On-farm assessments of soil health and soil functions comparing conservation and conventional farming practices in southeast Norway
Conservation practices like minimal disturbance, soil cover and crop diversification can enhance soil health, but evidence from Norway is limited due to challenging climatic conditions. This study examines long-term conservation (no-till, diverse crop rotation and cover crops) vs. conventional farmi...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2025-12-01
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| Series: | Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica. Section B, Soil and Plant Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/09064710.2025.2526350 |
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| Summary: | Conservation practices like minimal disturbance, soil cover and crop diversification can enhance soil health, but evidence from Norway is limited due to challenging climatic conditions. This study examines long-term conservation (no-till, diverse crop rotation and cover crops) vs. conventional farming (annual ploughing and harrowing and cereal-based rotation) on loam soils in Southeast Norway, among the first at this latitude. Physical, chemical and biological soil indicators were measured on two neighbouring farms and compared to each other, to target values from sampling 29 fields within the same pedo-climatic zone and to literature benchmarks. Soil sampling followed a systematic approach, analysing aggregate stability, bulk density, cohesion, soil roughness, saturated hydraulic conductivity, total organic carbon, total nitrogen, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, permanganate-oxidisable carbon (POXC), pH, earthworm count and plant coverage. Conservation farming significantly improved aggregate stability, earthworm count and POXC. Soil functions were visualised using radar charts based on soil indicators as proxies. Overall, conservation practices led to more sustained delivery of soil functions compared to the conventional field. These findings contribute to growing evidence that conservation agriculture can enhance soil health and ecosystem services, even in cold climates, though further field comparisons are needed. |
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| ISSN: | 0906-4710 1651-1913 |