On Dec 6, 11:47 am, robert vocke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> At least 25% (more or less) of corn stover must be left in the field or the
> organic component of the soil matrix will degrade.
That sounds unreasonably dogmatic. It used to be common practice to
remove all harvestable straw and burn the remaining stubble in the UK.
While this did result in a generally lower carbon content (including
but not limited to organic carbon) for the soil, it still remained
fertile and productive. Changes to legislation and farming practice
now mean a larger proportion of organic matter is left behind, and may
be deliberately ploughed into the soil. In principle this should
amount to a significant carbon sink (even though much of it rots
rapidly, some trickles down into less mobile forms of carbon). The
plusses are generally thought to outweigh the minuses but there are
some drawbacks like the increased survival of pests and diseases from
one year to the next.
James
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