Soil nitrous oxide emissions most sensitive to fertilization history during a laboratory incubation

A 12 wk laboratory incubation examined the effects of application of various nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) fertilizers on soil plant-available nutrient levels and nitrous oxide (N2O) gas emissions with respect to soil fertilization history using soils sampled from the University of Alberta Breton Classical Plots. Fertilization history and added fertilizer treatments showed significant effects on N2O emissions and NO3−-N and SO4−-S recovered on ion-exchange resins over the 12 wk. Mean cumulative N2O emissions ranged from 0.43 to 1.18 kg N2O-N ha−1. The relationship between observed total resin-recovered NO3−-N and N2O emissions was not consistent for soils receiving long-term applications of various combinations of N, phosphorus, potassium, and S fertilizers. The N2O emission from two soils with a history of long-term N fertilizer applications but different S fertilization histories was significantly different even though resin-recovered NO3−-N levels were similar. When grouped according to added fertilizer treatments, mean cumulative N2O emissions showed a strong linear relationship with mean resin-adsorbed NO3−-N production. We hypothesize that the differences in the relationship between NO3−-N production and N2O-N emissions for soils with different long-term fertilization histories may be a result of the interaction of N and S oxidation processes. Further, soil fertilization history may significantly influence soil N2O emissions in response to N fertilizers added within the growing season of observation but isn’t often considered in short-term experiments, and this may be a significant source of uncertainty in the estimation of greenhouse gases inventories from agricultural soils.

Adoption of improved production practices in low land rice through community training

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production technology adoption requires effective farmers’ training for narrowing knowledge gap. This paper assesses the result of community training on the extent of adoption of improved rice production practices in low land rice of south western Bangladesh. A total of 531 farmers were trained through community training approach and 177 farmers were randomly selected for data collection. The extent of adoption of improved rice production practices and reasons for nonadopting technologies were solicited by personal interview with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire. Collected data were analysed using descriptive and inferential techniques. The community training was suited to adopt rice production technologies. The adoption of different rice production technologies was greater by the adopters of Satkhira district compared to Khulna that resulted in significant rice yield difference. The constraints against the adoption of the selected rice production technologies show that a portion of adopters was not convinced to adopt row transplanting, skipped row planting and birds perch for controlling insects, use of appropriate K and S fertilizers due to requirement of higher labour and fertilizer and risk of reduction of rice yield. The integration of other extension methods such as method and result demonstration might enhance the rate of adoption of those rice production technologies. SAARC J. Agri., 17(1): 1-11 (2019)

Response of spring wheat to NPK and S fertilization. The content and uptake of macronutrients and the value of ionic ratios

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen (N) and sulphur (S) fertilizers on the content and uptake of macronutrients by grain dry mass (DM) of spring wheat. A field experiment was conducted in southeastern Poland on Cambisols (WRB 2007), in conditions of low S content in the soil. The experiment included 2 factors: fertilization with N (0, 40, 80, 120 kg ha-1) and with S (0, 50 kg ha-1).The experiment showed a positive response of spring wheat to N and S fertilization. The highest grain yield was found after application of 80 kg N ha-1 and addition of 50 kg S ha-1 (5.43 t ha-1). The described combination resulted in beneficial content of phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca) (P –4.267, K–4.533, Mg–1.567, Ca–0.433 g kg-1) and uptake of macroelements by grain dry mass (DM) (P–20.48, K–21.79, Mg–7.52, Ca–2.08 kg ha-1). A generally positive correlation was found between content and uptake of macronutrients with exception of P content. Fertilization with N caused significantly narrowed mass ratios of K+: Ca2+, K+: Mg2+ and mass and mole ratio of K+:(Ca2++Mg2+) and increased mass ratio of Ca:P. While S application narrowed significantly, mass ratios of K+:Ca2+ and K+: (Ca2+ + Mg2+) and increased mass ratio of Ca:P.

FeSO4/lime mixtures – an alternative to mineral sulfur and lime fertilizer for summer rape

Sulfur (S) is one of six important macronutrients and due to the strong reduction of atmospheric S, it has to be fertilized to cover the S demand of plants – especially of those with a high S demand. In addition to regular S fertilizers, FeSO₄ × 7 H₂O was tested as a compound for a new S fertilizer. A pot experiment was conducted in order to test if FeSO₄ × 7 H₂O, a by-product in TiO₂ production from ilmenite (FeTiO₃), can be used in mixtures with limestone (CaCO₃) or hydrated lime [Ca(OH)₂] as an S fertilizer for summer rape (Brassica napus L). The results showed that S fertilization in the form of FeSO₄ × 7 H₂O/lime mixtures resulted in the same effects on the S and phosphorus (P) availability to summer rape as a gypsum/CaCO₃ mixture. Application of S as FeSO₄ × 7 H₂O/lime mixtures resulted in the same seed yields of summer rapes as compared to S application as a gypsum/CaCO₃ mixture. These results indicate that FeSO₄ × 7 H₂O/lime mixtures can be used as a combined mineral S and lime fertilizer.

Effects of Different Forms and Doses of Sulphur Application on Wheat

Deficiency of sulphur (S) is an important limiting factor of plant growth for sustainable agricultural production. The decline in sulphur dioxide emission, decrease in S-containing fertilizer consumption due to the high cost of S-fertilizers, breeding of new high yielding species are the well known causes of S-deficiency. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of several doses of K2SO4-S, CaSO4-S and elemental-S applied on growth, shoot dry matter yield, S and N concentrations of wheat cultivar. The experiments were conducted in three soils differed from available S concentrations. Effects of different S-treatments (0, 25, 50 and 100 mg S kg-1) and S-forms had significant effects on shoot dry matter yields of plants. Sulphur from different S-sources did not increase shoot S-concentrations in Eskisehir and Konya soils, but increase was significant obtained in the Harran soil. Shoot S-concentration in Harran soil for zero K2SO4 treatment was 0.09%, the values were 0.22, 0.26 and 0.27% respectively for 25, 50 and 100 mg kg-1 treatments. The results indicated significant effects of S-treatments on plant growth and yield mostly based on soil properties, especially the available S-levels

Effects of zinc and boron application on onion and their residual effects on Mungbean

The effect of zinc (Zn) and boron (B) on the growth and yield of onion as well as their residual effect on mungbean were investigated in this study. The field experiment was conducted at Bangladesh Agricultural University Farm, Mymensingh. The soil was silt loam having 6.92 pH, 2.82% organic matter, 0.63 µg g-1 available Zn and 0.27 µg g-1 available B contents. There were nine treatments comprising three rates of Zn (0, 2 and 4 kg ha-1) and three rates of B (0, 1.5 and 3 kg ha-1) in all combinations. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Zinc as ZnSO4.7H2O and boron as H3BO3 were applied to the first crop (onion cv. Faridpuri). Mungbean (cv. BINA Mung8) was grown on the same plots after harvesting of onion, with no further addition of Zn and B. For both crops, N, P, K and S fertilizers were added to the all plots as per recommendation (FRG-2012). Application of Zn and B significantly influenced the growth and yield parameters of crops viz. plant height, bulb diameter, bulb length and bulb yield for onion, and plant height, pods plant-1, pod length, 1000-seed weight and seed yield for mungbean. Addition of Zn at 4 kg ha-1 and B at 3 kg ha-1 compared to control (Zn0­B0) gave 52% yield benefits for onion and 99% yield benefits for mungbean. Zinc and B concentrations as well as their uptake by onion bulb were also positively influenced by the added Zn and B. The results suggest that application of Zn at 4 kg ha-1 coupled with B at 3 kg ha-1 along with NPKS is required to achieve higher yield of onion and mungbean in Old Brahmaputra Floodplain (AEZ 9).Progressive Agriculture 26 (2): 90-96, 2015

Influence of humic acid and poultry manure on nutrient content and their uptake by T. aman rice

A study was conducted to examine the nutrient content and their uptake of rice as influenced by the application of humic acid (HA) and poultry manure (PM). This experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Three levels each of humic acid (0, 3 and 6 L ha-1) and poultry manure (0, 3 and 6 t ha-1) were applied. BRRI dhan39 was used as test crop. Basal doses of N, P, K and S fertilizers were applied. Both humic acid and poultry manure either singly or in combination significantly affected the contents and uptake of N, P, K, S, Ca and Mg of BRRI dhan39. The maximum content of N, P, K, S and Ca except Mg and their uptake were recorded from the treatment combination of 6 L ha-1 humic acid along with 3 t ha-1 poultry manure. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbau.v12i1.21234 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 12(1): 19-24, June 2014

The Influence of Mineral Fertilization on the Distribution of Nutrients in the Soil

An important factor in sustaining agricultural yield, mineral fertilization is at the same time one of the factors that causes changes in the chemical characteristics of the soils. Nutriment mobility in the soil is different: it is higher in the nitrogen case and lower in that of phosphorus’. We assessed the changes in the macroelement content of the upper soil horizon when applying mineral fertilizers on winter wheat crops. We tested different doses and combinations of complex mineral fertilizers, NPK (S) fertilizers with zinc [15/15/15(+3+Zn)] and ammonium nitrate (35:0:0). The determinations were made for two depths, 0 - 10 cm and 10 - 20 cm, in order to observe the mobility of the nutrients for each soil profile. Nitrogen content vacillates between 0.15 - 0.25% ± 0.008 for 0 - 10 cm depth and 0.16 - 0.23% ± 0.006. Phosphorus is found between 25.8 - 54.64 ppm ± 3.109 for a depth of 0 - 10 cm and 30.8 - 28.14 ppm ± 1.406 for 10 - 20 cm. Potassium content varies between 193.8 - 384.64 ppm ± 25.627 for the depth of 0 - 10 cm and 205.45 - 327.14 ppm ± 15.135 for the depth of 10 - 20 cm. While analysing the results on the macroelement content and mobility in the soil horizon under research in terms of multiple correlations, we got very strong positive correlation for nitrogen and potassium and weak correlation for phosphorus.