Decomposition of crop residues under laboratory conditions

A laboratory study was designed to provide data on the decomposition of rape, sunflower and soyabean residues put in bags buried in soil. The residue bags were removed at intervals during 1 year, analysed for remaining total mass, organic and water-soluble C, water-soluble sugars, as well as for volatile acids and phenolic compounds. The decomposition dynamics of total mass, total organic and water-soluble organic C, and water-soluble sugars were reproduced satisfactorily by a double-exponential model of the first-order type. Generally, no large differences in the rate and magnitude of decomposition among the residues were observed; the greatest losses of both total mass and chemical components occurred in the first month of the study, during which the volatile acids and phenolic compounds disappeared almost completely. Of the three residues, soyabean showed the lowest loss of organic carbon, losing 66% of the original content over the course of the year compared with 73 and 75% for sunflower and rape, respectively.