PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Fangbo Deng
AU  - Hongjun Wang
AU  - Hongtu Xie
AU  - Xuelian Bao
AU  - Hongbo He
AU  - Xudong Zhang
AU  - Chao Liang
TI  - Low-disturbance farming regenerates healthy critical zone towards sustainable agriculture
AID  - 10.1101/828673
DP  - 2019 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 828673
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/18/828673.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/18/828673.full
AB  - Intensive conventional farming has degraded soil quality in farmlands and other ecosystems globally. Although low-disturbance practices have been widely adapted to restore soil health and save energy, the underlying mechanisms associated with farm sustainability are still unclear. Here, we compared soil microbiome, physiochemical parameters along 3-m deep soil profiles, and crop yield in Northeast China subjected to ten years of farming practices at 3 levels of disturbance, including conventional tillage (CT), no-tillage without stover mulching (NTNS), and no-tillage with stover mulching (NTSM). We found that low-disturbance practices (NTNS and NTSM) promoted the ability of the soil to retain water and nitrogen, regenerated whole-soil microbial diversity and function, and significantly improved corn yield at the drought year. This study implies that the NTSM practice could cut fertilizer-N input by 281.6 kg/ha to corn farmland in, at least, Northeast China and may potentially reduce China’s total greenhouse gas emissions by 1.6% and save about 6.7% households energy while without reducing corn production.Significance Statement Intensive conventional farming with high-energy input that has vitally degraded soils in farmlands. Low-disturbance practices (no-tillage and straw return) as sustainable ways have been broadly applied, however, little has been done to evaluate the impact on the soils beyond 1-m depth, a major part of Critical Zone in agro-ecosystem. Our results show that low disturbance practices not only promoted soil nutrient and water holding capacities, restored microbial diversity, richness, and ecological function in the whole 3-m soil profile, but also improved crop production and potentially reduced energy consumption and cut greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to sustainable farming.