Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Effects of cover crops and microbial inoculants in different farming systems on soil microbial communities and yield of maize

Soheila Lahijanian, Jacob Schmidt, Ulf Feuerstein, Andrea Polle

Biology and Fertility of Soils · 2025

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Summary

Abstract We studied the effects of cover crop treatments (fallow or cover crop) and microbial grain inoculation (control, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), and AMF + bacteria) on soil microbial diversity, community composition, and maize yield across four field sites characterized by different farming systems over two consecutive years. Farming system emerged as the dominant factor driving variations in microbial community composition and diversity. The highest AMF and bacterial diversities were observed in the organic system, while the conventional systems exhibited the lowest diversity. Soil properties and management influenced the microbial community in each field site, whereas weather conditions were less important, due to the proximity of the field locations. Microbial grain inocula

Subject
Soil biology & microbiology
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
System type
Arable cereals
DOI
10.1007/s00374-025-01929-x
Catalogue ID
SNmojxddq9-9i4dnx
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