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The Role of Crop Residues in Improving Soil Fertility

  • Chapter
Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 10))

Abstract

Soil fertility is a measure of the ability of soil to sustain satisfactory crop growth in the long-term, and can be determined by physical, chemical and biological processes intrinsically linked to soil organic matter content and quality (Fig. 7.1). Given that a decrease in soil fertility is a major constraint to productivity, investing in practices leading to soil fertility enhancement is likely to generate large returns (Syers 1997). In recent years, increased concerns for healthy food production and environmental quality, and increased emphasis on sustaining the productive capacity of soils, have raised interest in the maintenance and improvement of soil organic matter through appropriate land use and management practices (Loveland and Webb 2003; Puget and Lal 2005; Whitbread et al. 2003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, School of Earth and Geographical Sciences (M087), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Bhupinderpal- Singh & Zed Rengel

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  1. Bhupinderpal- Singh
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  2. Zed Rengel
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Correspondence to Bhupinderpal- Singh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Soil and Land Systems, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Adelaide, DP 636, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia

    Petra Marschner

  2. Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, M087 School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Zdenko Rengel

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Singh, B., Rengel, Z. (2007). The Role of Crop Residues in Improving Soil Fertility. In: Marschner, P., Rengel, Z. (eds) Nutrient Cycling in Terrestrial Ecosystems. Soil Biology, vol 10. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68027-7_7

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