Soil management may help stabilize maize yield in the face of climate change.
"The things that were most effective at buffering against the different forms of yield instability were soil organic matter and water holding capacity," Davis says.
Davis suggests a number of practices to increase soil organic matter, including using cover crops, avoiding excessive soil disturbance, increasing crop rotation length, and adding composted manures.
"Cover crops are a great way for improving soil organic matter; even small amounts of cover crop biomass seem to have soil organic matter benefits," Davis explains.
The study, "Soil water holding capacity mitigates downside risk and volatility in US rainfed maize: Time to invest in soil organic matter?"
is published in the journal PLOS One.
"Soil management may help stabilize maize yield in the face of climate change."
ScienceDaily, 20 September 2016.
Soil management may help stabilize maize yield in the face of climate change.
"Soil management may help stabilize maize yield in the face of climate change."