Does nitrogen fixation of commercial, dryland chickpea and faba bean crops in north-west New South Wales maintain or enhance soil nitrogen?

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 61 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Schwenke ◽  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
G. L. Turner ◽  
D. F. Herridge
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Faba Bean ◽  
N2 Fixation ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Soil Nitrate ◽  
North West ◽  
Nitrate N ◽  
South Wales ◽  
N Fertility

Summary. Nitrogen (N2 ) fixation accords pulse crops the potential to sustain or enhance total soil nitrogen (N) fertility. However, regional field experiments have shown that this potential is often not realised because N2 fixation is inhibited by the supply of nitrate N in the root zone (0–90 cm) coupled with a low demand for N during plant growth. The objectives of this study were to establish whether commercially grown chickpea and faba bean crops in the northern grain belt of New South Wales were depleting, maintaining or enhancing soil N fertility, and whether current farm management practices were maximising the N2 fixation potential of the crops. Fifty-one rainfed crops of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and faba bean (Vicia faba L.) were surveyed in the Moree, Walgett and Gunnedah districts of north-west New South Wales during the winters of 1994 and 1995. Nitrogen fixation was measured using the natural 15N abundance technique. Net N balance was calculated for each crop by subtracting grain N harvested from fixed N2. Soil, plant and fallow conditions with potential to influence N2 fixation were also documented. The percentage of crop N derived from N2 fixation (Pfix) ranged from 0 to 81% for chickpea and 19 to 79% for faba bean. Nitrogen fixation of chickpea was uniformly low in the 1994 drought. Total N2 fixed ranged from 0 to 99 kg/ha for chickpea and 15 to 171 kg/ha for faba bean. Net N balance ranged from –47 to +46 kg N/ha for chickpea crops, and –12 to +94 kg N/ha for faba bean crops. About 60% of the difference in Pfix between chickpea and faba bean at the average level of soil nitrate (65 kg/ha) was explained by the higher N demand of the latter. The remaining 40% could be due to greater tolerance of the faba bean symbiosis to nitrate effects. In addition, faba bean had a lower N harvest index than chickpea, which meant that proportionally less N needed to be fixed by faba bean to offset removal of grain N. On average, Pfix needed to exceed 35% for chickpea and 19% for faba bean to balance soil N. The equivalent soil nitrate levels were 43 kg nitrate N/ha for chickpea and 280 kg/ha for faba bean (extrapolated from the relationship between measured Pfix and soil nitrate). Double-cropping chickpea into summer cereal or grass pasture stubble provided the most consistent strategy for achieving the low levels of soil nitrate.

Low nodulation and nitrogen fixation of mungbean reduce biomass and grain yields

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Herridge ◽  
M. J. Robertson ◽  
B. Cocks ◽  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
J. F. Holland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Soil Nitrate ◽  
Grain Yields ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
On Farm ◽  
The Relationship

Apparent nodulation failures and associated low grain yields have been reported for commercial mungbean (Vigna radiata) crops in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. We therefore conducted on-farm surveys of 40 commercial mungbean crops in the region in which symbiotic traits, i.e. nodulation and nitrogen fixation, and biomass and grain yield were monitored. Effects of bradyrhizobial inoculation and inoculation methods on mungbean and soybean (Glycine max) symbiosis and yield were determined in experiments at 3 sites in northern New South Wales. Thirty-four of the 35 mungbean crops assessed for nodulation were nodulated. The relationship between soil nitrate to a depth of 90 cm at sowing and mungbean nodulation was not significant. However, at low-to-moderate soil nitrate levels (<100 kg N/ha), the mean nodule score was 1.6, compared with 0.5 at high (>100 kg N/ha) soil nitrate levels. Soil nitrate had a negative effect on the percentage of mungbean nitrogen derived from nitrogen fixation (%Ndfa). Mean %Ndfa values for soil nitrate levels <50, >50–100 and >100 kg N/ha were 35, 22 and 19% respectively. Grain yields of the surveyed mungbean crops varied from 0.3 to 2.1 t/ha, and were correlated with shoot dry matter. Grain yield was not significantly correlated either with sowing soil nitrate, nodule score or %Ndfa. In the inoculation experiments, mungbean did not nodulate as well as soybean, producing about one-third the number of nodules. Both species responded to inoculation with increased nodulation, although data from one of the sites suggested that responses during early growth of mungbean were not maintained during pod-fill. Effects of inoculation on mungbean %Ndfa were marginal. Average increases were 9%, based on natural 15N abundance, and 6%, based on the ureide method. Soybean %Ndfa, on the other hand, responded strongly to inoculation, with increases of 56 (15N) and 77% (ureide). Inoculation increased mungbean crop N by an average of 10% and grain yield by 6%, compared with responses to fertiliser nitrogen of 31% (crop N) and 10% (grain yield). For soybean, inoculation increased crop nitrogen by 43% and grain yield by 7%, similar to responses to fertiliser nitrogen of 45 (crop N) and 5% (grain yield). These results suggest that inoculated mungbean was N-limited and that inoculation of mungbean using current technology may be somewhat ineffectual. We concluded that low nodulation and nitrogen fixation of commercial mungbean most likely results from the suppressive effects of nitrate and/or insufficient numbers of bradyrhizobia in the soil. When low symbiosis and low soil nitrate are combined, N is likely to limit crop growth, and potentially grain yield. Suggested strategies for improving mungbean nodulation and nitrogen fixation in the northern grains belt include selection of more symbiotically competent plant and bradyrhizobial genotypes and more effective utilisation of established soil populations of mungbean bradyrhizobia.

Chickpea in wheat-based cropping systems of northern New South Wales. III. Prediction of N2 fixation and N balance using soil nitrate at sowing and chickpea yield

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Herridge ◽  
H. Marcellos ◽  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
W. L. Felton ◽  
G. L. Turner
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
N2 Fixation ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
N Balance ◽  
Yield Coefficient ◽  
Soil Nitrate ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
South Wales

Functions quantifying relationships between N2 fixation by legumes and other factors would be useful to farmers in the management of legumes and nitrogen in their production systems. The 2 most critical factors regulating N2 fixation are legume yield and soil nitrate and both should be included as independent variables in the functions. Data from 9 experiments in northern New South Wales on soil nitrate at sowing, yields of shoot and grain dry matter (DM) and N of chickpea, and δ15N of shoots of chickpea and non N2-fixing reference crops (wheat, barley, and uninoculated chickpea) were used to determine the percentage of chickpea N derived from N2 fixation (P fix), total N2 fixed, and N balance (fixed N2 minus grain N). Data were then subjected to simple and multivariate regression analyses with Pfix and total N2 fixed as the dependent variables and soil nitrate, shoot N, and grain yield as the independent variables. Simple regression coefficients (r2) for Pfix were 0·26 with shoot N as the independent variable, 0·59 with soil nitrate, and 0·62 with grain yield. Coefficient values were increased in the 2-factor (multiple) regressions to 0·74 (P<0·001) for soil nitrate plus shoot N, and 0·82 (P < 0·001) for soil nitrate plus grain yield. For total N2 fixed, the regression coefficient was lower at 0·68 (P < 0·001), using soil nitrate plus grain yield. We tested the functions against an independent data set with best prediction of Pfix involving the nitrate and grain yield equation (r2 = 0·83; P < 0·001). Total N2 fixed was not well predicted. We concluded that further development of such functions is warranted to refine both accuracy and precision for chickpea and to extend the approach to other species.

Chickpea in wheat-based cropping systems of northern New South Wales I. N2 fixation and influence on soil nitrate and water

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 391 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Marcellos ◽  
W. L. Felton ◽  
D. F. Herridge
Keyword(s):  
N2 Fixation ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Wheat Crop ◽  
Soil N ◽  
Cereal Crop ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
South Wales ◽  
N Fertility ◽  
Summer Fallow

Chickpea has potential as a rotation or break crop in the northern grains region of New South Wales and Queensland. Definition of that potential requires information on chickpea N2 fixation and on effects of chickpea on maintenance of soil N fertility and delivery of mineral N for use by a following cereal crop. Results from 6 experiments in northern NSW in which chickpea and wheat in one season were followed by wheat in subsequent seasons indicated variable N2 fixation by chickpea (mean 73 kg/ha; range 4-116 kg/ha), associated with variable Pfix (percentage of chickpea N derived from N2 fixation) (mean 57%; range 4-79%). There were no consistent differences between chickpea and wheat in effects on soil water, either pre-harvest or after the summer fallow. Chickpea ‘spared’ nitrate, relative to wheat (mean 15 kg/ha; range 1-35 kg/ha), and mineralised additional nitrate during the summer fallow (mean 18 kg/ha; range 5-40 kg/ha). Nitrate-N in the top 1·2 m of the soil profile at sowing of the following wheat crop was on average 89 kg/ha after chickpea (range 63-113 kg/ha) and 56 kg/ha after wheat (range 33-94 kg/ha). Nitrogen mineralisation rates during the summer fallow at 2 sites of 0·17 and 0· 21 kg N/ha · day (after chickpea), although greater than the rates after wheat (0· 07 and 0·12 kg N/ha · day), were not sufficient to meet the N requirements of a moderate to high yielding cereal crop. We concluded that chickpea did not fix sufficient N2 or mineralise sufficient N from residues either to maintain soil N fertility or to sustain a productive chickpea{wheat rotation without inputs of additional fertiliser N.

Residual effects of cotton-based crop rotations on soil properties of irrigated Vertosols in central-western and north-western New South Wales

Soil Research ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 467 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. R. Hulugalle ◽  
T. B. Weaver ◽  
L. A. Finlay
Keyword(s):  
Faba Bean ◽  
Specific Volume ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Residual Effects ◽  
High Input ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Nitrate N ◽  
South Wales

The residual effects of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) based crop rotations on soil physical and chemical properties were evaluated in 2 irrigated on-farm experiments located at Warren (1999–2001) in the central-west and Merah North (2000–05) in the north-west of New South Wales. The soils in both sites were grey, self-mulching Vertosols. The rotations sown at Warren from 1993 to 1998 were: (1) continuous cotton (cotton sown every year); (2) long-fallow cotton (cotton alternating with a bare fallow); (3) cotton–high input wheat (Tricticum aestivum L.), in which wheat was sown at a rate of 100 kg/ha and fertilised with 180 kg/ha of urea; (4) cotton–low input wheat, in which wheat was sown at a rate of 40 kg/ha and did not receive any N fertiliser; and (5) cotton–green manured field pea (Pisum sativum L.). At Merah North the rotations sown from 1993 to 2000 were: (1) continuous cotton; (2) long-fallow cotton; (3) cotton–green manured faba bean (Vicia faba L.) until 1999 when sorghum was sown during the 1999–2000 growing season; (4) cotton–dolichos (Lablab purpureus L.)–green manured faba bean from 1993 to 1994 followed by cotton–unfertilised wheat in which wheat was sown at a rate of 50–70 kg/ha thereafter; (5) cotton–dolichos; and (6) cotton–fertilised dolichos with P and K removed by cotton replaced as fertiliser. Soil was sampled to a depth of 0.6 m at 0.15-m increments and analysed for pH (in 0.01 m CaCl2), EC1 : 5, ESP, specific volume, nitrate-N, organic C (SOC), plastic limit, and dispersion. Residual effects of rotation history were reflected in subsoil specific volume at both sites, and nitrate-N in the surface 0.3 m and SOC in the 0–0.6 m depth at Warren. In general, higher values of specific volume occurred where cotton–wheat rotations, and in particular, fertilised wheat, had been sown. At Merah North, subsoil specific volume in ex-long-fallow cotton was similar to that in the cotton–wheat rotation. At Warren, ex-continuous cotton had lowest subsoil specific volume, the ex-cotton–high input wheat rotation and ex-long fallow cotton had greater SOC sequestration, and the ex-cotton–high input wheat rotation had higher nitrate-N. These differences mirrored those present when the rotation treatments were in place. Residual effects of crop rotations are more likely to occur where the residues of the rotation crops are relatively recalcitrant or where cropping intensity is lower.

2. On a New Species of Manna, from New South Wales.

1851 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 239-240
Author(s):  
Thomas Anderson
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Chemical Constitution ◽  
A New Species

About thirty years ago a species of manna, obtained from the Eucalyptus Mannifera, was brought from New South Wales, and was examined by Dr Thomas Thomson, and afterwards by Professor Johnston, both of whom ascertained it to contain a new species of sugar, different from the mannite which exists in ordinary manna. The author had, through the kindness of Mr Sheriff Cay, an opportunity of examining a very different species of manna, remarkable both from its chemical constitution, and from its possessing a definitely organised structure. This substance was discovered by Mr Robert Cay in 1844, in the interior of Australia Felix, to the north and north-west of Melbourne, where it occurs at certain seasons on the leaves of the Mallee plant, Eucalyptus Dumosa, and is known to the natives by the name of Lerp.

scholarly journals Source Contributions to Ozone Formation in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region, Australia

Atmosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Lisa Chang ◽  
Toan Trieu ◽  
David Salter ◽  
Yvonne Scorgie
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
North West ◽  
Ozone Concentrations ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Source Contributions ◽  
Ozone Levels ◽  
Different Parts

Ozone and fine particles (PM2.5) are the two main air pollutants of concern in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region (NSW GMR) due to their contribution to poor air quality days in the region. This paper focuses on source contributions to ambient ozone concentrations for different parts of the NSW GMR, based on source emissions across the greater Sydney region. The observation-based Integrated Empirical Rate model (IER) was applied to delineate the different regions within the GMR based on the photochemical smog profile of each region. Ozone source contribution was then modelled using the CCAM-CTM (Cubic Conformal Atmospheric model-Chemical Transport model) modelling system and the latest air emission inventory for the greater Sydney region. Source contributions to ozone varied between regions, and also varied depending on the air quality metric applied (e.g., average or maximum ozone). Biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions were found to contribute significantly to median and maximum ozone concentration in North West Sydney during summer. After commercial and domestic sources, power generation was found to be the next largest anthropogenic source of maximum ozone concentrations in North West Sydney. However, in South West Sydney, beside commercial and domestic sources, on-road vehicles were predicted to be the most significant contributor to maximum ozone levels, followed by biogenic sources and power stations. The results provide information that policy makers can use to devise various options to control ozone levels in different parts of the NSW Greater Metropolitan Region.

Persistence and water use efficiency of a tropical grass and lucerne on a solodic soil on the Far North-West Slopes of New South Wales

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
PG Tow
Keyword(s):  
Water Use Efficiency ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
North West ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Summer Temperatures ◽  
Spring Temperatures ◽  
Use Efficiency

The persistence and water use efficiency of Digitaria eriantha spp. eriantha and Hunter river lucerne were compared on red solodic soil with a hardsetting surface and poor internal drainage, on the North- West Slopes of New South Wales. After prolonged watering, the profile was wet to a depth of 48 � 1.5 cm, with an available moisture store of 90 mm. Over 3 years, persistence of digitaria was excellent. The population of lucerne was reduced following flooding at summer temperatures, Dry matter production of nitrogen (N) fertilised digitaria per mm warm season rainfall was similar to that of tropical grasses adapted to comparable rainfall environments in subtropical Queensland. Lucerne dry matter per mm rainfall was only about half that of digitaria (3.2 v. 6.3 kg). Lucerne grew well in mixture with digitaria except under prolonged wet soil conditions in summer. Artificial solodic profiles were constructed in the glasshouse to compare digitaria and lucerne in monoculture and mixture under varying temperature, moisture, and N regimes. Lucerne showed sensitivity to both high and low moisture levels at summer temperatures but performed very well at spring temperatures and moderate moisture levels where the mean evapotranspiration ratio was 400 g water per g dry matter. Water use efficiency was higher in digitaria than in lucerne, except at spring temperatures without added N. Water use efficiency of the mixture was always similar to that of the most efficient monoculture of the particular treatment.

Rhizobium as a factor in the re-establishment of legume-based pastures on clay soils of the wheat belt of north-western New South Wales

1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 555 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Bowman ◽  
D. M. Hebb ◽  
D. J. Munnich ◽  
J. Brockwell
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Fixation ◽  
Rhizobium Meliloti ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Clay Soils ◽  
Natural Fertility ◽  
Fixed Nitrogen ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Annual Medics ◽  
North Western

Summary. Populations of Rhizobium meliloti in self-mulching clay soils (Vertisols) at 48 sites on 27 properties in north-western New South Wales were classified according to number and ability to fix nitrogen with several species of Medicago. Rhizobia were counted using serial dilution, nodulation frequency, plant infection tests. Abilities of the soil populations to fix nitrogen were determined in the laboratory with whole-soil inoculation of Medicago seedlings in test tubes with shoots exposed to the atmosphere and roots within the tubes under bacteriological control, and in the field using a technique based on the natural abundance of 15N in the soil. The majority of soils contained >1000 cells of R. meliloti per gram. The major component of those populations fixed nitrogen with lucerne (Medicago sativa) and some components of some soils also fixed nitrogen with M. polymorpha, M. scutellata, M. littoralis, M. tornata, M. laciniata and Trigonella suavissima. However, a number of soils were located which contained few if any rhizobia effective in nitrogen fixation with M. polymorpha. Overall, the effectiveness of nitrogen fixation of the naturally occurring populations of R. meliloti in association with M. polymorpha, M. scutellata, M. littoralis and M. tornata was only 46% of the effectiveness of standard strains. At one particular site, where 10 lines of annual Medicago spp. were growing experimentally, fixed nitrogen as a proportion of shoot nitrogen averaged only 28%. At that site, there were no effective rhizobia for M. scutellata and it was wholly dependent on the soil as the source of its nitrogen. The results are discussed in relation to the need for a substantial input of legume nitrogen for restoring the natural fertility of self-mulching clay soils in degraded wheat lands of north-western New South Wales. It is suggested that lucerne, or perhaps other perennial Medicago spp., might fill this role better than annual medics such as M. polymorpha and M. scutellata that are more dependent than lucerne on specific strains of R. meliloti to meet their requirements for symbiotic nitrogen fixation.

A Note from Far North-west New South Wales

1938 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Cameron
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
North West ◽  
Far North ◽  
South Wales
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