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Agriculture
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Soil Conservation in Olive Orchard
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Soil Conservation in Olive Orchard

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Agricultural Soils".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2024) | Viewed by 6173

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Miguel Angel Repullo-Ruibérriz de Torres

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Guest Editor
European Conservation Agriculture Federation (ECAF), Rabanales Scientific Technological Park, C/ Astrónoma Cecilia Payne, Centauro Building, Box B4, 14014 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: conservation agriculture; carbon sequestration; groundcovers; mulching; soil health
Dr. Rosa María Carbonell-Bojollo

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Guest Editor
IFAPA, Area of Natural and Forest Resources, Centre ‘Alameda del Obispo’, Av. Menéndez Pidal s/n, 14004 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: greenhouse gasses emissions; carbon sequestration; no tillage; circular economy; olive mill waste
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Emilio J. Gonzalez-Sanchez

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Guest Editor
ETSIAM—Department of Rural Engineering, School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, University of Córdoba, Campus Rabanales, 14014 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: climate change mitigation; conservation agriculture; sustainable mechanization; carbon sequestration; cover crops
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Olives constitute a significant crop in the Mediterranean basin. Due to its characteristics, this crop is not very demanding in terms of requiring fertile and deep soils, and it is well adapted to the Mediterranean climate. Most plantations are rainfed and usually are established in poor soils on hills. This, combined with an improper soil management strategy that leaves large areas of bare soil, causes the degradation of aggregate stability and increases  erosion, depleting soil organic matter, nutrients and general biodiversity when high-intensity rainfall events occur.

Solutions for conserving the soil and improving its health are needed to attain olive orchard sustainability. Soil status can be improved through the use of management practices that conserve the soil, increase organic matter, and improve fertility. Likewise, recycling natural resources must be considered in order to foster a circular economy in the olive orchard.

To achieve a sustainable olive sector, three dimensions of sustainability should be considered: environmental, economic and social. In the Mediterranean area, many localities depend on the olive sector economically and socially. Thus, sustainability improvements will benefit all realms of social life.

Furthermore, sustainable practices should provide other ecosystem services, such as climate change mitigation, biodiversity improvement, water quality and the maintenance of soil fertility.

The focus of this Special Issue will be to bring together advances towards applications of sustainable practices in olive orchards. We welcome the submission of novel research, reviews, and opinion pieces on related topics.

Dr. Miguel Angel Repullo-Ruibérriz de Torres
Dr. Rosa María Carbonell-Bojollo
Prof. Dr. Emilio J. Gonzalez-Sanchez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • erosion
  • soil fertility
  • soil organic matter
  • conservation agriculture
  • runoff
  • soil tillage
  • groundcovers (cover crops)
  • organic amendment
  • circular economy

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 7388 KiB  
Article
Groundcovers Improve Soil Properties in Woody Crops Under Semiarid Climate
by Blanca Sastre, Omar Antón-Iruela, Ana Moreno-Delafuente, Mariela J. Navas, Maria Jose Marques, Javier González-Canales, Juan Pedro Martín-Sanz, Rubén Ramos, Andrés García-Díaz and Ramón Bienes
Agriculture 2024, 14(12), 2288; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14122288 - 13 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 931
Abstract
There is a worldwide need to enhance soil health, particularly in agricultural areas. Groundcovers are widely recognized sustainable land management (SLM) practices that improve soil health and provide climate benefits by sequestering atmospheric carbon. A paired-plots study was carried out in woody crops [...] Read more.
There is a worldwide need to enhance soil health, particularly in agricultural areas. Groundcovers are widely recognized sustainable land management (SLM) practices that improve soil health and provide climate benefits by sequestering atmospheric carbon. A paired-plots study was carried out in woody crops (17 sites, olive groves and vineyards) in a semiarid area of central Spain to measure soil parameter changes induced by different management practices in the medium term. The selection across different locations aimed to determine whether the impact of groundcovers was substantial enough to produce significant changes in the studied soil parameters, even when accounting for variations in soil types. Each site consisted of neighboring plots: One was managed with conventional tillage (CT). The other was managed with an alternative soil management practice: (1) spontaneous groundcovers (GC) or (2) no soil management (NM). Vegetation and soil parameters were measured in spring 2021. Despite the low aboveground biomass in GC (77 g m−2), this treatment improved soil organic carbon stock (+4.4 Mg ha−1), infiltration rate (+50%), and aggregate stability (+35%) compared to CT, but higher compaction along the profile was detected. NM only resulted in a better infiltration rate, with high soil compaction. Our study provides supplementary information to long-term studies, which may include soil biological parameters as soil health indicators and yield response. Outcomes of these soil assessments lend support to the implementation of agricultural policies that promote GC as a SLM practice, in order to extend this technique to woody crops. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Conservation in Olive Orchard)
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16 pages, 3699 KiB  
Article
Carbon Sequestration Through Groundcovers and Pruning Residues in Sustainable Olive Orchards Under Different Edaphoclimatic Conditions
by Miguel A. Repullo-Ruibérriz de Torres, Óscar Veroz-González, Francisco Sánchez-Ruiz, Manuel Moreno-García, Rafaela Ordóñez-Fernández, Emilio J. González-Sánchez and Rosa M. Carbonell-Bojollo
Agriculture 2024, 14(12), 2118; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14122118 - 22 Nov 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 889
Abstract
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a key parameter of soil quality, and its improvement reduces the risk of desertification and provides several ecosystem services. Groundcovers are efficient for reducing soil degradation through erosion control and the improvement of organic matter. This article shows [...] Read more.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a key parameter of soil quality, and its improvement reduces the risk of desertification and provides several ecosystem services. Groundcovers are efficient for reducing soil degradation through erosion control and the improvement of organic matter. This article shows the effect of groundcovers with the addition of pruning residues on the SOC in olive orchards compared to soil management based on tillage. Four olive fields located in several edaphoclimatic zones of the Andalusia Region (southern Spain) were monitored, and the SOC stock was assessed during four seasons. The spontaneous groundcovers with the addition of shredded pruning residues had significant effects on SOC in all fields. The tillage treatment also increased the SOC content due to the carbon input through spontaneous vegetation and pruning residues, but to a lesser extent than the non-disturbed soil with groundcovers. The climate and soil characteristics of each zone, especially the clay content, determined the magnitude of the SOC increase. Carbon sequestration rates ranged from 0.02 to 3.02 MgC ha−1 yr−1 up to 30 cm in depth, and the SOC stock measured at the end of the four-season study period was significantly higher in the groundcover treatment, making this system sustainable in olive orchards and recommendable for the entailed ecosystem services. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Conservation in Olive Orchard)
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17 pages, 2275 KiB  
Article
Carbon and Nitrogen Mineralization of Common Organic Amendments in Olive Grove Soils
by Pablo Domouso, Evangelina Pareja-Sánchez, Julio Calero and Roberto García-Ruiz
Agriculture 2024, 14(11), 1923; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14111923 - 29 Oct 2024
Viewed by 1011
Abstract
Cover crops (CC), pruning residues (PR), and olive mill pomace (OP) are common amendments to enhance soil quality in olive groves; however, there is limited information on the dynamics of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) during their decomposition under varying conditions. In this [...] Read more.
Cover crops (CC), pruning residues (PR), and olive mill pomace (OP) are common amendments to enhance soil quality in olive groves; however, there is limited information on the dynamics of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) during their decomposition under varying conditions. In this laboratory decomposition experiment, we assessed the C and N mineralization of CC, PR, and OP at application rates of 2 and 5 mg C g−1 in soils with varying organic C levels, both with and without the addition of NO3−. The results indicated that C and N mineralization patterns varied significantly between amendments, although the predicted remaining C after one year was similar for CC and PR (46.7–48.9%) and slightly lower for OP (40.0%). Soil organic carbon level did not affect remaining amendment-C. The addition of N accelerated the decomposition rate of labile C by 15% but slowed down that of the recalcitrant C another 13%, with no significant effect on remaining C. Conversely, increasing the C dose led to a 13% overall reduction in amendment-C mineralization across all combinations of factors. CC decomposition released between −8 and 31% of the amendment-N by day 130, while PR and OP showed net N immobilization. Therefore, CC residues contribute to both C sequestration and N availability, while PR and OP residues can improve N retention in the olive groves while also contributing to C sequestration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Conservation in Olive Orchard)
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15 pages, 2700 KiB  
Article
Conservation Practices Boost Soil-Protected Organic Carbon Stocks in Olive Orchards
by Evangelina Pareja-Sánchez, Pablo Domouso, Beatriz Gómez-Muñoz, María T. Heras-Linares and Roberto García-Ruíz
Agriculture 2024, 14(8), 1354; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14081354 - 13 Aug 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1278
Abstract
Carbon farming practices are pivotal for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in agricultural systems. This study focuses on evaluating the effects of spontaneous cover crops as a conservation strategy compared to conventional management practices on total, non-protected, and protected SOC fractions, as [...] Read more.
Carbon farming practices are pivotal for enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in agricultural systems. This study focuses on evaluating the effects of spontaneous cover crops as a conservation strategy compared to conventional management practices on total, non-protected, and protected SOC fractions, as well as carbon saturation, in olive groves across 13 paired sites (26 sites in total) in Andalucía, Spain. The research evaluates organic carbon concentrations in different soil fractions: non-protected (250–2000 µm), physically protected (53–250 µm), and chemically protected (<53 µm). The results reveal that olive groves managed with temporary spontaneous cover crops (CC) over the last 8–12 years generally exhibit higher SOC concentrations compared to those managed conventionally (BS), with significant differences observed across multiple sites. CC sites exhibited higher carbon stocks, with protected carbon averaging 42.6 Mg C ha−1 compared to 29.7 Mg C ha−1 in BS, and non-protected carbon at 10.3 Mg C ha−1 versus 4.8 Mg C ha−1. A direct relationship was identified between total SOC and both protected and non-protected carbon fractions, indicating that the soil of the studies olive orchards is far from being saturated in protected SOC. Moreover, the soil of the CC olive farms had a lower carbon saturation deficit (45.3%) compared to BS (67.2%). The findings show that maintaining the cover crops in olive orchards significantly contributed to carbon sequestration and reduced carbon saturation deficits by increasing the stocks of protected SOC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Conservation in Olive Orchard)
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13 pages, 1034 KiB  
Article
Ground Management Through Grazing in Rainfed Olive Orchards Provides High Olive Yields and Has Other Potential Benefits for Both the Soil and the Farmer
by Paulo Dimande, Margarida Arrobas, Carlos M. Correia and Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues
Agriculture 2024, 14(6), 897; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture14060897 - 6 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1254
Abstract
Soil management in orchards can have several economic and environmental implications. In this study, three different soil management systems were compared in a dry-farmed olive grove: conventional tillage (tillage), glyphosate-based herbicide (herbicide) and sheep grazing. The experiment lasted eleven years (2011–2022) and was [...] Read more.
Soil management in orchards can have several economic and environmental implications. In this study, three different soil management systems were compared in a dry-farmed olive grove: conventional tillage (tillage), glyphosate-based herbicide (herbicide) and sheep grazing. The experiment lasted eleven years (2011–2022) and was carried out after a previous trial conducted on the same plot with the same treatments and duration (2001–2011). However, in the earlier trial, the herbicide and sheep grazing treatments switched positions in the plot, while the tillage treatment remained in its original place. The average total accumulated olive yields between 2011 and 2022 were 225.1, 230.9, and 245.0 kg tree−1 for the sheep grazing, tillage, and herbicide treatments, respectively. However, no significant differences were observed between the treatments. The levels of total organic carbon in the soil, measured in samples collected in the last year of the study, were 41.3, 33.7, and 37.3 g kg−1, respectively, for the same treatments. These findings indicated that the tillage treatment exhibited lower soil organic matter content and reduced bioavailability of some nutrients, which raises concerns about its sustainability. On the contrary, employing sheep grazing with an appropriate stocking rate, effectively controlling vegetation in the spring, ensured favourable soil properties and olive yields comparable to the other treatments. Moreover, the sheep grazing approach provides supplementary advantages to the farmer, including revenue from the sale of animal products and the opportunity to transition to organic farming systems, which better align with the preferences of contemporary societies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Conservation in Olive Orchard)
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