Articles | Volume 12, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-79-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-79-2026
Original research article
 | 
27 Jan 2026
Original research article |  | 27 Jan 2026

Digging deeper: assessing soil quality in a diversity of conservation agriculture practices

Manon S. Ferdinand, Brieuc F. Hardy, and Philippe V. Baret

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Cited articles

Adeux, G., Guinet, M., Courson, E., Lecaulle, S., Munier-Jolain, N., and Cordeau, S.: Multicriteria assessment of conservation agriculture systems, Frontiers in Agronomy, 4, https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2022.999960, 2022. 
Apaq-W and Biowallonie: Les chiffres du bio 2022 en Wallonie, Collaboration entre l'Apaq-W et Biowallonie, https://www.biowallonie.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ChiffresDuBio-2022-BD.pdf (last access: 15 January 2026), 2023. 
Association Française de Normalisation: ISO 11465:1993, https://www.iso.org/fr/standard/20886.html (last access: 15 January 2026), 1993. 
Association Française de Normalisation: Qualité du sol – Détermination de la distribution granulométrique des particules du sol – Méthode à la pipette, Standard NF-X31-107, 2003. 
Awale, R., Emeson, M. A., and Machado, S.: Soil Organic Carbon Pools as Early Indicators for Soil Organic Matter Stock Changes under Different Tillage Practices in Inland Pacific Northwest, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 5, https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00096, 2017. 
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Short summary
We assessed three soil quality indicators across Walloon Conservation Agriculture (CA) fields, accounting for practice diversity within four CA-types. Soil indicators varied significantly among CA-types. Inclusion of temporary grasslands in the crop sequence emerged as the most influential factor. Our findings show that CA effects depend on the combination of practices, highlighting the need for a systemic, context-based evaluation of soil quality.
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