Effect of conservation tillage on yield of spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and soil mineral nitrogen and carbon content

Abstract

Maintaining a sustainable environment with a global food demand from a population of nine billion will be one of the defining challenges for the next generation. Currently, farmers and agriculture scholars are under considerable pressure due to the enhancement of worldwide food demands (Shah and Wei, 2019). According to UN predictions (2015), the worldwide population is set to reach at 9.7 billion by 2050, which probably means larger demands for grain production in the future. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is currently the most important cereal crop so it follows that it makes a vast contribution to universal food security. It is a chief constituent of the human diet which is responsible for meeting the majority of the calorie requirements of the human body. However, fulfilling worldwide food requirements is becoming ever more challenging due to stagnant crop productivity as well as the limited availability of arable land. Accordingly, an intensive cropping system and the maximum permissible level of inorganic fertilization have been used to attain higher crop production. Unfortunately, these approaches lead to reduced soil quality and environmental pollution (Guo et al., 2010). Therefore, in order to achieve a sustainable level of agriculture in the future, it is vitally important to maintain and enhance the soil nutrient status of © 2021 Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences