Articles | Volume 9, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-301-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-301-2023
Original research article
 | 
05 Jun 2023
Original research article |  | 05 Jun 2023

Managing soil organic carbon in tropical agroecosystems: evidence from four long-term experiments in Kenya

Moritz Laub, Marc Corbeels, Antoine Couëdel, Samuel Mathu Ndungu, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Magdalena Necpalova, Wycliffe Waswa, Marijn Van de Broek, Bernard Vanlauwe, and Johan Six

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Cited articles

Adams, A. M., Gillespie, A. W., Dhillon, G. S., Kar, G., Minielly, C., Koala, S., Ouattara, B., Kimaro, A. A., Bationo, A., Schoenau, J. J., and Peak, D.: Long-term effects of integrated soil fertility management practices on soil chemical properties in the Sahel, Geoderma, 366, 114207, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114207, 2020. a
Anderson, J. M. and Ingram, J. S. I. (Eds.): Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility: A Handbook of Methods, CAB international, Wallingford, 2nd Edn., https://doi.org/10.2307/2261129, 1993. a
Angst, G., Mueller, K. E., Nierop, K. G. J., and Simpson, M. J.: Plant- or microbial-derived? A review on the molecular composition of stabilized soil organic matter, Soil Biol. Biochem., 156, 108189, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108189, 2021. a
Bedoussac, L., Journet, E.-P., Hauggaard-Nielsen, H., Naudin, C., Corre-Hellou, G., Jensen, E. S., Prieur, L., and Justes, E.: Ecological principles underlying the increase of productivity achieved by cereal-grain legume intercrops in organic farming. A review, Agron. Sustain. Dev., 35, 911–935, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-014-0277-7, 2015. a
Bucka, F. B., Felde, V. J. M. N. L., Peth, S., and Kögel-Knabner, I.: Disentangling the effects of OM quality and soil texture on microbially mediated structure formation in artificial model soils, Geoderma, 403, 115213, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2021.115213, 2021. a
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In sub-Saharan Africa, long-term low-input maize cropping threatens soil fertility. We studied how different quality organic inputs combined with mineral N fertilizer could counteract this. Farmyard manure was the best input to counteract soil carbon loss; mineral N fertilizer had no effect on carbon. Yet, the rates needed to offset soil carbon losses are unrealistic for farmers (>10 t of dry matter per hectare and year). Additional agronomic measures may be needed.