5 and 1 percent and rarely exceeds 2.0 percent.
[email protected] Does Conservation Agri. enhance the SOC quantity and quality to shift the negative effect of soil degradation and climatic change?
6 [email protected] Long term NT trial vs CT • The experiment was established since autumn 2004. • the trial consists of two tillage systems: no-tillage system (NT) and conventional tillage system (CT), performed on two adjacent plots of 200 m long and 100 m wide each. • The CT plots were ploughed, according to farmers’ practice in the region, • The soil was not disturbed in the plots under NT which were maintained covered with flat and stubble residues at 30% levels at least. • Wheat- food legume rotation was adopted and the crop management was similar in CT and NT treatments. Méthodologie
Haplic Vertisol
Rainfall & Temperature (10 Y average)
25 °C 120 mm
20 °C 100 mm 80 mm 15 °C 60 mm Mediterranean Climate 10 °C 40 mm 5 °C 20 mm 0 °C 0 mm
P-Rabat (10 ans) T-Rabat (10 ans) 20/04/2021 Méthodologie Methods Soil organic Carbon (SOC) Walkley et Black Soil organic Carbon Stock Bulk Density x SOC x Depth
Humic acides Method IHSS
Soil enzymatic properties Three soil enzymatic activities involved in soil Carbon, Nitrogen and Phosphor were analyzed using leucine-amminopeptidase, alkaline phosphatase and arylsulfatase (Tabatabai, 1982).. Double strand DNA (ds DNA) was extracted Results SOC stock
Depth (cm) NT CT 5.39a 4.14b 0–5 5.83a 4.62b 5–10 11.32a 10.77b 10–20 9.34a 9.26a 20–30 31.89a 28.79b Total (0–30 cm) [email protected] Humic Substances
SOC under NT was composed of significantly higher amounts of humic acids (HA) and humin (HU) and lower amounts of fulvic acids (FA) compared to CT in Vertisol.
Additional HA serve to bond particles together and reduce soil erosion .In fact, in the studied Vertisol, positive effects of NT on aggregate stability and soil water content have been reported in a previous study by Moussadek et al. (2011,2014). Double strand DNA
dsDNA was significantly higher (35 unite) 1 - under NT soil compared to CT (12 unite)
(3 X).
1 dry soil 1 soil dry h
-
MUF g
- nanomoles nanomoles of 4
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Alkaline phosphatase was significantly
higher (133 unite) under NT soil 1
- compared to CT (93 unite).
1 dry soil 1 soil dry h
-
MUF g
- nanomoles nanomoles of 4
[email protected] Arylsulfatase
AryS was significantly higher under NT soil
1 compared to CT
-
1 dry soil 1 soil dry h
-
MUF g
- nanomoles nanomoles of 4
Leucin-Amminopeptidase
1
-
1 dry soil 1 soil dry h
-
MUF g
- nanomoles nanomoles of 4
[email protected] Conclusion • This study attests of the effectiveness of the conservation agriculture as Sustainable Soil Management for enhancing soil organic carbon quantity and quality. • This study showed also a positive effect of adopting NT on soil biological enzymatic activities in Semi-arid Mediterranean zone • More research is needed to monitor the effect of crop management on soil biological properties in semi-arid zones
Acknowledgements This study was held within the support of MGCP -INRA-ICARDA project. The team is thankful for the technical and financial support. Dr. Rachid Moussadek [email protected]
Thank you for your attention