Soil Characteristics Under Legume Production Systems in Southern Illinois

Incorporating legumes is very important for agricultural production. Understanding the potential effects of legumes on soil will help to increase total crop yield. The objective of this research was to evaluate soil quality indicators among cropping systems. The study was conducted in southern Illinois and was completed by collecting topsoil from the depth of 7.5cm from a soybean field, double crop wheat and soybean field, corn field, alfalfa field, woodland, and pastureland. In the experiment, bulk density (BD), porosity, macroporosity, soil water holding capacity (SWHC), soil water field capacity (SWFC), soil pH, and soil organic matter (SOM) were measured. Based on the data on SWHC, BD, porosity, macroporosity, and SOM, the double crop wheat and soybean field was the best when compared to the corn, soybean and alfalfa fields. Soybean and double crop did well in macroporosity, where they had an average of 40.68% and 42.41%, respectively. The pastureland had the greatest macroporosity of 79.36%. Another good soil quality that double crop and alfalfa had was SOM content with the average of 5.62% and 5.50%, respectively. Unfortunately, the soybean field had the lowest SOM content (3.66%). Overall, the data showed that implementation of legumes can be beneficial, when incorporated with a rotation of other crops. In general, this research is vital in improving agricultural economic returns, in addition to improving soil quality