Tillage and land use management effects on soil organic matter and soil microbial biomass in a field network of practical farms in France, Romania, and Sweden

A reduction in tillage intensity, organic farming, and introduction of ley-grass periods into the crop rotation are means to improve the sustainable use of arable soils. The current study uses an on-farm approach to investigate soils from different practical farms in Northern France, Central Sweden, and Romania in comparison with previously published results from randomized field-experiments nearby. No-tillage generally increased the mean SOC and total N contents of arable fields in comparison with ploughing. However, this increase was only significant for the 70 % increase at 0–10 cm depth in France. No-tillage had no general effects on MBC or MBN and increased the ergosterol content at 0–10 cm depth in France and Sweden but not in Romania. Averaging depths and tillage systems, median MBC significantly increased in the order France (220 μg g −1 soil), Romania (324 μg g −1 soil), and Sweden (384 μg g −1 soil), whereas the median MB-C/N ratios followed the order France (5.6), Sweden (8.3), and Romania (10.4). The study region-specific changes in soil pH significantly affected covariate MBC and MBN in the regression equations for equal slopes ANCOVA models. In Northern France, organic farming and ley-grass implementation into the crop rotation increased SOC and total N contents to the level of the no-tillage fields. On-farm research gives similar results to long-term field experiments in France, Romania, and Sweden. For this reason, on-farm research on practical fields is an important, less expensive alternative to randomized field experiments, with a high potential for investigating actual and relevant research objectives. This will intensify exchange in knowledge between scientists and farmers. • No-tillage had stronger effects on soil organic matter than on microbial biomass. • No-tillage increased particularly the presence of saprotrophic fungi. • In France, organic farming and ley-grass management had similar effects than no-tillage. • On-farm results are like those of long-term experiments in France, Romania, and Sweden.