Changes of soil properties and temperature by green manure under rice-based cropping system.

The cultivation of green manure crop is considered as a good management practice by increasing soil organic matter and fertility levels. This experiment was conducted to improve the soil environment under rice-based cropping system at paddy soil (fine loamy, mixed, nonacid, mesic, family of Aeric Fluventic Haplaquepts) in National Institute of Crop Science (NICS), Korea in 2006 to 2007. The variation of soil temperature in green manure plots was lower than without green manure (control) during spring season (April to May). The temperature variation of no tillage plot (broadcast before rice harvest) was the lowest among treatments. After green manure cropping, the soil bulk density and porosity ratio were improved at the top soil. The production of green manure was the highest athairy vetch and barley mixture plot by partial tillage. However, mixture treatment had no improvement on soil organic matter. After rice cropping with green manure application, soil quality was improved such as soil physical properties except mixture treatment. Therefore, we suggest that soil quality should be improved by green manure cultivation under rice-based cropping system.