Conservation agriculture (CA) is a sustainable land management approach to improve soil quality while mitigating degradation. Although extensive information regarding the effect of CA on soil properties and microbiome is available, complete studies on the cumulative effect on specific interactions between soil parameters, crop productivity, and microbial communities over time are still lacking, mainly in arid regions. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effects of no-tillage and residue retention over long- and short-term (24 and 3 years, respectively) periods. Six treatments were established in a maize–oat–triticale system from 1995 in a semiarid region: P + H—plow + harrow; H—harrow; MP—multi-plow (short-term); NT—no-tillage; NT33—NT + 33% residue surface cover (long-term); NT66—NT + 66% residue surface cover. Results indicated that CA improved soil quality by increasing soil organic matter (SOM), total carbon, and glomalin; it also enhanced microbial abundance, particularly fungi, and β-galactosidase activity. Nevertheless, conventional tillage practices led to SOM degradation and reduced crop yields. Principal component analysis revealed distinct groupings of treatments based on soil properties and microbial communities. Furthermore, changes could be detected from the short term. These findings highlight the importance of adopting sustainable agricultural practices to maintain soil health and ensure agricultural productivity in semi-arid regions.

Pecan cultivation holds significant global importance. Salinity negatively affects the physiology and metabolism of the plant. However, certain plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have the ability to reduce salt stress in plants. The objective was to analyze the effects of the rhizobacteria Bacillus paralicheniformis strain LBEndo1 on the development of pecan seedlings under salinity stress conditions. Two factors were analyzed: the presence of saline stress and the bacterial inoculation. The bacterial application was conducted at a concentration of 1 × 10⁸ CFU/mL, and irrigation was administered every third day with 80 mL of water containing 50 mM NaCl. The results show that the rhizobacteria has a maximum tolerance of 15% salinity. Furthermore, the inoculation of PGPR significantly increased the biomass of the seedlings, including the dry weight of leaves, stem, and roots, as well as the stem diameter and height. Furthermore, seedlings that interacted with the rhizobacteria exhibited superior development under saline conditions, with significant increases of 105.5% in chlorophyll concentration and 112% in proline accumulation compared to non-inoculated seedlings. Additionally, a remarkable reduction in leaf damage caused by salt stress was observed. In conclusion, the LBEndo1 rhizobacteria, being a strain resistant to salinity and possessing multiple mechanisms to promote growth while mitigating salt stress, has the potential to be utilized in pecan seedlings to alleviate stress caused by salinity and increases biomass.

Agronomic management modifies the soil bacterial communities and may alter the carbon fractions. Here, we identify differences in several chemical and biological soil variables, as well as bacterial composition between organic (Org) and conventional (Conv) agronomic management in pecan (Carya illinoinensis) orchards located in Coahuila, Mexico. The analyzed variables were pH, N, P, K, soil organic matter, organic matter quality, soil organic carbon, C/N ratio, carbon fractions, microbial biomass carbon, easily extractable Glomalin, colony-forming units, CO₂ emissions, and the enzyme activity. The DNA of soil bacteria was extracted, amplified (V3-V4 16S rRNA), and sequenced using Illumina. To compare variables between agronomic managements, t tests were used. Sequences were analyzed in QIIME (Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology). A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to observe associations between the ten most abundant phyla and soil variables in both types of agronomic managements. In Org management, variables related to the capture of recalcitrant carbon compounds were significant, and there was a greater diversity of bacterial communities capable of promoting organic carbon sequestration. In Conv management, variables related to the increase in carbon mineralization, as well as the enzymatic activity related to the metabolism of labile compounds, were significant. The CCA suggested a separation between phyla associated with some variables. Agronomic management impacted soil chemical and biological parameters related to carbon dynamics, including bacterial communities associated with carbon sequestration. Further research is still necessary to understand the plasticity of some bacterial communities, as well as the soil–plant dynamics.

El presente trabajo tuvo como objetivo determinar las características anatómicas, las propiedades físicas, así como estimar las propiedades mecánicas, de la madera de cuatro árboles de Schinus molle L. (pirú) provenientes de una plantación forestal comercial en Tolcayuca, Hidalgo, México. El estudio se realizó en el Laboratorio de Anatomía y Tecnología de la Madera de la División de Ciencias Forestales de la Universidad Autónoma Chapingo. Como resultado se obtuvo que el color de la madera en la albura es rosado, en el duramen es de color café. La madera no tiene olor y sabor característicos, es de brillo medio, veteado pronunciado, hilo inclinado y textura media. La porosidad es semidifusa y el parénquima axial difuso y escaso. Los radios son uniseriados, biseriados y triseriados. Los vasos son cortos, muy abundantes, las fibras son medianas y finas. Se obtuvo una densidad básica de 0.54 y poder calorífico de 17.246 MJ kg-1 La dureza lateral y en extremos (longitudinal) en condición verde se clasificó como media y baja respectivamente, a 12% de contenido de humedad, se clasificó como media y alta respectivamente; la madera de pirú se clasificó como muy buena para pulpa y papel. La contracción volumétrica total se clasificó como media, la contracción tangencial total: muy alta y la contracción radial total: alta. La relación de anisotropía se clasificó como alta. El punto de saturación de la fibra se describió normal. Por sus características y propiedades de la madera se puede utilizar en la fabricación de muebles, mangos de herramientas y pisos.

Droughts are common in arid areas. These cause important losses in crop production, while the increasing population demands more food and goods. Cultivars able to produce under drought conditions are required to avoid or reduce production losses. Plants have evolved different mechanisms to face drought, and many genes have been already discovered in model and cultivated plants that are involved in this trait. Some of these genes have been successfully transformed into cultivated plants for drought tolerance. Plants native to arid lands may possess variants of drought tolerance mechanisms as compared to mesophytic or model plants. Also, different drought-related genes can be revealed. Studies using high-throughput and bioinformatic tools may allow to discover new genes and give new insights on the mechanisms involved in drought tolerance. However, still scarce studies in plants native to arid lands show that there are many drought-related genes that have not been already characterized and potentially they may be novel genes. These novel genes may be used to improve crops for drought tolerance. Therefore, more physiological, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic studies are needed on plants native to the deserts.