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MANURE

Dairy Cattle Manure Improves Soil Productivity in Low Residue Rotation Systems

^a Université Laval. Pavillon Paul Comtois. Département des Sols et Génie Agroalimentaire. Québec, QC. G1K 7P4. Canada
^b Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada. 2560 Boul. Hochelaga. Québec, QC, G1V 2J3 Canada
^c Institut de Recherche et de Développement en Agroenvironnement (IRDA). 2700, Rue Einstein. Québec, QC, G1P 3W8 Canada

^* Corresponding author (judith.nyiraneza.1{at}ulaval.ca).

Mineral fertilizer alone may not sustain soil productivity in cropping systems that return little crop residues to the soil, unless additional organic residues and/or manure is applied regularly to the soil. The objective of the present study was to assess the long-term effects of mineral fertilization (No fertilizer, PK, and NPK) and manure addition (0 and 20 Mg ha^–1 yr^–1) on soil physical and chemical properties and crop yields in a cereal rotation with removal of crop residues. After 28 yr, soil organic carbon (SOC) declined by –0.25 g C kg^–1 yr^–1 and total nitrogen (TN) by –0.025 g N kg^–1 yr^–1 with balanced mineral fertilization (NPK, no manure), comparable to the control (no manure, no fertilizer). In addition, mean weight diameter (MWD) of water-stable aggregates was lower with balanced mineral fertilization than in the control. In contrast, long-term application of manure significantly increased water-stable macroaggregates, potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), and soil preseeding NO₃–N levels. Corn yield and N uptake were increased by mineral fertilization compared to the control, and manure application increased corn yield by 89 and 87% and corn N uptake by 110 and 79% in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Increased corn yield in manured plots was attributed to the residual manure-derived nutrients and to improved soil properties. Mineral fertilizer alone could not sustain soil productivity in intensive low-residues cropping systems.

Abbreviations: FA, fulvic acids • HA, humic acids • MWD, mean weight diameter • NHF, nonhumified fraction • PMN, potentially mineralizable nitrogen • SOC, soil organic carbon • SOM, soil organic matter

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Received for publication April 4, 2008.