Abstract
Purpose
Pre-harvest burning of sugarcane for easier harvesting and increase sucrose recovery, due to trash removal, may reduce soil quality particularly for Umbric Rhodic Ferralsols that have naturally high concentrations of soil organic carbon (SOC). Harvesting without burning (green cane) retains large quantities of biomass on the surface, which may be an alternative to improve carbon (C) sequestration and microbial activity. In the current study, we examined the effects of green cane relative to burnt cane on SOC concentration and stock, microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and β-d-glucosidase enzyme activity.
Materials and methods
Soils under green cane were compared with adjacent burnt cane fields. The soils were sampled, in March 2021, from the 0–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20–30, 30–40, 40–50, 50–60, 60–80 and 80–100 cm depths, using micropits in the top 10 cm and using augers for deeper layers. The soils were analysed for SOC, MBC and β-d-glucosidase activity. In addition, soil microbial quotient (SMQ) was calculated.
Results and discussion
The SOC concentration and stock, MBC, SMQ and β-d-glucosidase activity were significantly higher under green cane than under burnt cane. The SOC under green cane was 24% higher than that under burnt cane. The MBC under green cane and burnt cane constituted 3.52 and 1.25% of the total SOC, respectively. The concentration of all the parameters decreased with an increase in soil depth. The SMQ was not affected by soil profile depth. The β-d-glucosidase enzyme activity was higher under green cane than under burnt cane in the top 5 cm depth but not at deeper layers. The β-d-glucosidase activity was positively correlated to the bulk SOC and MBC.
Conclusions
These findings imply that green cane production increases SOC storage, and microbial activity, when compared with the burnt cane on Umbric Rhodic Ferralsols.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the sugarcane farmers (Kwa-Cele and Garnett farms) for allowing us to do this research in their farms.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (Grant Numbers: 121469 and GUN93593).
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Mkhonza, N.P., Muchaonyerwa, P. Organic carbon and microbial activity in Umbric Rhodic Ferralsol soils under green cane relative to pre-harvest burning of sugarcane. J Soils Sediments 23, 804–816 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03358-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-022-03358-x