IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i13p5949-d1689691.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Short-Term Effects of Mustard ( Sinapis alba L.) Cover Crop on Soil Quality in a Maize Production System

Author

Listed:
  • Silvia Quintana-Esteras

    (High Polytechnic School, University of Zaragoza, 22071 Huesca, Spain)

  • Clara Martí

    (High Polytechnic School, University of Zaragoza, 22071 Huesca, Spain)

  • Oriol Ortiz

    (High Polytechnic School, University of Zaragoza, 22071 Huesca, Spain
    In memoriam.)

  • David Badía

    (High Polytechnic School, University of Zaragoza, 22071 Huesca, Spain)

Abstract

Soil health is vital for food security and ecosystem services supporting climate change mitigation. Cover crops (CCs) improve soil quality and crop yields in intensive agriculture. This study assessed the impact of Sinapis alba L. as a CC on ten physical, chemical, and biological soil indicators before maize planting. Three management systems were compared: (i) CC with conventional tillage (CT), (ii) CC under no tillage (NT), and (iii) tilled fallow without CC (TF). Measurements were taken at 60 and 90 days after sowing (DAS) at 0–6 and 0–20 cm depths. The Soil Quality Index (SQI) was higher at the surface under NT (0.69 at 60 DAS; 0.65 at 90 DAS). At 0–20 cm, SQI values increased at 90 DAS but did not differ among treatments. TF also showed improvements (up to +18% at 0–20 cm). Dissolved organic matter increased significantly (1.7–2.5 times), especially under NT and CT. NT enhanced structural stability (+70%) and reduced bulk density (−47%). All glomalin fractions decreased at 90 DAS; however, NT retained higher concentrations of recalcitrant glomalin in the 0–6 cm layer compared to the other treatments. These findings highlight S. alba under no tillage as a promising strategy to improve soil quality, though long-term studies are needed.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvia Quintana-Esteras & Clara Martí & Oriol Ortiz & David Badía, 2025. "Short-Term Effects of Mustard ( Sinapis alba L.) Cover Crop on Soil Quality in a Maize Production System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-23, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5949-:d:1689691
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5949/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/13/5949/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:13:p:5949-:d:1689691. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.