Phosphorus, copper and zinc requirements of no-till wheat crops and methods of collecting soil samples for soil testing

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
R. F. Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Ammonium Oxalate ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Sampling Depth ◽  
No Till ◽  
Cu And Zn

Plant testing of wheat crops in south-western Australia, sown using no-till for >7 years, often indicates marginal to deficient levels of the soil immobile elements phosphorus (P), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). In this region, P, Cu and Zn fertilisers are usually placed (drilled) with the seed while sowing crops. However, in no-till cropping, because the fertilisers are placed in the same rows as the seed during sowing, in the years after application the 3 elements are no longer mixed through the top 10 cm of soil. It may be more effective to deep band fertiliser below seed while sowing no-till crops. Alternatively, cultivating the top 10 cm of soil every 5–7 years would mix previously applied fertiliser P, Cu and Zn through the topsoil, which should improve the effectiveness of the fertiliser residues for the current and subsequent no-till crops. In field experiments in paddocks in south-western Australia sown using no-till for 7–11 years, we compared these 2 alternative methods to the standard no-till practice of drilling fertiliser with the seed in the same crop rows. No shoot or grain yield responses of wheat were obtained. The exception was that in 1 experiment cultivating the topsoil before drilling P with seed was more effective than drilling or deep banding P. Concentrations of P, Cu and Zn measured in wheat shoots or grain were either unaffected by treatment, or, compared with drilling fertiliser with seed, were larger for the other 2 methods, indicating these 2 methods were more effective at increasing the concentrations of the elements in plant parts. The 3 elements have been shown to have good residual values for crop production in the region. Therefore, we recommend that experiments should not be performed in existing no-till paddocks until the residual value of P, Cu and Zn applied in the old cropping system has become negligible, which could, for Cu and Zn in particular, take many years. In the second year, the experiments were used to compare 4 different ways of collecting soil samples from the top 10 cm of soil (standard soil sampling depth used in south-western Australia) to measure soil test P (Colwell), Cu (ammonium oxalate) and Zn (DTPA). The samples were either collected randomly within the plots (present method), always in the rows used to sow seed and apply fertiliser, always between the rows, or half in and half between the rows. Soil test values for P, Cu and Zn were unaffected by amount of element applied and method of application when samples were collected between rows, at random, or from all banded treatments where fertiliser was placed below the 0–10 cm sampling depth. Soil test values for samples collected in rows increased as the amount of fertiliser applied increased and were about double the values for samples collected half in and half between rows.

Soil testing for phosphorus: comparing the Mehlich 3 and Colwell procedures for soils of south-western Australia

Soil Research ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1185 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
D. G. Allen ◽  
K. S. Walton
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Phosphate Rock ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
P Values ◽  
Plant Yield ◽  
Soil P ◽  
Soil Test P

Soil samples were collected from 14 long-term field experiments in south-western Australia to which several amounts of superphosphate or phosphate rock had been applied in a previous year. The samples were analysed for phosphorus (P) by the Colwell sodium bicarbonate procedure, presently used in Western Australia, and the Mehlich 3 procedure, being assessed as a new multi-element test for the region. For the Mehlich procedure, the concentration of total and inorganic P in the extract solution was measured. The soil test values were related to yields of crops and pasture measured later on in the year in which the soil samples were collected.The Mehlich 3 procedures (Mehlich 3 total and Mehlich 3 inorganic soil test P values) were similar, with the total values mostly being slightly larger. For soil treated with superphosphate, for each year of each experiment: (i) Mehlich 3 values were closely correlated with Colwell values; and (ii) the relationship between plant yield and soil test P (the soil P test calibration) was similar for the Colwell and Mehlich 3 procedures. However, for soil treated with phosphate rock, the Colwell procedure consistently produced lower soil test P values than the Mehlich 3 procedure, and the calibration relating plant yield to soil test P was different for the Colwell and Mehlich 3 procedures, indicating, for soils treated with phosphate rock, separate calibrations are required for the 2 procedures. We conclude that for soils of south-western Australia treated with superphosphate (most of the soils), the Mehlich 3 procedure can be used instead of the Colwell procedure to measure soil test P, providing support for the Mehlich 3 procedure to be developed as the multi-element soil test for the region.

Soil and tissue tests to predict pasture yield responses to applications of potassium fertiliser in high-rainfall areas of south-western Australia

2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 149 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
W. J. Cox ◽  
B. J. Codling
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Relative Yield ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Test Method ◽  
Yield Response ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Yield Responses

Dairy and beef pastures in the high (>800 mm annual average) rainfall areas of south-western Australia, based on subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) and annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), grow on acidic to neutral deep (>40 cm) sands, up to 40 cm sand over loam or clay, or where loam or clay occur at the surface. Potassium deficiency is common, particularly for the sandy soils, requiring regular applications of fertiliser potassium for profitable pasture production. A large study was undertaken to assess 6 soil-test procedures, and tissue testing of dried herbage, as predictors of when fertiliser potassium was required for these pastures. The 100 field experiments, each conducted for 1 year, measured dried-herbage production separately for clover and ryegrass in response to applied fertiliser potassium (potassium chloride). Significant (P<0.05) increases in yield to applied potassium (yield response) were obtained in 42 experiments for clover and 6 experiments for ryegrass, indicating that grass roots were more able to access potassium from the soil than clover roots. When percentage of the maximum (relative) yield was related to soil-test potassium values for the top 10 cm of soil, the best relationships were obtained for the exchangeable (1 mol/L NH4Cl) and Colwell (0.5 mol/L NaHCO3-extracted) soil-test procedures for potassium. Both procedures accounted for about 42% of the variation for clover, 15% for ryegrass, and 32% for clover + grass. The Colwell procedure for the top 10 cm of soil is now the standard soil-test method for potassium used in Western Australia. No increases in clover yields to applied potassium were obtained for Colwell potassium at >100 mg/kg soil. There was always a clover-yield increase to applied potassium for Colwell potassium at <30 mg/kg soil. Corresponding potassium concentrations for ryegrass were >50 and <30 mg/kg soil. At potassium concentrations 30–100 mg/kg soil for clover and 30–50 mg/kg soil for ryegrass, the Colwell procedure did not reliably predict yield response, because from nil to large yield responses to applied potassium occurred. The Colwell procedure appears to extract the most labile potassium in the soil, including soluble potassium in soil solution and potassium balancing negative charge sites on soil constituents. In some soils, Colwell potassium was low indicating deficiency, yet plant roots may have accessed potassum deeper in the soil profile. Where the Colwell procedure does not reliably predict soil potassium status, tissue testing may help. The relationship between relative yield and tissue-test potassium varied markedly for different harvests in each year of the experiments, and for different experiments. For clover, the concentration of potassium in dried herbage that was related to 90% of the maximum, potassium non-limiting yield (critical potassium) was at the concentration of about 15 g/kg dried herbage for plants up to 8 weeks old, and at <10 g/kg dried herbage for plants older than 10–12 weeks. For ryegrass, there were insufficient data to provide reliable estimates of critical potassium.

Quantifying pasture dry matter responses to applications of potassium fertiliser for an intensively grazed, rain-fed dairy pasture in south-western Australia with or without adequate nitrogen fertiliser

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
I. F. Guthridge
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Trifolium Subterraneum ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Italian Ryegrass ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Soil Test K

Rain-fed dairy pastures on sandy soils common in the high rainfall (>800 mm annual average) Mediterranean-type climate of south-western Australia comprise the annual species subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and annual and Italian ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud. and L. multiflorum Lam.). In wet years, clover becomes potassium (K) deficient and shows large dry matter (DM) responses to applied fertiliser K due to leaching of K in soil by rainfall. In contrast, ryegrass rarely shows DM responses to applied K. Many dairy pastures in the region are now intensively grazed to maximise pasture use for milk production, and nitrogen (N) fertiliser is applied after each grazing. It is not known if frequent applications of fertiliser N to these pastures changes pasture DM responses to applied K. Therefore, a long-term (2002–07) field experiment was undertaken on an intensively grazed dairy pasture in the region to quantify pasture DM responses to applied fertiliser K with or without applications of adequate fertiliser N (141–200 kg N/ha per year). Soil samples (top 10 cm of soil) were collected from each plot of the experiment each February to measure soil test K by the standard Colwell sodium bicarbonate procedure used for both K and phosphorus soil testing in the region. When no N was applied, pasture comprised ~70% (dry weight basis) clover and 25% ryegrass, compared with ~70% ryegrass and 25% clover when adequate N was applied. Significant linear responses of pasture DM to applied K occurred in 3 of the 6 years of the experiment only when no N was applied and clover dominated the pasture. The largest response varied from ~1.7 to 2.0 t/ha DM consumed by dairy cows at all grazings in each year, giving a K response efficiency of between 8 and 10 kg DM/ha per kg K/ha applied. Significant pasture DM responses to applied N occurred at all grazings in each year, with ~2–3 t/ha extra DM consumed by dairy cows at all grazings in each year being produced when a total of 141–200 kg N/ha was applied per year, giving an N response efficiency of ~7–19 kg DM/ha per kg N/ha applied. Soil test K values were very variable, attributed to varying proportions of soil samples per plot collected between and within cow urine patches, containing much K, arbitrarily deposited on experimental plots during grazing. Soil test K values were not significantly affected by the rates of K applied per year. A re-evaluation of results from the major soil K test study conducted for pastures in the region confirm that ryegrass rarely showed DM responses to applied K, and that for clover, soil K testing poorly predicted the likelihood of K deficiency in the next growing season.

Determining the fertiliser phosphorus requirements of intensively grazed dairy pastures in south-western Australia with or without adequate nitrogen fertiliser

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (7) ◽  
pp. 801 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
I. F. Guthridge
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Maximum Yield ◽  
Dairy Herd ◽  
Yield Response ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
P Leaching ◽  
The Many ◽  
Yield Responses

Fertiliser phosphorus (P) and, more recently, fertiliser nitrogen (N) are regularly applied to intensively grazed dairy pastures in south-western Australia. However, it is not known if applications of fertiliser N change pasture dry matter (DM) yield responses to applied fertiliser P. In three Western Australian field experiments (2000–04), six levels of P were applied to large plots with or without fertiliser N. The pastures were rotationally grazed. Grazing started when ryegrass plants had 2–3 leaves per tiller. Plots were grazed in common with the lactating dairy herd in the 6-h period between the morning and afternoon milking. A pasture DM yield response to applied N occurred for all harvests in all three experiments. For the two experiments on P deficient soil, pasture DM yield responses also occurred to applications of P. For some harvests when no fertiliser N was applied, probably because mineral N in soil was so small, there was a small, non-significant pasture DM response to applied P and the P × N interaction was highly significant (P < 0.001). However, for most harvests there was a significant pasture DM response to both applied N and P, and the P × N interaction was significant (P < 0.05–0.01), with the response to applied P, and maximum yield plateaus to applied P, being smaller when no N was applied. Despite this, for the significant pasture DM responses to applied P, the level of applied P required to produce 90% of the maximum pasture DM yield was mostly similar with or without applied N. Evidently for P deficient soils in the region, pasture DM responses to applied fertiliser P are smaller or may fail to occur unless fertiliser N is also applied. In a third experiment, where the soil had a high P status (i.e. more typical of most dairy farms in the region), there was only a pasture DM yield response to applied fertiliser N. We recommend that fertiliser P should not be applied to dairy pastures in the region until soil testing indicates likely deficiency, to avoid developing unproductive, unprofitable large surpluses of P in soil, and reduce the likelihood of P leaching and polluting water in the many drains and waterways in the region. For all three experiments, critical Colwell soil test P (a soil test value that was related to 90% of the maximum pasture DM yield), was similar for the two fertiliser N treatments.

Banded Herbicide Applications and Cultivation in a Modified No-till Corn (Zea mays) System

1992 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 535-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan G. Eadie ◽  
Clarence J. Swanton ◽  
James E. Shaw ◽  
Glen W. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Weed Control ◽  
Weed Management ◽  
Soil Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Corn Production ◽  
No Till ◽  
Annual Weeds ◽  
Corn Grain

The acceptance of no-till crop production systems has been limited due to expected problems with weed management. Field experiments were established at two locations in Ontario in 1988 and one location in 1989. Band or broadcast applications of preemergence (PRE) combinations of high or low label rates of atrazine with or without metolachlor or inter-row cultivation, were evaluated for their effectiveness in controlling annual weeds in no-till corn. At each location, different herbicide and cultivation combinations were required to achieve adequate weed control. Corn grain yield was equivalent regardless of whether herbicides were applied as a band or broadcast treatment at all three sites. At two of the three sites, one cultivation combined with herbicides applied as a band was adequate to maintain weed control and corn grain yields. Selective application of herbicides in bands represented an approximate 60% reduction in total herbicide applied into the environment. The integration of a shallow post-plant inter-row cultivation combined with the soil conservation attributes of no-till, would enhance the sustainability of a modified no-till corn production system.

Effect of nitrogen on the availability of previous and current applications of copper fertiliser for grain yield of wheat grown in south-west Western Australia

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 901 ◽  
Author(s):  
RF Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Ammonium Oxalate ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cu Deficiency ◽  
South West ◽  
3.0 T ◽  
Fertiliser Application ◽  
Recommended Level

Twenty-one field experiments located in different rainfall zones on a range of soils that had been fertilised with copper (Cu) fertiliser 16-23 years previously were used to examine the effect of level of nitrogen (N) fertiliser on the grain yield of wheat. At 1 site (experiment 15), no Cu fertiliser had been applied. The effect of applied N on Cu concentrations in the youngest emerged blade (YEB) and in the grain was also studied. At 20 sites, there was no further response to currently applied Cu fertiliser. The highest level of N fertiliser applied (46-92 kg N/ha) did not induce Cu deficiency in wheat plants. The addition of Cu increased Cu concentration in the YEB and grain, whilst increasing the rate of N fertiliser generally decreased these concentrations of Cu. At 2 sites in the Jerramungup district, the addition of N induced Cu deficiency in wheat, which reduced grain yields. Increasing the rate of N fertiliser reduced Cu concentration in the YEB to deficient levels (< 1.0 mg Cu/kg); Cu concentrations in grain were <0.8 mg/kg. Only 50% of the recommended Cu fertiliser had been applied in previous years at 1 site (experiment 12). At the other site, Cu appears not to have been previously applied, because the ammonium oxalate soil-extractable Cu measured in soil samples collected from the site and adjacent uncleared soil were identical and very low (0.25 mg Cu/kg). At 1 high-yielding site (>3.0 t/ha), the highest level of N (92 kg/ha) reduced Cu concentration to 1.0 mgkg in the YEB and 1.0 mg/kg in the grain without reducing grain yield. It is concluded that high levels of N fertiliser application did not increase the wheat plants' requirement for Cu fertiliser where Cu fertilisers had been applied at the recommended level in the past 23 years. Where Cu fertiliser has been applied at lower-than- recommended levels in previous years, Cu deficiency occurred where high levels of N were applied.

Phosphorus sorption by sandy soils from Western Australia: effect of previously sorbed P on P buffer capacity and single-point P sorption indices

Soil Research ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1369 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
D. G. Allen
Keyword(s):  
Retention Index ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Buffer Capacity ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Single Point ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Phosphorus Sorption ◽  
P Sorption ◽  
Soil Test P ◽  
Sorption Index

Soil samples collected from 8 field experiments in Western Australia to which 5–8 amounts of superphosphate had been applied once only 13–23 years previously were used to measure the phosphorus (P) buffer capacity of soil (PBC) and P sorption by several single-point indices. PBC was estimated from well-defined P sorption curves when several levels of P were added to soil suspensions, and was the amount of P sorbed when the concentration of P in the final solution was raised from 0.25 to 0.35 mg P/L. The single-point P sorption indices were measured by adding one amount of P (10 mg P/L) to soil suspensions (1 : 20, soil : 0.02 M KCl or 0.01 M CaCl2). Three indices were calculated from the amount of P sorbed by soil (S, mg P/kg soil) and the amount of P in solution (c, mg P/L)—(1) the phosphorus retention index (PRI, S/c [L/kg]), (2) the Freundlich retention index (FRI, S/c0.35 [dimensionless]), and (3) the phosphorus sorption index (PSI, S/log10 [c × 1000] [dimensionless])—to provide PRI K & Ca, FRI K & Ca, and PSI K & Ca values. P sorption was also measured by the P buffer index (PBI), the new single-point P sorption index recommended for national use, to provide PBICa values. To estimate the previous P sorbed by soil (native soil P is negligible for these soils, so previously sorbed P originates from fertiliser P applied in a previous year), the amount of P extracted by 0.5 M sodium bicarbonate from soil (Colwell soil test P) was added to the amount of P sorbed by soil to calculate PRI*K & Ca, FRI*K & Ca, PSI*K & Ca, and PBI*Ca values. In addition, previously sorbed P was estimated using the q coefficient of the Freundlich equation; q was added to P sorption to calculate PSI**, FRI**, PSI** and PBI** values to take account of previously sorbed P.For the 8 experiments, PBC values significantly decreased where more fertiliser P had been applied to the soils 13–23 years previously. This indicated that the capacity of the 8 soils to sorb P decreased as more P was applied in a previous year, and a single-point P sorption index would need to reflect this decrease. As the amount of P applied to soil in the field plots increased, the following trends occurred : (1) Colwell soil test P always increased; (2) PRIK & Ca, FRIK & Ca, PSIK & Ca, and PBICa consistently decreased; (3) PRI*K & Ca, FRI*K & Ca, PSI*K & Ca, and PBI*Ca mostly increased, but with some values being unaffected or decreasing; (4) PRI**, FRI**, PSI**, and PBI** values were largely unaffected by the amount of P applied in a previous year. Evidently, either adding Colwell soil test P or q to P sorption to calculate the single-point P sorption indices mostly overestimated P sorption by the sandy, low P sorbing soils used, but the overestimate was larger for Colwell soil test P than for q.

The questions of methodology of field experiments in agriculture and crop production

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (94) ◽  
pp. 38-44
Author(s):  
А.M. Malienkо ◽  
N.E. Borуs ◽  
N.G. Buslaeva
Keyword(s):  
Labor Productivity ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Experimental Plot ◽  
Increase Labor Productivity ◽  
Biometric Parameters ◽  
Field Crops ◽  
High Condition

In the article, the results of research on the methodology for conducting studies with corn culture under various methods of sowing and weather conditions. The aim of the research was to establish and evaluate the reliability and high accuracy of the experiment, with a decrease in the area's acreage and taking one plant per repetition. Based on the results of the analysis of biometric parameters and yields, the possibility of sampling from 5 to 108 plants was established statistically and mathematically to establish the accuracy of the experiment. The established parameters of sites in experiments with maize indicate the possibility of obtaining much more information from a smaller unit of area, that is, to increase labor productivity not only with tilled crops. This is the goal of further scientific research with other field crops taking 1 plant of repetitions, observing the conditions of leveling the experimental plot according to the fertility of the soil and sowing seeds with high condition. The data obtained give grounds for continuing research on the minimum space required and the sample in the experiments.

Assessment of Irrigation Quality of Disposal Water of Ashuganj-Polash Agro-Irrigation Project, Brahmanbaria Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (04) ◽  
Author(s):  
ABDUR RAZZAK ◽  
PARSA SANJANA ◽  
BELAL HOSSAIN ◽  
DEBJIT ROY ◽  
BIDHAN CHANDRA NATH
Keyword(s):  
Soil Sample ◽  
Water Samples ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Chemistry Laboratory ◽  
Total Hardness ◽  
Sodium Absorption ◽  
Irrigation Project ◽  
Crop Field ◽  
Initial Soil

The study was conducted at Ashuganj-Polash agro-irrigation project (APAIP), Brahmanbaria,aim to determine the chemical properties of power plant disposal water and to assess its suitability for irrigation. Initial soil samples (before irrigating crop field) and final soil samples (after crop harvesting) were collected. During irrigation ten water samples (six from crop field and four from irrigation canals) were collected for analysis. All soil samples were analyzed in Humboldt soil testing laboratory and water samples in bio-chemistry laboratory of Bangladesh Agricultural University and compared to FAO irrigation standard. Results show thatthe sodium absorption ratio (SAR) (0.53 to 0.88), residual sodium bi-carbonate (0.8 to 1.3meq L-1), Kelly’s ratio (0.31 to 0.6) and total hardness (85 to 150) found in normal range and largely suitable for irrigation. Soluble sodium percentage values found in satisfactory (20.26 to 41.1) level and magnesium absorption (57.1 to 76.4) found unsuitable for irrigation. Statistically similar value of pH, EC, total nitrogen, organic carbon, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus in initial and final soil sample were observed. But potassium and sulfur value reduced in final soil sample from initial soil. The water samples fall within the permissible limit and found suitable for crop production

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