scholarly journals Decomposition Characteristics, Nutrient Release and Structural Changes of Maize Straw in Dryland Farming under Combined Application of Animal Manure

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7609
Author(s):  
Ling Sun ◽  
Zhixu Sun ◽  
Juan Hu ◽  
Opoku-Kwanowaa Yaa ◽  
Jinggui Wu

Straw and animal manure are major organic waste materials from agricultural ecosystems. Different kinds of animal manure combined with straw (AM-S) may have varying effects on the decomposition, nutrient release, and structural changes of maize straw. Using the Humic Cambisols soil as the experimental area, the straw decomposition characteristics under the co-application of animal manure were studied following the nylon net bag landfill method. The experiment involved four treatments: maize straw only (S), maize straw plus ox manure (SO), maize straw plus chicken manure (SC), and maize straw plus pig manure (SP). The treatments with AM-S accelerated the decomposition of straw and increased the release rate of nutrients and organic components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin). During the 240 days of the study, straw decomposition showed a trend of increasing rapidly in the first stages and then increasing slowly in the latter stages in all the treatments. At 240 d, the straw decomposition rates and carbon release rates of the AM-S treatments were 65.25–71.87% and 64.04–69.35%, respectively. At the end of the experiment, the order for the final release rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) was K (93.25–96.56%) > P (42.25–55.08%) > N (40.01–52.23%). Moreover, scanning electron microscopy showed that SP treatment had the highest degree of structural changes of the maize straw compared with the other treatments. The purpose of this study was to screen the effective animal manure that can promote straw decomposition and provide a reference for the rational use of straw and animal manure management. In conclusion, the study suggested that the co-application of animal manure and straw should be adopted in agricultural systems, especially SP treatment, as it was more conducive to promoting the decomposition of maize straw and the release of nutrients.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ling Sun ◽  
Jinggui Wu

Abstract. Addition of organic wastes such as animal manures and straw is a feasible practice to alleviate soil degradation, and the mitigation is closely related to the activities of soil-dwelling fauna. In this study, the community structure of soil fauna were compared under four treatment regimes: straw only, and straw combined with the use of chicken manure, ox manure and pig manure. A total of 12459 soil fauna were captured, belonging to 23 groups. Treatments animal manure combined with straw led to increased the number of soil fauna groups and individuals, diversity index, richness index and dominance index, while reduced the evenness index of soil fauna. Compared to the other treatments, maize straw plus chicken manure and maize straw plus pig manure treatments had the largest number of soil fauna groups. Among all the treatments, Oribatida, Astigmata, Desoria and Folsomia were the dominant species, accounting for 69.94 % of the total number of individuals. Maize straw plus pig manure treatment had the largest diversity index soil fauna community. The richness index of soil fauna community in maize straw plus chicken manure and maize straw plus pig manure treatments were higher compared to other treatments. The highest dominance index of soil fauna was recorded in maize straw plus ox manure treatment. In conclusion, our findings suggested that animal manure combined with straw, especially the application of maize straw plus pig manure was the most effective treatment for enhancing soil fauna community.


2011 ◽  
Vol 236-238 ◽  
pp. 98-103
Author(s):  
Li Jun Shi ◽  
Li Tong Ban ◽  
Hui Fen Liu ◽  
Jian Chao Hao ◽  
Wei Yu Zhang

Dry anaerobic co-digestion of animal manure and straw was conducted to produce biogas. Startup characteristics and biogas production perform of dry digestion were studied, and the effect of operation temperature and incubation amount on dry digestion was also investigated. The study result showed that under the conditions of C/N=25-30, TS=20% and T=(36±1) °C,dry digestion can start up quickly with acclimated thickening sludge as incubation sludge. Compared to dry digestion of chicken manure and pig manure, dry digestion of cow manure proceeded steadily with high biogas yield. It is found that incubation is necessary in the process of dry digestion and biogas yield increases with more incubation amount. The appreciate incubation ratio is about 10%. Temperature change has apparent effect on biogas production, and it is suggested that mesophilic temperature should be chosen in the scaled project of dry digestion.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1965
Author(s):  
Deyan Liu ◽  
Heyang Sun ◽  
Xia Liao ◽  
Jiafa Luo ◽  
Stuart Lindsey ◽  
...  

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the influence of the continuous application of organic and mineral N fertilizer on N2O and NO emissions under maize and wheat rotation on the North China Plain. This study included eight treatments: no fertilizer (control); mineral N fertilizer (Nmin) at a rate of 200 kg N ha−1 per season; 50% mineral fertilizer N plus 50% cattle manure N (50% CM), 50% chicken manure N (50% FC) or 50% pig manure N (50% FP); 75% mineral fertilizer N plus 25% cattle manure N (25% CM), 25% chicken manure N (25% FC) or 25% pig manure N (25% FP). The annual N2O and NO emissions were 2.71 and 0.39 kg N ha−1, respectively, under the Nmin treatment, with an emission factor of 0.50% for N2O and 0.07% for NO. Compared with the Nmin treatment, N2O emissions did not differ when 50% of the mineral N was replaced with manure N (50% CM, 50% FC and 50% FP), while annual NO emissions were significantly reduced by 49.0% and 27.8% under 50% FC and 50% FP, respectively. In contrast, annual N2O emissions decreased by 21–38% compared to the Nmin treatment when 25% of the mineral N was replaced with manure N (25% CM, 25% FC and 25% FP). Most of the reduction occurred during the maize season. The 25% CM, 25% FC and 25% FP treatments had no effect on NO emissions compared to the Nmin treatment. There was no obvious difference in annual N2O and NO emissions among the organic manures at the same application rate, probably due to their similar C/N ratio. Replacing a portion of the mineral fertilizer N with organic fertilizer N did not significantly affect crop grain yield, except for the 50% FC treatment in the wheat season. Overall, the results suggest that the combined application of 25% organic manure N plus 75% mineral fertilizer N had the most potential to mitigate N2O emissions while not affecting crop yield in the maize and wheat rotation system in this area of China.


2014 ◽  
Vol 884-885 ◽  
pp. 475-480
Author(s):  
Li Jun Shi ◽  
Wen Lan Liu ◽  
Hui Fen Liu ◽  
Wei Yu Zhang

Dry anaerobic co-digestion of animal manure and straw was conducted to produce biogas. Startup characteristics and biogas production perform of dry digestion were studied, and the effect of operation temperature and incubation amount on dry digestion was also investigated. The study result showed that under the conditions of C/N=25-30, TS=20% and T=(36±1)°C,dry digestion can start up quickly with acclimated thickening sludge as incubation sludge. Compared to dry digestion of chicken manure and pig manure, dry digestion of cow manure proceeded steadily with high biogas yield. It is found that incubation is necessary in the process of dry digestion and biogas yield increases with more incubation amount. The appreciate incubation ratio is about 10%. Temperature change has apparent effect on biogas production, and it is suggested that mesophilic temperature should be chosen in the scaled project of dry digestion.


Author(s):  
Xue Hu ◽  
Hongyi Liu ◽  
Chengyu Xu ◽  
Xiaomin Huang ◽  
Min Jiang ◽  
...  

Few studies have focused on the combined application of digestate and straw and its feasibility in rice production. Therefore, we conducted a two-year field experiment, including six treatments: without nutrients and straw (Control), digestate (D), digestate + fertilizer (DF), digestate + straw (DS), digestate + fertilizer + straw (DFS) and conventional fertilizer + straw (CS), to clarify the responses of rice growth and paddy soil nutrients to different straw and fertilizer combinations. Our results showed that digestate and straw combined application (i.e., treatment DFS) increased rice yield by 2.71 t ha−1 compared with the Control, and digestate combined with straw addition could distribute more nitrogen (N) to rice grains. Our results also showed that the straw decomposition rate at 0 cm depth under DS was 5% to 102% higher than that under CS. Activities of catalase, urease, sucrase and phosphatase at maturity under DS were all higher than that under both Control and CS. In addition, soil organic matter (SOM) and total nitrogen (TN) under DS and DFS were 20~26% and 11~12% higher than that under B and DF respectively, suggesting straw addition could benefit paddy soil quality. Moreover, coupling straw and digestate would contribute to decrease the N content in soil surface water. Overall, our results demonstrated that digestate and straw combined application could maintain rice production and have potential positive paddy environmental effects.


Author(s):  
Luisa Ugolini ◽  
Donatella Scarafile ◽  
Roberto Matteo ◽  
Eleonora Pagnotta ◽  
Lorena Malaguti ◽  
...  

AbstractAnimal manure application to soils is considered to be one of the main cause of antibiotic and bacterial pathogen spread in the environment. Pig livestock, which is the source of one of the most used fertilizer for cultivated land, is also a hotspot for antibiotics and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Besides harsh chemical and physical sanitization treatments for the abatement of antibiotics and bacterial load in livestock waste, more sustainable and environmentally friendly strategies need to be considered. In this context, the use of natural substances which are proved useful for pest and disease control is currently under exploration for their role in the reduction of bacterial pathogen population. Among these, plants and derived products from the Brassicaceae family, characterized by the presence of a defensive glucosinolate-myrosinase enzymatic system, have been successfully exploited for years in agriculture using the so-called biofumigation technique against crop diseases. Although the application of biofumigation to suppress a range of soil borne pests has been well documented, no studies have been examined to reduce bacterial population in animal waste. In the present study, the release and the antibacterial activity of bioactive compounds deriving from different Brassicaceae defatted seed meals against pathogens and bacterial population in pig manure is addressed. Rapistrum rugosum and Brassica nigra defatted seed meals were found to be the most active products against tested pathogens and able to significantly reduce the bacterial load in the manure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dolbeth ◽  
O. Babe ◽  
D. A. Costa ◽  
A. P. Mucha ◽  
P. G. Cardoso ◽  
...  

AbstractMarine heatwaves are increasing worldwide, with several negative impacts on biological communities and ecosystems. This 24-day study tested heatwaves' effect with distinct duration and recovery periods on benthic estuarine communities' diversity and contribution to ecosystem functioning experimentally. The communities were obtained from a temperate estuary, usually subjected to high daily thermal amplitudes. Our goal was to understand the communities' response to the thermal change, including the community descriptors and behavioural changes expected during heat extremes. We measured community composition and structural changes and the bioturbation process and nutrient release as ecosystem functioning measurements. Overall, our findings highlight the potential tolerance of studied estuarine species to the temperature ranges tested in the study, as community composition and structure were similar, independently of the warming effect. We detected a slight trend for bioturbation and nutrient release increase in the communities under warming, yet these responses were not consistent with the heatwaves exposure duration. Overall, we conclude on the complexity of estuarine communities’ contribution to functioning under warming, and the importance of scalable experiments with benthic organisms' responses to climate variability, accommodating longer time scales and replication. Such an approach would set more efficient expectations towards climate change mitigation or adaptation in temperate estuarine ecosystems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrysanthos Maraveas

This review paper investigated the durability and corrosion of materials used in the construction of agricultural buildings. Even though concrete and metal were the materials of choice in the construction of farm structures, they are susceptible to corrosion and environmental degradation. Acid attacks result in the oxidation of metals and mass losses and reduced compressive strength of the metal structures. Concrete structures are degraded in high humidity environments, such as lagoons, agricultural effluents, and animal manure. Poultry, cow, and pig manure contain variable quantities of corrosion-inducing chemicals, such as sulfates, nitrates, chlorides, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia. However, the degradation of concrete structures can be mitigated by the utilization of modified concrete containing sulfur, fly ash, silica fume, and nanoparticles such as silica. Concrete structures made of fiber-reinforced polymers are less prone to corrosion and are more durable. The design for durability has also emerged as a viable option for optimizing the service life of agricultural buildings by adhering to the exposure limits.


2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Berg ◽  
A. Model

Methane is the most prevalent greenhouse gas from animal agriculture. The main source of methane emission is ruminant metabolism; however, animal manure also makes a significant contribution. Manure management can offer possibilities for emission reduction. The influence of sulfur, in the form of gypsum (CaSO4), on methane emission from liquid pig manure during storage was determined at the laboratory scale. Manure was stored in open vessels (75 kg/vessel) over a period of 14 weeks. Three different dosages of gypsum, 1, 2 and 3 kg per vessel, were added at the beginning of the experimental period. There was a linear correlation between methane concentration and amount of added gypsum. Adding 4% gypsum to pig slurry by mass (3 kg) almost halved methane emission. Nearly all nitrous oxide emissions were eliminated by the gypsum treatments.


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