Abstract

MARTINEZ-GAMINO, Miguel Ángel; OSUNA-CEJA, Esteban Salvador; PADILLA RAMIREZ, José Saúl  and  PIMENTEL-LOPEZ, José. Conservation agriculture: an alternative for climate change mitigation in the semiarid central plateau of Mexico. Rev. Mex. Cienc. Agríc [online]. 2023, vol.14, n.6, e2957.  Epub Oct 30, 2023. ISSN 2007-0934.  https://doi.org/10.29312/remexca.v14i6.2957.

Modifications produced by conservation agriculture on the dynamics of carbon in the soil result in an increase in carbon in the soil fraction and greatly reduce carbon oxidation processes by decreasing the mechanical manipulation of the soil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cumulative effects of 25 years of conservation agriculture as a means to improve the resilience capacity of agricultural soils in the face of climatic fluctuations and promote increased yields, decreased erosion and greenhouse gas emissions. In a long-term experiment (1995-2020), under an irrigated corn-triticale rotation, the following two soil management systems were evaluated: 1) conventional tillage (Br + Ra); and 2) zero tillage plus 33% soil cover with harvest residues (LC+33% C). The variables evaluated were: soil organic carbon, stability of aggregates in water through mean weight diameter (MWDa), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), bulk density ((b) and grain and forage yield. The results showed that, in LC + 33%, carbon presented significantly higher values of SOC (23.8 Mg ha-1), MWDa (1.2 mm), Ks (8.5 cm h-1) and lower (b (1.19 Mg m-3) vs Br + Ra, which is favorable for the sustainability and resilience of the soil structural system. CA improves the soil variables assessed and improves soil quality by increasing soil organic carbon.

Keywords : carbon; climate change; conservation agriculture; organic matter; tillage.

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