Journal of Land Management
Year:2017 | Volume:5 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:6

Improve soil quality for sustainable agricultural development to ensure food security for a growing population are the subject undeniable. Soil organic carbon is a decisive factor in the soil (chemical, physical and biological properties and improving the quality and quantity of yield. Studies show that soil organic carbon in the northern Khuzestan declined due to inappropriate management practices, so that based on the latest results available, the soil carbon content in 100% of soils is less than one percent; while the national average is 60 percent. Farmers' awareness of the role of soil organic carbon in their lands enables them to make the right decisions to adopt appropriate management practices to increase soil fertility, which require the use of soil and product management such as integrated soil fertility and plant nutrition management in a comprehensive and continuous approach. It is noted that organic carbon can be called by applying a coefficient (1. 724) organic matter.

Human agricultural and industrial activities have led to the increasing production of wastes with adverse effects onthe environmentdue to their improper disposal. One solution to reduce pressure on the environment isto plan for appropriate uses of waste materials. Biochar is a carbonaceous material producedin a process called ‘ Pyrolysis’ which involves incomplete combustion of biomass and wastes in mediawith no or limited supply of oxygen. Biocharenjoyslong-term persistence in soil and the process is mainly used for waste management, climate change mitigation, energy production, and soil amelioration. Theunique properties of biocharmake it especially useful for soil application as it contributes to soil amelioration. It is capable ofaffectingsuch soil physical properties as soil structure, bulk density, and hydraulic conductivity, or such soil chemical properties as pH, cation and anion exchange capacity, and organic content while it alsoimprovessuch soil biological properties as microbial population, activity, and diversity as well asenzyme activity, all of which ultimately lead toenhanced plant yield. Although most reports have focused on the useful effects of biocharon soil, some have also investigated its negative effects.

Sustainable agriculture in each region relies heavily on monitoring production in that region to gain statistically accurate information. The present study was conducted in 2013‒ 2014 in Fereidan, Isfahan Province, to determine the actual yield (average yield in the area) and the easy access yield (yield by pioneering farmers in the region) in an attempt to estimate possible water savings. Based on the data collected through questionnaires from the statistical population studied, certified tuber seeds, disinfection of the tubers, and application of potassium fertilizers were identified as the major factors affecting agricultural production that had been duly observed by 43, 66, and 59%, respectively, of the beneficiary farmers in cultivating the Agria cultivar. The figures obtained for the same parameters in the case of the Marfona variety were 42, 65, and 74%, respectively. Results indicated that observing these three factors would lead to increases of 12. 2 and 12. 3 t ha‒ 1 in the actual yields of the two Agria and Marfona cultivars, respectively, while the practice would also prepare the grounds for achieving easy access yield. Based on actual yields of the Agria and Marfona cultivars, water productivity values were 2. 95 and 2. 56 kg m‒ 3, which will expectedly rise to 4. 06 and 3. 86 kg m‒ 3 if agricultural production in the region is raised to the easy access yield level. The net potato irrigation demand in Fereidan region was measured to be 5809 m3 ha‒ 1; this indicates an annual saving of 387200 m3 of water for the approximately 4, 000 hectares under potato cultivation if proper agricultural practices are implemented and easy access yield is achieved in the region.

Sulfur is an essential element for plant growth since its presence in betamine, biotein, aminoacid, and sulfulipid compoundsplaysa key role in activating many enzymes, synthesizingproteins, and counteractingthe toxicity of heavy metals in plants. In addition to its nutrirional value, sulfur is known as a soil amendment for improving thephysico-chemical propertiesofcalcareous, sodic, and saline-sodic soils. Agriculture inKhorassan Razavi Province, as one of the greatest and most important producers across the nation, plays animportant role in providing the essential needs, producing food, supplyingindustrial raw materials, and creating employmentfor the population in the province. Due to the inadequate physico-chemical conditions, however, the soils in thisprovinceare not able to provide (horticultural and farm crop) plants with all their nutritional requirements, especially phosphorous and micronutrients. Although nutrient requirements might be met in the short term through continueduse of chemical fertilizers, it will in the long term lead to soil and water pollution. Study has shown that proper use of sulfur in soil can not only improve soil chemical and physical properties but alsocontribute tobetter nutrient uptake by plants and preventthe associated environmental problems. Based on these results, application of sulfur, organic matter, and Thiobacillus by 2% the sulfur weight may be recommended for improving both plantyieldand soil physico-chemical properties.

Climate change caused by increasing atmospheric concentration of CO2 due to fossil fuel combustion and land use change is one of the biggest challenges facing our modern world. Being a persistent and carbon-rich solid material, biochar remains stable for hundreds or even thousands of years in the environment. It can, thus, store carbon to mitigate the effects of climate change and global warming. Addition of biochar to soil may also reduce, directly or indirectly, N2O and other greenhouse gases in soils. It is produced in a process called ‘ pyrolysis’ , which is indeed the thermal degradation of organic materials in environments with no oxygen or only a limited supply. During pyrolysis, biomass undergoes a variety of physical, chemical, and molecular changes in which it is converted into the three liquid (bio-oil), solid (biochar), and gas phases. All the three phases produced by pyrolysis can be used as fuel. Moreover, addition of biochar to soil not only leads to carbon sequestrationbut also improves soil physical, chemical, and biological properties, thereby playing an important role in sustainable agriculture and soil management by improving soil fertility and plant yield.

Vermicompost production is a non-thermophylic process in which the activity of earthworms and microbial oxidation accomplished by microbes involved in. This biological organic waste decomposition process yields the biofertilizer namely the vermicompost. Vermicompost contains excreta of earthworms and the finished product decomposition of organic matter by certain species of earthworms in partnership with useful flora of the gastrointestinal tract of earthworms. Reviewing the results of several studies on the unique features of vermicompost produced by different species of earthworms (over 20 species) showed that the population of microbial soil up to five times and the population flora of the digestive system earthworms was increased up to 1000-fold and useful microbe population up to1010 per gram and the subsequent production of multiple enzymes and beneficial growth was higher. Vermicompost treatment increased the performance of different products and in some cases was higher than chemical fertilizer. In point of plant health and health product vermicompost was increased product quality up to 50 percent and reduce the absorption of heavy metals in soils that vermicompost was applied. Vermicompost application was controlled diseases and a variety of phytopathogen such as rhizoctonia, phytophthora, fusarium, verticillium and etc, by adding beneficial microbes and increases the resistance of plants and was reduced the consumption of agricultural pesticides. Biological diversity in vermicompost is so important that in some studies the use of sterile vermicompost can not control various diseases such as fusarium and we cocluded that disease control of vermicompost is completely biologic closely related to biological diversity of vermicompost. Bacterial diversity in vermicompost directly by increasing the solubility of nutrients, hormones, nitrogen fixation, mineralization of organic matter and the formation of chelates metal vermicompost on particles with high surface area and so increases the yield of various products at least 20 to 70 percent. The result that biological diversity is a significant part of the high efficiency of vermicompost and therefore the culture promotion of production and application of bio-organic fertilizer( vermicompost ) is necessary more than ever.