The paper ‘Soil quality indicators as influenced by 5-year diversified and monoculture cropping systems, published in the Journal of Agricultural Science, has been chosen as the latest Editorial Highlight.

Interest in diversified cropping systems has been on the rise among crop producers worldwide to combat soil degradation and increase crop productivity. Improvement in soil quality and crop production by utilizing a diverse cropping system can be the main driving factors for farmers to adopt this system. Crop diversification has been treated as an implementable practice to enhance crop production, soil health, and agricultural sustainability.

A long-term study was conducted in 2010 including wheat grown continuously for five years as mono-cropping, and a 5-yr cropping sequence (wheat-cover crop-corn-pea and barley-sunflower). Each crop was present every year, and soil pH, carbon (C) fractions (soil organic (C), microbial biomass C, cold water-extractable C, and hot water-extractable C), soil bulk density, wet soil aggregate stability, and microbial  activity (urease and beta-glucoside enzymes) were measured for two consecutive years (2016 and 2017) after completion of the first crop sequence.

The results from this study showed that diversified cropping system can have positive impacts on soil quality parameters. Cropping systems that included cover crops increased soil organic carbon compared with those without the cover crops. Diverse cropping systems increased urease and beta-glucoside enzymes activity compared to the mono-cropping (continuous wheat).

Diverse cropping systems can enhance crop production by improving soil health. Overall, increasing diversity in the cropping system can enhance the soil health and crop production and has the potential to promote sustainable agriculture.

The Journal of Agricultural Science Editorial Highlights are selected by the Editor-in-Chief and are freely available for one month. View the recent selections here.