Forest, 38
Pastures, 16
Other areas;
12
Agriculture, 34
State of knowledge on restoration of degraded agricultural land using
cover crops
COST ES1104. Sept. 2014 Timisoara
María José Marqués
Autonomous University of Madrid, ES
%
Frequently, agriculture involves soil tillage / herbicides bare soil
Use of tillage
• Soil conditioning Seedbed • Weed control • Incorporation and mixing of
fertilizers, manures, residues
Large-scale
• Water & Carbon cycle changes
• Soil and nutrient loss
• Desertification
Soil degradation, crusts, compaction, waterlogging,
PROBLEMS
Modified from: http://faculty.yc.edu/ycfaculty/ags105/week06/soil_water/soil_water_print.html
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5
Soil
Wat
er
Co
nte
nt
(c
m3/c
m3 s
oil
)
Soil Organic Carbon (%)
Field capacity
Perm. Wilting Point
1. Vegetative buffer zones
2. Direct Seeding / No Till
3. Cover crops in woody crops
Rel
ativ
e R
un
off
Vo
lum
e
C (%
)
Ruiz-Colmenero, M., Bienes, R., Eldridge, D.J. and Marqués, M.J. 2013. Vegetation cover reduces erosion and enhances soil organic carbon in a vineyard in the central Spain. Catena. 104, 153-160
Physical protection Increase of SOC
Synergy of Cover crops benefits
¿YIELD , AND QUALITY PRODUCTION?
high variability
+ SOC
- RUNOFF/EROSION
+ BIODIVERSITY
↑ STRUCTURE
Derpsch, R., Friedrich, T., Kassam, A. und Li, H.W., 2010. Current status of adoption of no-till farming in the world and some of its main benefits. Int. J. Agric. & Biol. Eng. Vol. 3. Nº 1
+ WATER AVAILABLE
89%
5.3%
0.2% 0.2%
4.9%
0.3%
0.2%
Vineyards tillages
spont. veg. Cov.
sown cover
inert cover
no maintenance
no tillage
no information
54% 26%
0.4%
1.2%
6% 12%
0.3%
Olive groves
Types of soil management practices in woody crops in Spain
Source: Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, data 2012
Gaps
• Why cover crops are not so practiced?
• Site specific demonstrations
• Land users tradition/awareness
• Economic assessment
• Organise information