Effect of tillage and crop residue management on nematode densities on corn.

Science.gov (United States)

McSorley, R; Gallaher, R N

1994-12-01

Effects of winter cover crop management on nematode densities associated with a subsequent corn (Zea mays) crop were examined in five sites in north Florida. Two sites had received winter cover crops of lupine (Lupinus angustifolius), and one site each had rye (Secale cereale), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum). In each site, five different management regimes were compared: 1) conventional tillage after the cover crop was removed for forage; 2) conventional tillage with the cover crop retained as green manure; 3) no-till with the cover crop mowed and used as a mulch; 4) no-till with the cover crop removed as forage; and 5) fallow. Sites were sampled at corn planting and harvest for estimates of initial (Pi) and final (Pf) nematode population densities, respectively. Whether the cover crop was removed as forage or retained as green manure or mulch had no effect (P > 0.10) on population densities of any plant-parasitic nematode before or after corn at any site. Differences between conventional-till and no-till treatments were significant (P cover crop residues had little consistent effect on nematodes, and these practices should be considered based on agronomic benefits rather than for nematode management.

Chemical, green and organic manure effects on chemical properties on a savannah oxisol and on corn under conventional tillage and no-tillage

Science.gov (United States)

Mannigel, Anny R.; Alves, Marlene C.; Valério Filho, Walter V.

2015-04-01

Modern agriculture, in general, has always been based on the concept that natural resources are endless; however, this concept is changing. Concern for the environment is increasingly becoming part of farming practices, either by the awareness of society, or because the high cost of fertilizers or even the exhaustion of soils. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of the green manure and mineral fertilizer and/or organic manure and, on the chemical properties of an Oxisol, on "Savannah" (cerrado) area in Mato Grosso do Sul-Brazil, cultivated with corn (Zea mays L.) on the following management conditions: no-tillage and conventional tillage, on area previously under pasture (Brachiaria decumbens). The experimental design was a randomized blocks and the tested treatments were: control (without organic manure or chemical fertilizer); chemical fertilizer, as recommended for the culture and based on the chemical soil analysis; organic manure (cow manure); organic manure + half of the mineral fertilizer recommended rate; and the green manure Crotalaria juncea and Pennisetum americanum. The chemical analyses were the soil chemical analysis to the intent of soil fertility. Corn yield was evaluated. The collect of soil samples were realized in depths of 0.00-0.05 m and 0.05-0.10 m and 0.10-0.20 m. The organic manure and the organic manure + half of the mineral recommended rate increased P, Ca, Mg, K and Organic Matter in the first depth (0.00 - 0.05 m). These treatments also increased K and Mg at the second depth analyzed (0.05 - 0.10 m) and K in the depth from 0.10 - 0.20 m. Under conventional tillage management presents better crop results with an average grain yield of 3649 kg ha-1 versus 2374 kg ha-1 obtained under no-tillage. The use of chemical fertilizer, organic manure + half of the mineral recommended rate, Crotalaria juncea, organic manure and Pennisetum americanum increased corn yield by 84, 79, 58, 44 and 41 %, respectively.

Sistemas de cultivo no cerrado e dinâmica de populações de plantas daninhas Tillage systems in the cerrado and dinamics of weed populations

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F.A.R. Pereira

2003-12-01

Full Text Available O trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar os efeitos de sistemas de plantio direto, utilizando diferentes programas de rotação de culturas, de preparo convencional e de cultivo mínimo sobre a dinâmica de populações de plantas daninhas nas condições edafoclimáticas do cerrado. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental de blocos ao acaso, com quatro repetições e cinco tratamentos, sendo dois de plantio direto que constaram de programas de rotação constituídos por culturas de verão e de outono/inverno e dois em monocultivo, nos sistemas de preparo convencional e cultivo mínimo respectivamente. Avaliou-se a dinâmica das populações de plantas daninhas. A maior eficiência de controle cultural da comunidade infestante foi obtida com o sistema de plantio direto, por meio dos seguintes programas de rotação: (sorgo/soja - crotalária/milho - milheto/soja - milho safrinha/soja; (milho safrinha/soja - girassol/milho - sorgo/soja - girassol/milho e (guandu/soja - milheto/soja - milho safrinha/milho - girassol/soja.This research aimed to evaluate the effects of no-tillage systems using crop rotation variations, conventional tillage, and minimum tillage on the dynamics of weed populations in the cerrado region in Brazil. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design, four replications and five treatments, (two no tillage treatments consisting of summer and fall/winter crop rotations and two single crop treatments under conventional tillage and minimum tillage. Weed population dynamics was evaluated. The results showed that the no-tillage system was the most efficient for weed control with the following programs: soybean/sorghum - Crotalaria/corn - millet/soybean, winter corn/soybean; (winter corn/soybean - sunflower/corn - sorghum/soybean - sunflower/corn and (Pigeon/pea/soybean - millet/soybean - winter corn/corn - sunflower/soybean .

Water erosion and soil water infiltration in different stages of corn development and tillage systems

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Daniel F. de Carvalho

2015-11-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTThis study evaluated soil and water losses, soil water infiltration and infiltration rate models in soil tillage systems and corn (Zea mays, L. development stages under simulated rainfall. The treatments were: cultivation along contour lines, cultivation down the slope and exposed soil. Soil losses and infiltration in each treatment were quantified for rains applied using a portable simulator, at 0, 30, 60 and 75 days after planting. Infiltration rates were estimated using the models of Kostiakov-Lewis, Horton and Philip. Based on the obtained results, the combination of effects between soil tillage system and corn development stages reduces soil and water losses. The contour tillage system promoted improvements in soil physical properties, favoring the reduction of erosion in 59.7% (water loss and 86.6% (soil loss at 75 days after planting, and the increase in the stable infiltration rate in 223.3%, compared with the exposed soil. Associated to soil cover, contour cultivation reduces soil and water losses, and the former is more influenced by management. Horton model is the most adequate to represent soil water infiltration rate under the evaluated conditions.

The Weeds Response to the Winter Vetch (Vicia villosa and Chicklingpea (Lathyrus sativus Cover Crops under Different Tillage Methods in Corn Fields

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Javad Hamzei

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Using cover crops in conservation tillage systems offers many advantages, one of which is weed control through physical and chemical interferences. Most of the benefits of cover crops are well known. They prevent form wind and water erosions, conserve soil moisture by reducing evaporation and increasing infiltration, increase the content of organic matter, increase fertility by recycling nutrients, add nitrogen if they are legumes, and improve soil structure. Proper cover crops can also suppress weed growth by allelopathic activities and light interference. They impact on environmental quality through the protection of surface water and groundwater, as well as eliminating the need for using preemergence herbicides. Either increase or decreases have been reported for crop yields when the crop residues remain on soil surface. No-till system has been reported to increase the presence of certain difficult to control weeds. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of tillage systems and cover crops on weed control and corn yield. Materials and Methods: Experiment was carried out as split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications at the Bu-Ali Sina University in growing season of 2011. Tillage with moldboard, tillage with chisel (minimum tillage, and no tillage were considered as main plots and two cover crops, winter vetch and chicklingpea, chemical weed control and weed-infest treatment (control were considered as sub-plots. Cover crops were cultivated in late March 2011. In early June 2011, cover crops were harvested and were spread over the soil surface. The Plot size was 22.50 m-2. Five rows were in each plot with 75 cm intervals among rows and 18 cm among seedlings. 2 square were picked in the three central rows of each plot in order to determine the yield and yield components. From each plot three quadrants (1×1 mrandomly were picked and weeds and cover crops was separated. All

Carbon dioxide efflux from soil with poultry litter applications in conventional and conservation tillage systems in northern Alabama.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberson, T; Reddy, K C; Reddy, S S; Nyakatawa, E Z; Raper, R L; Reeves, D W; Lemunyon, J

2008-01-01

Increased CO2 release from soils resulting from agricultural practices such as tillage has generated concerns about contributions to global warming. Maintaining current levels of soil C and/or sequestering additional C in soils are important mechanisms to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere through production agriculture. We conducted a study in northern Alabama from 2003 to 2006 to measure CO2 efflux and C storage in long-term tilled and non-tilled cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plots receiving poultry litter or ammonium nitrate (AN). Treatments were established in 1996 on a Decatur silt loam (clayey, kaolinitic thermic, Typic Paleudults) and consisted of conventional-tillage (CT), mulch-tillage (MT), and no-tillage (NT) systems with winter rye [Secale cereale (L.)] cover cropping and AN and poultry litter (PL) as nitrogen sources. Cotton was planted in 2003, 2004, and 2006. Corn was planted in 2005 as a rotation crop using a no-till planter in all plots, and no fertilizer was applied. Poultry litter application resulted in higher CO2 emission from soil compared with AN application regardless of tillage system. In 2003 and 2006, CT (4.39 and 3.40 micromol m(-2) s(-1), respectively) and MT (4.17 and 3.39 micromol m(-2) s(-1), respectively) with PL at 100 kg N ha(-1) (100 PLN) recorded significantly higher CO2 efflux compared with NT with 100 PLN (2.84 and 2.47 micromol m(-2) s(-1), respectively). Total soil C at 0- to 15-cm depth was not affected by tillage but significantly increased with PL application and winter rye cover cropping. In general, cotton produced with NT conservation tillage in conjunction with PL and winter rye cover cropping reduced CO2 emissions and sequestered more soil C compared with control treatments.

Cross-resistance to purified Bt proteins, Bt corn and Bt cotton in a Cry2Ab2-corn resistant strain of Spodoptera frugiperda.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Fei; Kerns, David L; Head, Graham P; Price, Paula; Huang, Fangneng

2017-12-01

Gene-pyramiding by combining two or more dissimilar Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins into a crop has been used to delay insect resistance. The durability of gene-pyramiding can be reduced by cross-resistance. Fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, is a major target pest of the Cry2Ab2 protein used in pyramided Bt corn and cotton. Here, we provide the first experimental evaluation of cross-resistance in S. frugiperda selected with Cry2Ab2 corn to multiple Bt sources including purified Bt proteins, Bt corn and Bt cotton. Concentration - response bioassays showed that resistance ratios for Cry2Ab2-resistant (RR) relative to Cry2Ab2-susceptible (SS) S. frugiperda were -1.4 for Cry1F, 1.2 for Cry1A.105, >26.7 for Cry2Ab2, >10.0 for Cry2Ae and -1.1 for Vip3A. Larvae of Cry2Ab2-heterozygous (RS), SS and RR S. frugiperda were all susceptible to Bt corn and Bt cotton containing Cry1 (Cry1F or Cry1A.105) and/or Vip3A proteins. Pyramided Bt cotton containing Cry1Ac + Cry2Ab2 or Cry1Ab + Cry2Ae were also effective against SS and RS, but not RR. These findings suggest that Cry2Ab2-corn-selected S. frugiperda is not cross-resistant to Cry1F, Cry1A.105 or Vip3A protein, or corn and cotton plants containing these Bt proteins, but it can cause strong cross-resistance to Cry2Ae and Bt crops expressing similar Bt proteins. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

Tillage practices in the conterminous United States, 1989-2004-Datasets Aggregated by Watershed

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Nancy T.

2011-01-01

This report documents the methods used to aggregate county-level tillage practices to the 8-digit hydrologic unit (HU) watershed. The original county-level data were collected by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC). The CTIC collects tillage data by conducting surveys about tillage systems for all counties in the United States. Tillage systems include three types of conservation tillage (no-till, ridge-till, and mulch-till), reduced tillage, and intensive tillage. Total planted acreage for each tillage practice for each crop grown is reported to the CTIC. The dataset includes total planted acreage by tillage type for selected crops (corn, cotton, grain sorghum, soybeans, fallow, forage, newly established permanent pasture, spring and fall seeded small grains, and 'other' crops) for 1989-2004. Two tabular datasets, based on the 1992 enhanced and 2001 National Land Cover Data (NLCD), are provided as part of this report and include the land-cover area-weighted interpolation and aggregation of acreage for each tillage practice in each 8-digit HU watershed in the conterminous United States for each crop. Watershed aggregations were done by overlying the 8-digit HU polygons with a raster of county boundaries and a raster of either the enhanced 1992 or the 2001 NLCD for cultivated land to derive a county/land-cover area weighting factor. The weighting factor then was applied to the county-level tillage data for the counties within each 8-digit HU and summed to yield the total acreage of each tillage type within each 8-digit HU watershed.

Correlation Between Precipitation and Crop Yield for Corn and Cotton Produced in Alabama

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Carol E.; Perkey, Donald J.

1998-01-01

In this study, variations in precipitation during the time of corn silking are compared to Alabama corn yields. Also, this study compares precipitation variations during bloom to Alabama cotton yield. The goal is to obtain mathematical correlations between rainfall during the crop's critical period and the crop amount harvested per acre.

Influence of continuous cropping on corn and soybean pathogens

OpenAIRE

Ranzi, Camila; Camera, Juliane Nicolodi; Deuner, Carolina Cardoso

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of two tillage programs (conventional and no-tillage) and different rotations with soybeans and corn on the occurrence of Fusarium species. The work was conducted in the experimental field and Seed Laboratory at Iowa State University. The treatments were: tillage (no-tillage and conventional tillage), crop (corn and soybeans) and three different cropping sequences for corn and soybeans, respectively. Treatment with corn: (1) t...

Effect of tillage on water advance and distribution under surge and continuous furrow irrigation methods for cotton in Egypt

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ismail, S.M.

2006-01-01

A field experiment was carried out to assess the effect of tillage on water advance and water distribution in the root zone area (0.5 m) under continuous and surge flow irrigation in a cotton field. The experiment was conducted at the Agriculture Experimental Station, Assiut University, Assiut,

Environmental effect of conventional and GM crops of cotton (Gossipium hirsitum L. and corn (Zea mays L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly Ávila

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In the corn belt of Valle de San Juan and in the cotton zone of El Espinal, municipalities in the department of Tolima (Colombia, 10 conventional corn producers, 10 producers of genetically modified corn, five producers of conventional cotton and 15 producers of transgenic cotton were surveyed in the first half of 2009 to contrast the differences in the environmental impact associated with use of insecticides and herbicides, which were evaluated by estimating the environmental index quotient-EIQ. In the case of maize, an EIQ of 42 was found in the conventional type, while transgenic technology had an EIQ of 3.03. In the cultivation of cotton, an EIQ of 263.59 was found for the conventional type while for transgenic technology this value varied between 335.75 (Nuopal BG/RR and 324.79 (DP 455 BG/RR. These data showed a lower environmental impact using GM technology in the cultivation of maize when compared to the conventional counterpart, in connection with the use of insecticides and herbicides, in the context of time, space and genotypic analysis. This effect was not observed in the case of cotton, where environmental impacts were similar

Tillage effects on N2O emission from soils under corn and soybeans in eastern Canada

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gregorich, E.G.; St-Georges, P.; McKim, U.F.; Chan, C.; Rochette, P.

2008-01-01

New research has suggested that no-till agricultural practices will result in higher levels of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions due to increased levels of denitrification. This study was evaluated and compared N 2 O emissions from tilled and no-till soils. Data used in the study were comprised of more than 1500 flux measurements of N 2 O taken between April and October over a period of 3 years at a site in Ottawa, Ontario. Soybean and corn crop rotations were used. Treatment effects of tillage, crop, and time of season on N 2 O fluxes were assessed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) methods. The study evaluated the responses of tillage during periods when soil temperatures were above 0 degrees C. Results of the studies demonstrated that fertilization management practices contributed to the higher N 2 O emissions observed in soils planted with corn when compared with soils planted with soybeans. Biological nitrogen (N) fixation in soybeans did not contribute to annual N 2 O emissions, and the effects of tillage on N 2 O emissions varied from year to year. The tilled soils typically had better aeration, higher temperatures, and lower water content than no-till soils. N 2 O emissions from no-till soils were lower than rates observed in tilled soils in 2 of the 3 years studied. Higher emissions observed in no-till soils were attributed to timing and the method of fertilizer placement. It was concluded that further studies are needed to develop methods of improving N use efficiency within tillage systems. 30 refs., 5 tabs., 2 figs

Long-term rotation and tillage effects on soil structure and crop yield

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Heck, R; Deen, B

2013-01-01

long-term rotation and tillage treatment experiment on a Canadian silt loam soil. Topsoil measurements were carried out for three different rotations: R1, (C–C–C–C) continuous corn (Zea mays L.), R6, (C–C–O(RC), B(RC)) corn, corn, oats (Avena fatua L.) and spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and R8, (C......–C–S–S) corn, corn, soybean (Glycine max L.), soybean. A red clover (Trifolium pretense L.) cover crop was under seeded in oats and spring barley in R6. In 2010, first year corn was grown in R6 and R8. The tillage treatments included no tillage, NT and mouldboard ploughing, MP. Topsoil structural quality...

Soil Biochemical Changes Induced by Poultry Litter Application and Conservation Tillage under Cotton Production Systems

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Seshadri Sajjala

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Problems arising from conventional tillage (CT systems (such as soil erosion, decrease of organic matter, environmental damage etc. have led many farmers to the adoption of no-till (NT systems that are more effective in improving soil physical, chemical and microbial properties. Results from this study clearly indicated that NT, mulch tillage (MT, and winter rye cover cropping systems increased the activity of phosphatase, β-glucosidase and arylsulfatase at a 0–10 cm soil depth but decreased the activity of these enzymes at 10–20 cm. The increase in enzyme activity was a good indicator of intensive soil microbial activity in different soil management practices. Poultry litter (PL application under NT, MT, and rye cropping system could be considered as effective management practices due to the improvement in carbon (C content and the biochemical quality at the soil surface. The activities of the studied enzymes were highly correlated with soil total nitrogen (STN soil organic carbon (SOC at the 0–10 cm soil depth, except for acid phosphatase where no correlation was observed. This study revealed that agricultural practices such as tillage, PL, and cover crop cropping system have a noticeable positive effect on soil biochemical activities under cotton production.

Improvement of native grassland by legumes introduction and tillage techniques

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Syamsu Bahar

1999-10-01

Full Text Available A factorial design using three species of legumes (Siratro, Centro and Stylo and three different of tillage techniques (no-tillage, minimum tillage and total tillage was applied in this experiment. The results showed that there was no interaction between species and tillage techniques. There was significant reductions on bulk density from 1.23±0.03 g/cm3 (no-tillage to 1.07±0.02 g/cm3 (minimum tillage and 1.05±0.03 g/cm3 (total tillage. Also reductions on penetration resistance from 17.47±3.84 kg/cm2 (no-tillage to 3.31±0.43 kg/cm2 (minimum tillage and 3.19±0.45 kg/cm2 (total tillage. Otherwise significant increasing on aeration porosity from 12.80±0.80% vol. (no-tillage to 21.70±0.95% vol. (minimum tillage and 20.70±0.35% vol. (total tillage. Total tillage gives increased dry matter yield. Also both total tillage and minimum tillage give yields with a higher percentage of legumes compared with no-tillage. It was concluded that total tillage and minimum tillage could be used for improving native grassland.

Influence of fertilizer placement on gaseous loss (CO2, CH4, N2O, and NH4) under different tillage management practices in a corn cropping system

Science.gov (United States)

Tillage and fertilizer application methods could alter plant yield and quality of corn production. Thus, a field experiment was conducted at the Sand Mountain Research Station located in the Appalachian Plateau region of Northeast Alabama on a Hartsells fine sandy loam to evaluate tillage (conventi...

Water erosion and soil water infiltration in different stages of corn development and tillage systems

OpenAIRE

Daniel F. de Carvalho; Eliete N. Eduardo; Wilk S. de Almeida; Lucas A. F. Santos; Teodorico Alves Sobrinho

2015-01-01

ABSTRACTThis study evaluated soil and water losses, soil water infiltration and infiltration rate models in soil tillage systems and corn (Zea mays, L.) development stages under simulated rainfall. The treatments were: cultivation along contour lines, cultivation down the slope and exposed soil. Soil losses and infiltration in each treatment were quantified for rains applied using a portable simulator, at 0, 30, 60 and 75 days after planting. Infiltration rates were estimated using the models...

Effects of fluoride and 6 benzylaminopurine on growth and respiration of corn and cotton roots

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Thompson, C R

1967-01-01

Corn and cotton plants exhibit a wide difference in their susceptibility to atmospheric fluoride. Corn shows leaf lesions when 100 ..gamma../gm on a dry weight basis are accumulated but cotton can tolerate 5000 ..gamma../gm without showing leaf necrosis. A comparison of respirational response of potted seedlings of the two species to 10 ..gamma../M/sup 3/ HF caused an increase of about 10%. Addition of 2 x 10/sup 2/M F/sup -/ to solutions for germinating the plants showed that cotton accumulated about twice as much as F/sup -/ in seedling roots. Growth was reduced about one half by 2 x 10/sup -3/M F/sup -/ in both species but respirational rates of root tips from control and fluoride treated tissues were equal. Prolonged treatment of excised root tips with fluoride reduced respiration. Because fluoride causes cellular changes in roots similar to aging and kinetin seems to act to reverse these changes, corn was germinated with 2 x 10/sup -3/M F/sup -/ and increasing levels of 6-benzylaminopurine. Root growth inhibition (63%) was reversed significantly at 0.2 - 0.8..gamma.. ml. Respirational rates of root tips grown in fluoride, fluoride plus 6-benzylaminopurine and controls were equal.

Impact of glyphosate resistant corn, glyphosate applications, and tillage on soil nutrient ratios, exoenzyme activities, and nutrient acquisition ratios

Science.gov (United States)

We report results of the last two years of a 7-year (2008-2014) field experiment designed to test the null hypothesis that applications of glyphosate on glyphosate resistant corn (Zea mays L.) as a routine weed control practice under both conventional and reduced tillage practices would have no effe...

Economic feasibility of no-tillage and manure for soil carbon sequestration in corn production in northeastern Kansas.

Science.gov (United States)

Pendell, Dustin L; Williams, Jeffery R; Rice, Charles W; Nelson, Richard G; Boyles, Scott B

2006-01-01

This study examined the economic potential of no-tillage versus conventional tillage to sequester soil carbon by using two rates of commercial N fertilizer or beef cattle manure for continuous corn (Zea mays L.) production. Yields, input rates, field operations, and prices from an experiment were used to simulate a distribution of net returns for eight production systems. Carbon release values from direct, embodied, and feedstock energies were estimated for each system, and were used with soil carbon sequestration rates from soil tests to determine the amount of net carbon sequestered by each system. The values of carbon credits that provide an incentive for managers to adopt production systems that sequester carbon at greater rates were derived. No-till systems had greater annual soil carbon gains, net carbon gains, and net returns than conventional tillage systems. Systems that used beef cattle manure had greater soil carbon gains and net carbon gains, but lower net returns, than systems that used commercial N fertilizer. Carbon credits would be needed to encourage the use of manure-fertilized cropping systems.

Microbial community responses to soil tillage and crop rotation in a corn/soybean agroecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Chris R; Blair, Peter L; Boyd, Charlie; Cody, Brianne; Hazel, Alexander; Hedrick, Ashley; Kathuria, Hitesh; Khurana, Parul; Kramer, Brent; Muterspaw, Kristin; Peck, Charles; Sells, Emily; Skinner, Jessica; Tegeler, Cara; Wolfe, Zoe

2016-11-01

The acreage planted in corn and soybean crops is vast, and these crops contribute substantially to the world economy. The agricultural practices employed for farming these crops have major effects on ecosystem health at a worldwide scale. The microbial communities living in agricultural soils significantly contribute to nutrient uptake and cycling and can have both positive and negative impacts on the crops growing with them. In this study, we examined the impact of the crop planted and soil tillage on nutrient levels, microbial communities, and the biochemical pathways present in the soil. We found that farming practice, that is conventional tillage versus no-till, had a much greater impact on nearly everything measured compared to the crop planted. No-till fields tended to have higher nutrient levels and distinct microbial communities. Moreover, no-till fields had more DNA sequences associated with key nitrogen cycle processes, suggesting that the microbial communities were more active in cycling nitrogen. Our results indicate that tilling of agricultural soil may magnify the degree of nutrient waste and runoff by altering nutrient cycles through changes to microbial communities. Currently, a minority of acreage is maintained without tillage despite clear benefits to soil nutrient levels, and a decrease in nutrient runoff-both of which have ecosystem-level effects and both direct and indirect effects on humans and other organisms.

Agronomic performance of common bean in straw mulch systems and topdressing nitrogen rates in no-tillage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Pagan Loeiro da Cunha

2015-10-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTIn no-tillage systems, straw coverage on soil surface is the key to success, and the choice of crops for rotation is crucial to achieve the sustainability and quality that conservation agriculture requires. The objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic performance of the common bean cultivar IAC Formoso sown in succession to three straw mulch systems (corn alone, corn/Urochloa ruziziensisintercrop and U. ruziziensisalone and topdress nitrogen rates (0; 40; 80; 120 and 160 kg ha-1N, at the four-leaf stage, three years after the implementation of no-tillage. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block split plot design, with three replications. Common bean highest yields were achieved in succession to U. ruziziensisalone and intercropped with corn. The corn/U. ruziziensisintercrop provided both straw and seed production, allowing for quality no-tillage. Topdressed nitrogen influenced the common bean yield when in succession to corn alone, U. ruziziensisalone and corn/U. ruziziensisintercrop in no-tillage.

Long-Term Effects of Rotational Tillage On Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure, Soil Quality and Crop Yield

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Heck, Richard; Deen, Bill

year old long-term rotation and tillage treatment experiment on a Canadian silt loam soil. Measurements were carried out in the topsoil for three different rotations: R1 (C-C-C-C) continuous corn (Zea mays L.), R6. (C-C-O(RC), B(RC)) corn, corn, oats (Avena fatua L.) and spring barley (Hordeum vulgare...... L.) and R8, (C-C-S-S) corn, corn, soybean (Glycine max L.), soybean. A red clover (Trifolium pretense L.) cover crop was under seeded in oats and spring barley in R6. In 2010, first year corn was grown in R6 and R8. The tillage treatments included no tillage, NT and mouldboard plowing, MP. Topsoil...

Assessing the Soil Physiological Potential Using Pedo-Biological Diagnosis Under Minimum-Tillage System and Mineral Fertilization

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Lazar Bireescu

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The main objective of sustainable agriculture is the protection of environment and natural vegetal and soil resources. Accordingly, the objective of this research was to assess the impact of technological systems by minimum tillage on soil biological activity, using the Pedo-Biological Diagnosis of Soil Resources. Our research was conducted on haplic chernozem from Experimental Station of UASVM of Iasi, Romania, during the seasonal dynamic, to the soybean crop, on unfertilized and fertilized agrofond, using moderate mineral doses (N80P80 as average of 2009–2010 period, under minimum tillage (2x disk, paraplow, chisel compared to conventional (plugging at 20 cm and 30 cm. In the case of soil works with chisel and paraplow without return of furrow, the Pedo-Biological Diagnosis highlights an increase of soil physiological potential, in the both variants (unfertilized and fertilized, unlike the method of alternating the depth of plugging that proved to be ineffective.

Impact of no-till and conventional tillage practices on soil chemical properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aziz, A.; Bangash, N.

2015-01-01

There is a global concern about progressive increase in the emission of greenhouse gases especially atmosphere CO/sub 2/. An increasing awareness about environmental pollution by CO/sub 2/ emission has led to recognition of the need to enhance soil C sequestration through sustainable agricultural management practices. Conservation management systems such as no-till (NT) with appropriate crop rotation have been reported to increase soil organic C content by creating less disturbed environment. The present study was conducted on Vanmeter farm of The Ohio State University South Centers at Piketon Ohio, USA to estimate the effect of different tillage practices with different cropping system on soil chemical properties. Tillage treatments were comprised of conventional tillage (CT) and No-till (NT).These treatments were applied under continuous corn (CC), corn-soybean (CS) and corn soybean-wheat-cowpea (CSW) cropping system following randomized complete block design. No-till treatment showed significant increase in total C (30%), active C (10%), and passive salt extractable (18%) and microwave extractable C (8%) and total nitrogen (15%) compared to conventional tillage practices. Total nitrogen increased significantly 23 % in NT over time. Maximum effect of no-till was observed under corn-soybean-wheat-cowpea crop rotation. These findings illustrated that no-till practice could be useful for improving soil chemical properties. (author)

Relay cropping of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) improves the profitability of cotton-wheat cropping system in Punjab, Pakistan.

Science.gov (United States)

Sajjad, Aamer; Anjum, Shakeel Ahmad; Ahmad, Riaz; Waraich, Ejaz Ahmad

2018-01-01

Delayed sowing of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in cotton-based system reduces the productivity and profitability of the cotton-wheat cropping system. In this scenario, relay cropping of wheat in standing cotton might be a viable option to ensure the timely wheat sowing with simultaneous improvement in wheat yields and system profitability. This 2-year study (2012-2013 and 2013-2014) aimed to evaluate the influence of sowing dates and relay cropping combined with different management techniques of cotton sticks on the wheat yield, soil physical properties, and the profitability of the cotton-wheat system. The experiment consisted of five treatments viz. (S1) sowing of wheat at the 7th of November by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + one rotavator + two plankings) after the removal of cotton sticks, (S2) sowing of wheat at the 7th of November by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + two plankings) after the incorporation of cotton sticks in the field with a rotavator, (S3) sowing of wheat at the 7th of November as relay crop in standing cotton with broadcast method, (S4) sowing of wheat at the 15th of December by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + one rotavator + two plankings) after the removal of cotton sticks, and (S5) sowing of wheat at the 15th of December by conventional tillage (two disc harrows + two plankings) after the incorporation of cotton sticks in the field with a rotavator. The highest seed cotton yield was observed in the S5 treatment which was statistically similar with the S3 and S4 treatments; seed cotton yield in the S1 and S2 treatments has been the lowest in both years of experimentation. However, the S2 treatment produced substantially higher root length, biological yield, and grain yield of wheat than the other treatments. The lower soil bulk density at 0-10-cm depth was recorded in the S2 treatment which was statistically similar with the S5 treatment during both years of experimentation. The volumetric water contents, net

Nitrogen fertilization (15NH4NO3 of palisadegrass and residual effect on subsequent no-tillage corn

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Emerson Borghi

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Nitrogen is required in large amounts by plants and their dinamics in corn and perennial forages intercropped is little known. This study analyzed the efficiency of nitrogen fertilization (15NH4NO3 applied after corn grain harvest to palisadegrass (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu in intercrops sown at two times, as well as the N residual effect on the subsequent corn crop. The field experiment was performed in Botucatu, São Paulo State, in southeastern Brazil, on a structured Alfisol under no-tillage. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design in a split plot scheme with four replications. The main plots consisted of two intercropping systems (corn and palisadegrass sown together and palisadegrass sown later, at corn top-dressing fertilization. The subplots consisted of four N rates (0, 30, 60, and 120 kg ha-1 N. The subplots contained microplots, in which enriched ammonium nitrate (15NH4NO3 was applied at the same rates. The time of intercrop sowing affected forage dry matter production, the amount of fertilizer-derived N in and the N use efficiency by the forage plants. Nitrogen applied in autumn to palisadegrass intercropped with corn, planted either at corn sowing or at N top-dressing fertilization, increased the forage yield up to a rate of 60 kg ha-1. The amount of fertilizer-derived N by the forage plants and the fertilizer use efficiency by palisadegrass were highest 160 days after fertilization for both intercrop sowing times, regardless of N rates. Residual N did not affect the N nutrition of corn plants grown in succession to palisadegrass, but increased grain yield at rates of 60 and 120 kg ha-1 N, when corn was grown on palisadegrass straw from the intercrop installed at corn fertilization (top-dressing. Our results indicated that the earlier intercropping allowed higher forage dry matter production. On the other hand, the later intercrop allowed a higher corn grain yield in succession to N-fertilized palisadegrass.

Trends in pesticide use on soybean, corn and cotton since the introduction of major genetically modified crops in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Coupe, Richard H.; Capel, Paul D.

2016-01-01

BACKGROUNDGenetically modified (GM) varieties of soybean, corn and cotton have largely replaced conventional varieties in the United States. The most widely used applications of GM technology have been the development of crops that are resistant to a specific broad-spectrum herbicide (primarily glyphosate) or that produce insecticidal compounds within the plant itself. With the widespread adoption of GM crops, a decline in the use of conventional pesticides was expected.RESULTSThere has been a reduction in the annual herbicide application rate to corn since the advent of GM crops, but the herbicide application rate is mostly unchanged for cotton. Herbicide use on soybean has increased. There has been a substantial reduction in the amount of insecticides used on both corn and cotton since the introduction of GM crops.CONCLUSIONSThe observed changes in pesticide use are likely to be the result of many factors, including the introduction of GM crops, regulatory restrictions on some conventional pesticides, introduction of new pesticide technologies and changes in farming practices. In order to help protect human and environmental health and to help agriculture plan for the future, more detailed and complete documentation on pesticide use is needed on a frequent and ongoing basis.

Effects of different mechanized soil fertilization methods on corn nutrient accumulation and yield

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Qingwen; Bai, Chunming; Wang, Huixin; Wu, Di; Song, Qiaobo; Dong, Zengqi; Gao, Depeng; Dong, Qiping; Cheng, Xin; Zhang, Yahao; Mu, Jiahui; Chen, Qinghong; Liao, Wenqing; Qu, Tianru; Zhang, Chunling; Zhang, Xinyu; Liu, Yifei; Han, Xiaori

2017-05-01

Aim: Experiments for mechanized corn soil fertilization were conducted in Faku demonstration zone. On this basis, we studied effects on corn nutrient accumulation and yield traits at brown soil regions due to different mechanized soil fertilization measures. We also evaluated and optimized the regulation effects of mechanized soil fertilization for the purpose of crop yield increase and production efficiency improvement. Method: Based on the survey of soil background value in the demonstration zone, we collected plant samples during different corn growth periods to determine and make statistical analysis. Conclusions: Decomposed cow dung, when under mechanical broadcasting, was able to remarkably increase nitrogen and potassium accumulation content of corns at their ripe stage. Crushed stalk returning combined with deep tillage would remarkably increase phosphorus accumulation content of corn plants. When compared with top application, crushed stalk returning combined with deep tillage would remarkably increase corn thousand kernel weight (TKW). Mechanized broadcasting of granular organic fertilizer and crushed stalk returning combined with deep tillage, when compared with surface application, were able to boost corn yield in the in the demonstration zone.

Soil tillage practices and crops rotations effects on yields and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Methodology and Results: Three soil tillage practices in main plot (T1 = no tillage with direct sowing, T2 = minimum tillage by soil scarifying with IR12 tool and T3 = conventional tillage with animals drawn plough) were compared and combined to four crops rotation systems, in a split-plot experimental design. Soil chemical ...

Socio-ecological Niches for Minimum Tillage and Crop-residue Retention in Continuous Maize Cropping Systems in Smallholder Farms of Central Kenya

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Guto, S.N.; Pypers, P.; Vanlauwe, B.; Ridder, de N.; Giller, K.E.

2012-01-01

Soil fertility gradients develop on smallholder farms due to preferential allocation of inputs. A multi-location on-farm trial was conducted in Meru South, Central Kenya whose overall aim was to test minimum tillage and crop-residue retention practices in socio-ecological niches across heterogeneous

Intensidade da ramulose sob semeadura convencional e direta do algodoeiro Ramulosis intensity under conventional and no-tillage cotton crop systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniela Kubiak de Salvatierra

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Foram realizados em Piracicaba (SP, em 2004/05 e 2005/06, experimentos com o algodoeiro (Gossypium hirsutum L. var. latifolium Hutch, sob preparo do solo e semeadura convencional; e ausência de preparo do solo com semeadura sobre palhada de milheto, com o objetivo de avaliar as modificações microclimáticas (temperatura e duração do período de molhamento-DPM, decorrentes da utilização da palhada de milheto, no desenvolvimento da ramulose (Colletotrichum gossypii South. var. cephalosporioides Costa do algodoeiro. Foi utilizado também um índice de favorabilidade temperatura-molhamento (IF-tm para a ramulose do algodoeiro, para avaliar o desenvolvimento da doença nos dois sistemas de semeadura. Os dados climáticos foram medidos por uma plataforma de aquisição de dados sob o dossel das plantas e na região central da área experimental. A ramulose foi avaliada por escala de notas (1 a 5 e as médias das notas analisadas estatisticamente. Alterações no progresso da doença foram observadas, com ocorrência mais severa no sistema convencional de semeadura, porém não podendo ser atribuídas às variações na temperatura e DPM, consideradas isoladamente, mas decorrente de interações entre estas e a precipitação pluvial. O IF-tm teve boa relação com o aumento da severidade da doença, e a diferença, observada em maior proporção no sistema convencional de semeadura, ocorreu em períodos cujos valores de IF-tm foram altos, associados a períodos com chuvas e fase de maior suscetibilidade das plantas ao patógeno. Com IF-tm menores que 0,500 não se observa aumento efetivo da severidade da ramulose em quaisquer sistema de semeadura.During the years of 2004/05 and 2005/06, in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo, experiments were carried out with cotton crop under conventional tillage seeding and no-tillage. The seeding was performed over the mulching of millet, with the objective to evaluate if such mulching could interfere on

Comparison of corn and switchgrass on marginal soils for bioenergy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varvel, G.E.; Vogel, K.P.; Mitchell, R.B. [USDA-ARS, 344 Keim Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, P.O. Box 830937, Lincoln, NE 68583-0937 (United States); Follett, R.F. [USDA-ARS, Room S-100, 2150 Centre Avenue Building D, Ft. Collins, CO 80526-8119 (United States); Kimble, J.M. [USDA-NRCS, National Soil Survey Center, 100 Centennial Mall North, Lincoln, NE 68508-3866 (United States)

2008-01-15

Crop residues such as corn (Zea mays L.) stover are viewed as an abundant and inexpensive source of biomass that can be removed from fields to produce bioenergy. Assumptions include that with minimum or no-tillage farming methods, there will be no deleterious production or environmental effects. A long-term field study was established in eastern Nebraska, USA, to compare the switchgrass managed as a biomass energy crop versus no-till corn on a non-irrigated site, marginal for row-crop production, in the western Corn Belt. Our objective in this paper is to report on corn stover removal effects on corn grain yields and potential ethanol production in both cropping systems. Corn, under no-till management, and switchgrass were grown at three N fertilizer levels. In the first 5 years (2001-2005), removal of half the available stover significantly reduced corn yields. During that same time period, the potential ethanol yield for switchgrass was equal to or greater than the potential total ethanol yield of corn grain and harvested stover fertilized at the same optimum N rate. The effect of crop residue removal on crop productivity needs to be investigated in other agro-ecosystems and the potential use of dedicated perennial biomass energy crops should remain a viable renewable energy option on non-irrigated marginal croplands. (author)

40 CFR 174.501 - Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3Aa protein in corn and cotton; exemption from the requirement of a...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3Aa protein in corn and cotton; exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. 174.501 Section 174.501 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PLANT-INCORPORATED PROTECTANTS...

Conservation tillage impacts on soil, crop and the environment

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Mutiu Abolanle Busari

2015-06-01

Full Text Available There is an urgent need to match food production with increasing world population through identification of sustainable land management strategies. However, the struggle to achieve food security should be carried out keeping in mind the soil where the crops are grown and the environment in which the living things survive. Conservation agriculture (CA, practising agriculture in such a way so as to cause minimum damage to the environment, is being advocated at a large scale world-wide. Conservation tillage, the most important aspect of CA, is thought to take care of the soil health, plant growth and the environment. This paper aims to review the work done on conservation tillage in different agro-ecological regions so as to understand its impact from the perspectives of the soil, the crop and the environment. Research reports have identified several benefits of conservation tillage over conventional tillage (CT with respect to soil physical, chemical and biological properties as well as crop yields. Not less than 25% of the greenhouse gas effluxes to the atmosphere are attributed to agriculture. Processes of climate change mitigation and adaptation found zero tillage (ZT to be the most environmental friendly among different tillage techniques. Therefore, conservation tillage involving ZT and minimum tillage which has potential to break the surface compact zone in soil with reduced soil disturbance offers to lead to a better soil environment and crop yield with minimal impact on the environment. Keywords: Atmosphere, Greenhouse gases, Conservation tillage, Sustainable crop yield

Soil tillage conservation and its effect on erosion control, water management and carbon sequestration

Science.gov (United States)

Rusu, Dr.; Gus, Dr.; Bogdan, Dr.; Moraru, Dr.; Pop, Dr.; Clapa, Dr.; Pop, Drd.

2009-04-01

The energetic function of the soil expressed through the potential energy accumulated through humus, the biogeochemical function (the circuit of the nutrient elements) are significantly influenced by its hydrophysical function and especially by the state of the bedding- consolidation, soil capacity of retaining an optimal quantity of water, and then its gradual disponibility for plant consumption. The understanding of soil functions and management including nutrient production, stocking, filtering and transforming minerals, water , organic matter , gas circuit and furnishing breeding material, all make the basis of human activity, Earth's past, present and especially future. The minimum tillage soil systems - paraplow, chisel or rotary grape - are polyvalent alternatives for basic preparation, germination bed preparation and sowing, for fields and crops with moderate loose requirements being optimized technologies for: soil natural fertility activation and rationalization, reduction of erosion, increasing the accumulation capacity for water and realization of sowing in the optimal period. By continuously applying for 10 years the minimum tillage system in a crop rotation: corn - soy-bean - wheat - potato / rape, an improvement in physical, hydro-physical and biological properties of soil was observed, together with the rebuilt of structure and increase of water permeability of soil. The minimum tillage systems ensure an adequate aerial-hydrical regime for the biological activity intensity and for the nutrients solubility equilibrium. The vegetal material remaining at the soil surface or superficially incorporated has its contribution to intensifying the biological activity, being an important resource of organic matter. The minimum tillage systems rebuild the soil structure, improving the global drainage of soil which allows a rapid infiltration of water in soil. The result is a more productive soil, better protected against wind and water erosion and needing less

Development of a framework and tool to asses on-farm energy uses of cotton production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Guangnan; Baillie, Craig

2009-01-01

Within highly mechanised agricultural productions systems such as the Australian cotton industry, operational energy inputs represent a major cost to the growers. In this paper, a framework to assess the operational energy inputs of various production systems and the relative performance of a grower within an adopted system is developed. It divides energy usage of cotton production into six broadly distinct processes, including fallow, planting, in-crop, irrigation, harvesting and post harvest. This enables both the total energy inputs and the energy usage of each production processes to be assessed. This framework is later implemented and incorporated into an online energy assessment tool (EnergyCalc). Using the developed software, seven farm audits are conducted. It is found that overall, depending on the management and operation methods adopted, the total energy inputs for these farms range from 3.7 to 15.2 GJ/ha of primary energy, which corresponds to $80-310/ha and 275-1404 kg CO 2 equivalent/ha greenhouse gas emissions. Among all the farming practices, irrigation water energy use is found to be the highest and is typically 40-60% of total energy costs. Energy use of the harvesting operation is also significant, accounting for approximately 20% of overall direct energy use. If a farmer moves from conventional tillage to minimum tillage, there is a potential saving of around 10% of the overall fuel used on the farm. Compared with cotton, energy uses by other crops are generally much smaller, due to less intensive management practices, and reduced irrigation requirements.

40 CFR 174.519 - Bacillus thuringiensis Cry2Ab2 protein in corn and cotton; exemption from the requirement of a...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 23 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Bacillus thuringiensis Cry2Ab2 protein in corn and cotton; exemption from the requirement of a tolerance. 174.519 Section 174.519 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) PESTICIDE PROGRAMS PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PLANT-INCORPORATED PROTECTANTS...

Using cotton plant residue to produce briquettes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coates, W. [University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States). Bioresources Research Facility

2000-07-01

In Arizona, cotton (Gossypium) plant residue left in the field following harvest must be buried to prevent it from serving as an overwintering site for insects such as the pink bollworm. Most tillage operations employed to incorporate the residue into the soil are energy intensive and often degrade soil structure. Trials showed that cotton plant residue could be incorporated with pecan shells to produce commercially acceptable briquettes. Pecan shell briquettes containing cotton residue rather than waste paper were slightly less durable, when made using equivalent weight mixtures and moisture contents. Proximate and ultimate analyses showed the only difference among briquette samples to be a higher ash content in those made using cotton plant residue. Briquettes made with paper demonstrated longer flame out time, and lower ash percentage, compared to those made with cotton plant residue. (author)

Responses by earthworms to reduced tillage in herbicide tolerant maize and Bt maize cropping systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krogh, P. H.; Griffiths, B.; Demsar, D.

2007-01-01

-toxin producing transgenic maize line MON810 was studied for 1 year. At a Danish study site, Foulum (Jutland), one year of Bt corn was followed by 2 years of herbicide tolerant corn. At the French study site the most prominent effects observed were due to the tillage method where RT significantly reduced...

POTASSIUM FERTILIZATION AND SOIL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR COTTON CROPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VITOR MARQUES VIDAL

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cotton has great socio-economic importance due to its use in textile industry, edible oil and biodiesel production and animal feed. Thus, the objective of this work was to identify the best potassium rate and soil management for cotton crops and select among cultivars, the one that better develops in the climatic conditions of the Cerrado biome in the State of Goiás, Brazil. Thus, the effect of five potassium rates (100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 kg ha-1 of K2O and two soil management systems (no-till and conventional tillage on the growth, development and reproduction of four cotton cultivars (BRS-371, BRS-372, BRS-286 and BRS-201 was evaluated. The data on cotton growth and development were subjected to analysis of variance; the data on potassium rates were subjected to regression analysis; and the data on cultivars and soil management to mean test. The correlation between the vegetative and reproductive variables was also assessed. The conventional tillage system provides the best results for the herbaceous cotton, regardless of the others factors evaluated. The cultivar BRS-286 has the best results in the conditions evaluated. The cultivar BRS-371 under no-till system present the highest number of fruiting branches at a potassium rate of 105.5% and highest number of floral buds at a potassium rate of 96.16%. The specific leaf area was positively correlated with the number of bolls per plant at 120 days after emergence of the herbaceous cotton.

Energy and greenhouse gas emissions of Australian cotton : from field to fabric

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khabbaz, B.G.; Chen, G.; Baillie, C. [Southern Queensland Univ., Toowoomba, QLD (Australia). Faculty of Engineering and Surveying, National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture

2010-07-01

This paper reported on a study in which a life cycle assessment (LCA) of cotton production in Australia was conducted to evaluate energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from tillage to export shipping. The study showed that on-farm indirect cotton-farming is the most energy consuming component, consuming nearly 32.36 GJ/ha of energy. On-farm indirect cotton-farming is the most GHG emitting component, emitting about 1.64 tonne of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2})/ha. Energy use and the emissions by off-farm direct cotton-farming were calculated as 5.09 GJ/ha and 0.14 tonne CO{sub 2}/ha respectively. Energy consumed by off-farm indirect farming was found to be 0.036 GJ/ha or 0.002 tonne CO{sub 2}/ha. The total energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions in the Australian cotton farming system were estimated to be 46.43 GJ/ha and 2.42 tonnes CO{sub 2}/ha for on-farm, and 5.13 GJ/ha and 0.145 tonne CO{sub 2}/ha for the off-farm sections. In total, after including emissions caused by nitrogen based fertilizers, 51.57 GJ/ha of energy is used and 2.86 tonnes CO{sub 2}/ha is emitted by a typical Australian cotton farming system from tillage to export shipping.

Effects of Tillage Practices on Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Respiration

Science.gov (United States)

Rusu, Teodor; Ioana Moraru, Paula; Bogdan, Ileana; Ioan Pop, Adrian

2016-04-01

Soil tillage system and its intensity modify by direct and indirect action soil temperature, moisture, bulk density, porosity, penetration resistance and soil structural condition. Minimum tillage and no-tillage application reduce or completely eliminate the soil mobilization, due to this, soil is compacted in the first years of application. The degree of compaction is directly related to soil type and its state of degradation. All this physicochemical changes affect soil biology and soil respiration. Soil respiration leads to CO2 emissions from soil to the atmosphere, in significant amounts for the global carbon cycle. Soil respiration is one measure of biological activity and decomposition. Soil capacity to produce CO2 varies depending on soil, season, intensity and quality of agrotechnical tillage, soil water, cultivated plant and fertilizer. Our research follows the effects of the three tillage systems: conventional system, minimum tillage and no-tillage on soil respiration and finally on soil organic carbon on rotation soybean - wheat - maize, obtained on an Argic Faeoziom from the Somes Plateau, Romania. To quantify the change in soil respiration under different tillage practices, determinations were made for each crop in four vegetative stages (spring, 5-6 leaves, bean forming, harvest). Soil monitoring system of CO2 and O2 included gradient method, made by using a new generation of sensors capable of measuring CO2 concentration in-situ and quasi-instantaneous in gaseous phase. At surface soil respiration is made by using ACE Automated Soil CO2 Exchange System. These areas were was our research presents a medium multi annual temperature of 8.20C medium of multi annual rain drowns: 613 mm. The experimental variants chosen were: i). Conventional system: reversible plough (22-25 cm) + rotary grape (8-10 cm); ii). Minimum tillage system: paraplow (18-22 cm) + rotary grape (8-10 cm); iii). No-tillage. The experimental design was a split-plot design with three

Optimize the cost of cultivation with using low-tillage in the wheat fields of Tehran province

OpenAIRE

KAMALI, Hossein; PARHIZGAR, Mohammad Mahdi

2015-01-01

Abstract. In appropriate patterns of tillage in wheat, three methods commonly cultivated as a maximum for tillage, planting a multifunctional device as minimum tillage and direct seeding cultivation system as no tillage operations together are comparable. Analysis of variance and mean cost of land preparation and time spent on the three methods of tillage operations shows that maximum conventional tillage and planting allocated to the most and direct seeding without tillage operations allocat...

Enzyme Activities as Sensitive Indicators of Changes in Soil Metabolic Functioning in Alternative Management for Continuous Cotton

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton production practices in the Texas High Plains (THP) region have involved monocultures, heavy irrigation, and conventional tillage since 1940, which must have contributed to the soil erosion and degradation observed in soils. Within the past 10 years, alternative cotton cropping management pra...

GRANULOMETRIC AND HUMIC FRACTIONS CARBON STOCKS OF SOIL ORGANIC MATTER UNDER NO-TILLAGE SYSTEM IN UBERABA, BRAZIL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Gervasio Pereira

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The cover plant use preceding grain crops in Cerrado soil can increase the carbon stocks of chemical and physical fractions of soil organic matter (SOM. The present study aimed to quantify the carbon stocks of SOM granulometric and humic fractions in a Cerrado area under no-tillage system with different cover plant, and compare the results with those from conventional tillage and fallow areas, in Uberaba, MG, Brazil. The implemented cover crops were: millet, tropical grass and sunn hemp. Furthermore, an area was used in fallow and another as a control area (conventional tillage. After cover crop removal, the areas were subdivided for the corn and soybean plantation. Soil samples were collected in the 0.0-0.025, 0.025-0.05, 0.05-0.10 and 0.10-0.20 m depths, with posterior quantification of total organic carbon (TOC levels and chemical and granulometric fractionation of SOM. Humic acid carbon (C-HAF, fulvic acids (C-FAF and humin (C-HUM were quantified through these fractionations. The granulometric fractions consisted in particulate organic matter (POM and mineral organic matter (MOM. Using the carbon levels for each fraction, the respective stocks for each depth were calculated, including the 0.0-0.20 m layer. In the 0.0-0.20 m layer, TOC had the highest stocks for the millet area. The highest POM stocks were found for the corn plantation over sunn hemp and the fallow and soybean area over millet and tropical grass (0.0-0.20 m. In relation to the MOM stocks, the highest values were observed in the areas with millet, sunn hemp and tropical (palisade grass, all superior to those found in the conventional tillage and fallow areas, independent of evaluated culture (0.10-0.20 m. The highest C-HUM stocks were observed in the area with tropical grass (0.025-0.05 m and areas with tropical grass and sunn hemp (0.10-0.20 m, when compared to conventional tillage, independent of evaluated culture (corn and soybean. The highest C-FAH stocks in the depth of 0

Using Winter Annual Cover Crops in a Virginia No-till Cotton Production System

OpenAIRE

Daniel, James B. II

1997-01-01

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is a low residue crop, that may not provide sufficient surface residue to reduce erosion and protect the soil. A winter annual cover crop could alleviate erosion between cotton crops. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate selected winter annual cover crops for biomass production, ground cover, and N assimilation. The cover crop treatments were monitored under no-till and conventional tillage systems for the effects on soil moisture, cotton yield and qu...

Energy indices in irrigated wheat production under conservation and conventional tillage and planting methods

OpenAIRE

S. M Hosseini; S Afzalinia; K Mollaei

2016-01-01

Introduction: Conservation tillage system was recommended for soil erosion control in North America for the first time 60 years ago (Wang et al., 2006). Using this tillage system including minimum and zero tillage has been rapidly developed in recent years. Thearea covered by zero tillage in 2006 was 95 million ha all over the world (Dumanski et al., 2006). In addition to saving soil and water resources, conservation tillage system reduces energy consumption and improves energy indices by com...

Implications of Using Corn Stalks as a Biofuel Source: A Joint ARS and DOE Project

Science.gov (United States)

Wilhelm, W. W.; Cushman, J.

2003-12-01

Corn stover is a readily source of biomass for cellulosic ethanol production, and may provide additional income for growers. Published research shows that residue removal changes the rate of soil physical, chemical, and biological processes, and in turn, crop growth. Building a sustainable cellulosic ethanol industry based on corn residue requires residue management practices that do not reduce long-term productivity. To develop such systems, impacts of stover removal on the soil and subsequent crops must be quantified. The ARS/DOE Biofuel Project is the cooperative endeavor among scientists from six western Corn Belt US Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) locations and US Dept. of Energy. The objectives of the project are to determine the influence of stover removal on crop productivity, soil aggregation, quality, carbon content, and seasonal energy balance, and carbon sequestration. When residue is removed soil temperatures fluctuate more and soil water evaporation is greater. Residue removal reduces the amount of soil organic carbon (SOC), but the degree of reduction is highly dependent on degree of tillage, quantity of stover removed, and frequency of stover removal. Of the three cultural factors (stover removal, tillage, and N fertilization) tillage had the greatest effect on amount of corn-derived SOC. No tillage tends to increase the fraction of aggregates in the 2.00 to 0.25 mm size range at all removal rates. Stover harvest reduces corn-derived SOC by 35% compared to retaining stover on the soil averaged over all tillage systems. Corn stover yield has not differed across stover removal treatments in these studies. In the irrigated study, grain yield increased with stover removal. In the rain-fed studies, grain yield has not differed among residue management treatments. Incorporating the biomass ethanol fermentation by-product into a soil with low SOC showed a positive relationship between the amount of lignin added and the subsequent

Variations in thematic mapper spectra of soil related to tillage and crop residue management - Initial evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Seeley, M. W.; Ruschy, D. L.; Linden, D. R.

1983-01-01

A cooperative research project was initiated in 1982 to study differences in thematic mapper spectral characteristics caused by variable tillage and crop residue practices. Initial evaluations of radiometric data suggest that spectral separability of variably tilled soils can be confounded by moisture and weathering effects. Separability of bare tilled soils from those with significant amounts of corn residue is enhanced by wet conditions, but still possible under dry conditions when recent tillage operations have occurred. In addition, thematic mapper data may provide an alternative method to study the radiant energy balance at the soil surface in conjunction with variable tillage systems.

Tillage, fertilization systems and chemical attributes of a Paleudult

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evelyn Penedo Dorneles

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Tillage and fertilization methods may affect soil fertility. With the aim of assessing changes in soil chemical properties over a period of ten years, soil samples of a Paleudult were collected over nine seasons at three layer depths (0-5, 5-10, 10-20 cm and were chemically analyzed. Grain yield and nutrient export in two summer crops, soybean (Glycine max and corn (Zea mays, in a field experiment set in Eldorado do Sul, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, were determined. Three soil tillage systems were evaluated, conventional (CT, reduced (RT and no-tillage (NT, combined with mineral (lime and fertilizers and organic (poultry litter fertilization. The no-tillage system stood out as compared to the others, especially in the surface layer, in terms of values of organic matter, soil pH, available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity and base saturation. Phosphorus content was higher under organic than mineral fertilization due to the criteria used for the establishment of fertilizer doses. Under organic fertilization, soil pH values were similar to those obtained in limed soil samples because of the cumulative effect of the organic fertilizer. Soybean yield was lower under NT in comparison to the RT and CT systems. Consequently, soybean grain exported a lower content of nutrients than maize grain. Maize yield was not affected by either tillage or fertilization systems.

The impact of different soil tillage on weed infestation of spring barley in conditions of dryer climatic areas Czech Republic

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Jan Winkler

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The impact of soil tillage on weeds in spring barley was observed on the field trial. The field trial was established in very warm and dry climatic region (experimental field station in Žabčice, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno, Czech Republic. In the experiment there was used 7-strip crop rotation and three variants of soil tillage: conventional tillage (CT, minimum tillage (MT, when soil is shallow loosened and no tillage (NT what means direct sowing without any soil tillage. The weed infestation was evaluated by counting method before herbicide application. Analysis of va­rian­ce (ANOVA and then LSD methods, DCA (Detrended Correspondence Analysis and CCA (Canonical Correspondence Analysis were used for evaluation of results. The obtained results showed, that different soil tillage did not statistically influenced weed infestation in spring barley. The number of weed species depended on the depth of soil tillage, the variant of minimum tillage had lower number of weed species. These species were more common on the variant of conventional tillage: Chenopodium album, Silene noctiflora, Sinapis arvensis, Veronica polita. The variant of minimum tillage was more suitable for these species: Cirsium arvense, Convolvulus arvensis, Amaranthus sp., Galium aparine. On the variant of direct so­wing there appeared mainly these species: Sonchus oleraceus, Lactuca serriola, Tripleurospermum inodorum.

Rendimento de grãos de soja em função de diferentes sistemas de manejo de solo e de rotação de culturas Soybean yield associated to different soil tillage methods and crop rotations systems

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Henrique Pereira dos Santos

2006-02-01

Full Text Available O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar sistemas de manejo de solo e de rotação de culturas sobre o rendimento de grãos e componentes do rendimento de soja durante seis anos. Foram comparados quatro sistemas de manejo de solo - 1 plantio direto, 2 cultivo mínimo, no inverno e semeadura direta, no verão, 3 preparo convencional de solo com arado de discos, no inverno e semeadura direta, no verão e 4 preparo convencional de solo com arado de aivecas, no inverno e semeadura direta, no verão - e três sistemas de rotação de culturas: sistema I (trigo/soja, sistema II (trigo/soja e ervilhaca/milho ou sorgo e sistema III (trigo/soja, ervilhaca/milho ou sorgo e aveia branca/soja. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições. O rendimento de grãos e o peso de 1.000 grãos de soja cultivada sob plantio direto e sob cultivo mínimo foi superior ao de soja cultivada sob preparo convencional de solo com arado de discos e com arado de aivecas. A maior estatura de plantas de soja ocorreu no plantio direto. O rendimento de grãos de soja cultivada após trigo, no sistema II, foi superior ao de soja cultivada após aveia branca e após trigo, no sistema III, e após trigo, no sistema I. O menor rendimento de grãos, peso de grãos por planta de soja e peso de 1.000 grãos ocorreu quando em monocultura (trigo/soja.The objective of this six-year study was to assess the soil tillage systems and crop rotation systems on soybean grain and yield components were evaluated at Embrapa Trigo in Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil. Four soil tillage systems - 1 no-tillage, 2 minimum tillage in winter and no-tillage in summer, 3 conventional tillage with disk plow in winter and no-tillage in summer, and 4 tillage using a moldboard plow in winter and no-tillage in summer - and three crop rotation systems [system I (wheat/soybean, system II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn or sorghum, and system III (wheat

[Effects of different tillage patterns on soil properties, maize yield and water use efficiency in Weibei Highland, China.

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Liu, Dan; Zhang, Xia; Li, Jun; Wang, Xu-Dong

2018-02-01

An eight-year field experiment of straw returning was conducted on dark loessial soil in Weibei Highland to investigate the effects of tillage patterns on soil aggregate, soil organic carbon (SOC), corn yield and soil water use efficiency (WUE). There were six tillage patterns, including conventional tillage (CT/CT), no-tillage (NT/NT), subsoiling tillage (ST/ST), no-tillage/subsoiling tillage (NT/ST), conventional tillage/no-tillage (CT/NT) and conventional tillage/subsoiling tillage (CT/ST). The results showed that compared with CT/CT, the patterns of NT/NT, ST/ST and the rotational tillage patterns (NT/ST, CT/NT and CT/ST) decreased the mean mass diameter of soil mechanical stable aggregate. The patterns of NT/NT, ST/ST and NT/ST increased the content of soil water-stable aggregate with the particle size >0.25 mm (WR 0.25 ) and their mean mass diameter, especially in the depth of 20-50 cm. These patterns reduced the proportion of aggregate destruction (PAD). Compared with CT/CT, the patterns of NT/ST, CT/NT, NT/NT and ST/ST increased the content of SOC in 0-10 cm soil layer. The content of SOC decreased as the increases of soil depth for all tillage patterns, but the decrease in SOC of three single tillage patterns (ST/ST, NT/NT and CT/CT) was larger than that of three rotational tillage patterns. Compared with CT/CT, the other five tillage patterns increased soil water storage in 0-200 cm soil profile, crop yield and WUE in maize. The yield and WUE in NT/ST pattern were significantly increased by 15.1% and 27.5%, respectively. Both corn yield and WUE were significantly and positively correlated with soil water storage in 0-200 cm soil profile in field during the cropping and fallow periods. Moreover, soil water storage during the cropping period was positively correlated with WR 0.25 , but negatively correlated with PAD in 0-50 cm soil layer. Particularly, maize yield, WUE and soil water storage during the cropping period were closely related to WR 0.25 in 20

Macronutrients leaf contents of corn in intercropping with forages of genus Panicum and Urochloa in simultaneous seeding

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Denise Tsuzukibashi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The planting of crops in degraded pasture areas is a formula used for decades by farmers to recover the productive capacity of pastures and soils. The integrated crop-livestock (ICL consists of different production systems of grains, fibers, wood, meat, milk and agro-deployed in the same area, in intercrop, rotation or succession. Typically this integration mainly involves the planting of grain and pasture in the recovery or deployment. This work aimed to evaluate the macronutrients leaf contents of irrigated corn intercropped with forages of the genus Panicum and Urochloa simultaneously to sown corn. The experiment was conducted at the Farm for Teaching, Research and Extension, Faculty of Engineering - UNESP, Ilha Solteira in an Oxisol in Savannah conditions, in experimental area that had a history of no-tillage to 8 years (previous crop corn. The experimental design used was randomized blocks with four replications and five treatments: Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania sown simultaneously (CTS corn; Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça sown simultaneously (CMS to corn; Urochloa brizantha cv. Xaraes sown simultaneously (CBS corn; Urochloa ruziziensis sown simultaneously (CRS to corn, and corn without intercropping (CWI. The seeds of grasses were sown in spacing of 0.34 m, being sown with a seed drill with disc coulters mounted mechanism for no-tillage system at a depth of 0.03 m. There was no significant difference between the single corn tillage and intercropping with different modalities of forage genus Panicum and Urochloa to the leaf contents of N, P, K, Ca and Mg, demonstrating the non-compete forages with corn in a intercrop on the absorption of these nutrients. In respect to S, CTS presented higher content of S foliar when compared to CWI (Table 1. The absorption of nutrients by corn are not affect by the intercrop with forages of the genus Panicum and Urochloa, in simultaneously sown.

Water deficit stress effects on corn (Zea mays, L.) root: shoot ratio

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A study was conducted at Akron, CO, USA, on a Weld silt loam in 2004 to quantify the effects of water deficit stress on corn (Zea mays, L.) root and shoot biomass. Corn plants were grown under a range of soil bulk density and water conditions caused by previous tillage, crop rotation, and irrigation...

Corn in consortium with forages

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Cássia Maria de Paula Garcia

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The basic premises for sustainable agricultural development with focus on rural producers are reducing the costs of production and aggregation of values through the use crop-livestock system (CLS throughout the year. The CLS is based on the consortium of grain crops, especially corn with tropical forages, mainly of the genus Panicum and Urochloa. The study aimed to evaluate the grain yield of irrigated corn crop intercropped with forage of the genus Panicum and Urochloa. The experiment was conducted at the Fazenda de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão – FEPE  of the Faculdade de Engenharia - UNESP, Ilha Solteira in an Oxisol in savannah conditions and in the autumn winter of 2009. The experimental area was irrigated by a center pivot and had a history of no-tillage system for 8 years. The corn hybrid used was simple DKB 390 YG at distances of 0.90 m. The seeds of grasses were sown in 0.34 m spacing in the amount of 5 kg ha-1, they were mixed with fertilizer minutes before sowing  and placed in a compartment fertilizer seeder and fertilizers were mechanically deposited in the soil at a depth of 0.03 m. The experimental design used was a randomized block with four replications and five treatments: Panicum maximum cv. Tanzania sown during the nitrogen fertilization (CTD of the corn; Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça sown during the nitrogen fertilization (CMD of the corn; Urochloa brizantha cv. Xaraés sown during the occasion of nitrogen fertilization (CBD of the corn; Urochloa ruziziensis cv. Comumsown during the nitrogen fertilization (CRD of the corn and single corn (control. The production components of corn: plant population per hectare (PlPo, number of ears per hectare (NE ha-1, number of rows per ear (NRE, number of kernels per row on the cob (NKR, number of grain in the ear (NGE and mass of 100 grains (M100G were not influenced by consortium with forage. Comparing grain yield (GY single corn and maize intercropped with forage of the genus Panicum

Corn Yield and Soil Nitrous Oxide Emission under Different Fertilizer and Soil Management: A Three-Year Field Experiment in Middle Tennessee.

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Deng, Qi; Hui, Dafeng; Wang, Junming; Iwuozo, Stephen; Yu, Chih-Li; Jima, Tigist; Smart, David; Reddy, Chandra; Dennis, Sam

2015-01-01

A three-year field experiment was conducted to examine the responses of corn yield and soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission to various management practices in middle Tennessee. The management practices include no-tillage + regular applications of urea ammonium nitrate (NT-URAN); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + denitrification inhibitor (NT-inhibitor); no-tillage + regular applications of URAN + biochar (NT-biochar); no-tillage + 20% applications of URAN + chicken litter (NT-litter), no-tillage + split applications of URAN (NT-split); and conventional tillage + regular applications of URAN as a control (CT-URAN). Fertilizer equivalent to 217 kg N ha(-1) was applied to each of the experimental plots. Results showed that no-tillage (NT-URAN) significantly increased corn yield by 28% over the conventional tillage (CT-URAN) due to soil water conservation. The management practices significantly altered soil N2O emission, with the highest in the CT-URAN (0.48 mg N2O m(-2) h(-1)) and the lowest in the NT-inhibitor (0.20 mg N2O m(-2) h(-1)) and NT-biochar (0.16 mg N2O m(-2) h(-1)) treatments. Significant exponential relationships between soil N2O emission and water filled pore space were revealed in all treatments. However, variations in soil N2O emission among the treatments were positively correlated with the moisture sensitivity of soil N2O emission that likely reflects an interactive effect between soil properties and WFPS. Our results indicated that improved fertilizer and soil management have the potential to maintain highly productive corn yield while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Inversion tillage, high residue covers, and different herbicide regimes for palmer amaranth control in liberty link systems

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Glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth is adversely affecting cotton production in the Southeast US. A field experiment was established in fall 2008 at the E.V. Smith Research Center, Field Crops Unit near Shorter, AL, to investigate the role of inversion tillage, high residue cover crops, and differ...

Determination of Attributes in Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. Genotypes in Corn-Soybean Rotation Associated with Acid Amended Soils in the Colombian Eastern Plains

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Luis Fernando Campuzano Duque

2015-07-01

Full Text Available For the last 15 years, Colombia has developed a research process leading to the expansion of its agricultural frontier at the flat well drained savannas of the Eastern Plains, by improving predominantly acid soils with liming to increase base saturation with depth, vertical liming —as its referred locally—, crop rotation with rice, corn, soybeans, and with the potential to include other crops like cotton in the rotation system. To achieve this, a pioneering research in Colombia was conducted to determine the adaptation of cotton in the acid conditions of the high plains improved sheets. An Agronomic evaluation test was developed using five elite genotypes of cotton in a design of a randomized complete block at four locations in soils with base saturation above 80 %. The results identified a genotype (LC-156, which presented an adaptation to the high plains, associated with an average yield of 2.2 t/ha of cottonseed, 1.5 t/ha of cotton fiber type medium-long, a percentage of fiber extraction above 36.0 %. The comparative advantage of this region for sustainable cotton production is given by the yield of cotton fiber —which ishigher than the national average—, to the 33.2 % reduction in production costs, the quality of long/medium-fiber destined for export and the absence of the pest insect of greatest economic impact in Colombia: the weevil (Anthonomus grandis Boheman.

Living Mulch Performance in a Tropical Cotton System and Impact on Yield and Weed Control

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Vinay Bhaskar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. is a major crop in the Vidarbha region of central India. The vertisol soils on which much of the cotton is grown have been severely degraded by the tropical climate, excessive tillage and depletion of organic matter. Living mulches have the ability to mitigate these problems but they can cause crop losses through direct competition with the cotton crop and unreliable weed control. Field experiments were conducted in 2012 and 2013 at four locations in Vidarbha to study the potential for growing living mulches in mono-cropped cotton. Living mulch species evaluated included gliricidia [Gliricidia sepium (Jacq. Kunth ex Walp.], sesbania [Sesbania sesban (L. Merr.], sorghum sudan grass [Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench × Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench ssp. Drummondii (Nees ex Steud. de Wet & Harlan] and sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea L.. Living mulch height was controlled through mowing and herbicides were not used. Living mulches generated 1 to 13 tons ha−1 of dry matter across sites and years. Weed cover was negatively correlated with both living mulch biomass and cover. Where living mulches were vigorous and established quickly, weed cover was as low as 7%, without the use of herbicides, or inter-row tillage. In a dry year, living mulch growth had a negative impact on cotton yield; however, in a year when soil moisture was not limiting, there was a positive relationship between cotton yield and living mulch biomass. Use of living mulches in cotton production in the Vidarbha region of India is feasible and can lead to both effective weed suppression and acceptable cotton yields.

Cover Crop Biomass Harvest Influences Cotton Nitrogen Utilization and Productivity

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F. Ducamp

2012-01-01

Full Text Available There is a potential in the southeastern US to harvest winter cover crops from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. fields for biofuels or animal feed use, but this could impact yields and nitrogen (N fertilizer response. An experiment was established to examine rye (Secale cereale L. residue management (RM and N rates on cotton productivity. Three RM treatments (no winter cover crop (NC, residue removed (REM and residue retained (RET and four N rates for cotton were studied. Cotton population, leaf and plant N concentration, cotton biomass and N uptake at first square, and cotton biomass production between first square and cutout were higher for RET, followed by REM and NC. However, leaf N concentration at early bloom and N concentration in the cotton biomass between first square and cutout were higher for NC, followed by REM and RET. Seed cotton yield response to N interacted with year and RM, but yields were greater with RET followed by REM both years. These results indicate that a rye cover crop can be beneficial for cotton, especially during hot and dry years. Long-term studies would be required to completely understand the effect of rye residue harvest on cotton production under conservation tillage.

Optimal Draft requirement for vibratory tillage equipment using Genetic Algorithm Technique

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Rao, Gowripathi; Chaudhary, Himanshu; Singh, Prem

2018-03-01

Agriculture is an important sector of Indian economy. Primary and secondary tillage operations are required for any land preparation process. Conventionally different tractor-drawn implements such as mouldboard plough, disc plough, subsoiler, cultivator and disc harrow, etc. are used for primary and secondary manipulations of soils. Among them, oscillatory tillage equipment is one such type which uses vibratory motion for tillage purpose. Several investigators have reported that the requirement for draft consumption in primary tillage implements is more as compared to oscillating one because they are always in contact with soil. Therefore in this paper, an attempt is made to find out the optimal parameters from the experimental data available in the literature to obtain minimum draft consumption through genetic algorithm technique.

INFLUENCE OF CROP SEQUENCES ON AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CORN (Zea mays L. UNDER NO-TILLAGE INFLUÊNCIA DE SUCESSÃO DE CULTURAS SOBRE CARACTERÍSTICAS AGRONÔMICAS DO MILHO (Zea mays L. EM PLANTIO DIRETO

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Liovando Marciano da Costa

2007-09-01

Full Text Available

Evoluated agronomic characteristics of corn in six crop sequences (corn-corn, soybean-corn, sunflower-corn, pearl milletcorn, sorghum-corn and pigeon pea-corn under no-tillage for three years, in Rio Verde, Goiás State. Significance was observed by the test F for plant height, 100 grain weight and grain moisture. Pigeon pea, soybean, sunflower and pearl millet, resulted in taller corn plants. No statistical differences were found between crop sequences for corn grain yield and other characteristics.

KEY-WORDS: Crop sequences; corn; agronomic characteristics.

Avaliaram-se características agronômicas na cultura do milho em seis sucessões de culturas (milho-milho, soja-milho,girassol-milho, milheto-milho, sorgo-milho e guandu milho em plantio direto, durante três anos, em Rio Verde, Goiás. Observou-se significância, pelo teste F, para altura de planta, peso de 100 grãos e umidade dos grãos na colheita. Guandu, soja, girassol e milheto proporcionaram maior altura da planta de milho. Não foram observadas diferenças estatísticas entre as sucessões para produtividades de grãos e demais características avaliadas.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Sucessão de culturas; milho; características agronômicas.

EFFECT OF SOIL TILLAGE AND PLANT RESIDUE ON SURFACE ROUGHNESS OF AN OXISOL UNDER SIMULATED RAIN

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Elói Panachuki

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Surface roughness of the soil is formed by mechanical tillage and is also influenced by the kind and amount of plant residue, among other factors. Its persistence over time mainly depends on the fundamental characteristics of rain and soil type. However, few studies have been developed to evaluate these factors in Latossolos (Oxisols. In this study, we evaluated the effect of soil tillage and of amounts of plant residue on surface roughness of an Oxisol under simulated rain. Treatments consisted of the combination of the tillage systems of no-tillage (NT, conventional tillage (CT, and minimum tillage (MT with rates of plant residue of 0, 1, and 2 Mg ha-1 of oats (Avena strigosa Schreb and 0, 3, and 6 Mg ha-1 of maize (Zea mays L.. Seven simulated rains were applied on each experimental plot, with intensity of 60±2 mm h-1 and duration of 1 h at weekly intervals. The values of the random roughness index ranged from 2.94 to 17.71 mm in oats, and from 5.91 to 20.37 mm in maize, showing that CT and MT are effective in increasing soil surface roughness. It was seen that soil tillage operations carried out with the chisel plow and the leveling disk harrow are more effective in increasing soil roughness than those carried out with the heavy disk harrow and leveling disk harrow. The roughness index of the soil surface decreases exponentially with the increase in the rainfall volume applied under conditions of no tillage without soil cover, conventional tillage, and minimum tillage. The oat and maize crop residue present on the soil surface is effective in maintaining the roughness of the soil surface under no-tillage.

Nitrogen Fertilizer Source, Rates, and Timing for a Cover Crop and Subsequent Cotton Crop

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The objectives were to compare N fertilizer sources, rates, and time of application for a rye winter cover crop to determine optimal biomass production for conservation tillage production, compare recommended and no additional N fertilizer rates across different biomass levels for cotton, and determ...

Disponibilidade de água do solo ao milho cultivado sob sistemas de semeadura direta e preparo convencional Water availability to maize plants cultivated under no-tillage and conventional tillage systems

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Mirta Teresinha Petry

2007-06-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi quantificar o armazenamento, a disponibilidade e a extração de água no solo por plantas de milho irrigadas e submetidas a déficit hídrico terminal, cultivadas sob sistema de semeadura direta e preparo convencional. Foram realizados dois experimentos durante os anos agrícolas de 1999/00 e 2000/01, em área experimental do Departamento de Engenharia Rural da Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, fatorial, com quatro repetições. Foram utilizados dois manejos da água de irrigação (fator A: irrigado e déficit hídrico terminal (plantas de milho foram submetidas a déficit hídrico terminal a partir dos 27 dias após a emergência; e dois sistemas de cultivo (fator B: semeadura direta e preparo convencional. Nas parcelas irrigadas, irrigações foram feitas para elevar o conteúdo de água no solo ao limite superior de disponibilidade de água às plantas, sempre que a evapotranspiração máxima acumulada da cultura do milho atingia 25 mm. O conteúdo de água no solo foi medido em três leituras semanais, para determinação da extração de água pelas plantas e disponibilidade de água às plantas de milho. Os resultados indicaram que a disponibilidade de água às plantas de milho foi similar nos sistemas semeadura direta e preparo convencional, em ambos os anos agrícolas avaliados. Plantas de milho cultivadas em preparo convencional extraíram maior quantidade de água, em ambos os anos, em relação à semeadura direta.The aim objective of this study was to quantify the soil water storage, plant-available water and extraction of soil water by corn plants under irrigation and terminal drought. Plants were cultivated under no-tillage and conventional tillage systems. Two experiments were conducted in the 1999/00 and 2000/01 growing season on an experimental field of the Agricultural Engineering Department of the Federal University of Santa

Economic assessment of conventional and conservation tillage practices in different wheat-based cropping systems of Punjab, Pakistan.

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Shahzad, Muhammad; Hussain, Mubshar; Farooq, Muhammad; Farooq, Shahid; Jabran, Khawar; Nawaz, Ahmad

2017-11-01

Wheat productivity and profitability is low under conventional tillage systems as they increase the production cost, soil compaction, and the weed infestation. Conservation tillage could be a pragmatic option to sustain the wheat productivity and enhance the profitability on long term basis. This study was aimed to evaluate the economics of different wheat-based cropping systems viz. fallow-wheat, rice-wheat, cotton-wheat, mung bean-wheat, and sorghum-wheat, with zero tillage, conventional tillage, deep tillage, bed sowing (60/30 cm beds and four rows), and bed sowing (90/45 cm beds and six rows). Results indicated that the bed sown wheat had the maximum production cost than other tillage systems. Although both bed sowing treatments incurred the highest production cost, they generated the highest net benefits and benefit: cost ratio (BCR). Rice-wheat cropping system with bed sown wheat (90/45 cm beds with six rows) had the highest net income (4129.7 US$ ha -1 ), BCR (2.87), and marginal rate of return compared with rest of the cropping systems. In contrast, fallow-wheat cropping system incurred the lowest input cost, but had the least economic return. In crux, rice-wheat cropping system with bed sown wheat (90/45 cm beds with six rows) was the best option for getting the higher economic returns. Moreover, double cropping systems within a year are more profitable than sole planting of wheat under all tillage practices.

Agronomic impacts of production scale harvesting of corn stover for cellulosic ethanol production in Central Iowa

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Schau, Dustin

This thesis investigates the impacts of corn stover harvest in Central Iowa with regards to nutrient removal, grain yield impacts and soil tilth. Focusing on phosphorus and potassium removal due to production of large, square bales of corn stover, 3.7 lb P2O5 and 18.7 lb K 2O per ton of corn stover were removed in 2011. P2O 5 removal remained statistically the same in 2012, but K2O decreased to 15.1 lb per ton of corn stover. Grain cart data showed no statistical difference in grain yield between harvest treatments, but yield monitor data showed a 3 - 17 bu/ac increase in 2012 and hand samples showed a 4 - 21 bu/ac increase in 2013. Corn stover residue levels decreased below 30% coverage when corn stover was harvested the previous fall and conventional tillage methods were used, but incorporating reduced tillage practices following corn stover harvest increased residue levels back up to 30% coverage. Corn emergence rates increased by at least 2,470 more plants per acre within the first three days of spiking, but final populations between harvest and nonharvest corn stover treatments were the same. Inorganic soil nitrogen in the form of ammonium and nitrate were not directly impacted by corn stover harvest, but it is hypothesized that weather patterns had a greater impact on nitrogen availability. Lastly, soil organic matter did not statistically change from 2011 to 2013 due to corn stover removal, even when analyzed within single soil types.

The effect of soil tillage system and weeding time on the growth of weed and yield of soybean (Glycine max (L. Merril

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Husni Thamrin Sebayang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The growth and yield of soybeans can decrease due to competition from weeds. Various efforts have been made to control the growth of weeds such as land preparation and weeding periods. An experiment to study the effect of soil tillage systems and weeding time on the growth of weeds and soybean crop yield (Glycine max (L. Merril has been done in Wringinsongo Village, Tumpang Sub-District, Malang Regency from February to May 2017. The split-plot design with three replicates was used with the soil tillage system as the main plot consisting of three levels, T0: no tillage, T1: minimum tillage, and T2: conventional tillage, and weeding time as the sub plot consisting of 4 levels, P0: no weeding, P1: weeding 1 time, P2: weeding two times and P3: weeding three times. The results showed that the dominant weed species before treatment were Amaranthus spinosus (Spiny amaranth, Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass, Cyperus rotundus (Purple nutsedge, Ageratum conyzoides (Billygoat weed, and Portulaca oleracea (Common purslane. After treatment, the dominant weed species were Cyperus rotundus (Purple nutsedge, Amaranthus spinosus (Spiny amaranth, Ageratum conyzoides (Billygoat weed, Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry, and Eclipta alba (False daisy. There was no significant difference of the dry weight of weeds in conventional tillage followed by weeding 3 times at 15, 30 and 45 days after planting, and minimum tillage and no tillage. For the yield of soybeans, conventional tillage followed by weeding 3 times at 15, 30 and 45 days after planting were not significant with that of minimum tillage. The yield of soybeans was lower than that of with no tillage and no weeding.

The impact of different soil tillage on weed infestation of spring barley in conditions of dryer climatic areas Czech Republic

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Jan Winkler

2008-01-01

The impact of soil tillage on weeds in spring barley was observed on the field trial. The field trial was established in very warm and dry climatic region (experimental field station in Žabčice, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno, Czech Republic). In the experiment there was used 7-strip crop rotation and three variants of soil tillage: conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), when soil is shallow loosened and no tillage (NT) what means direct sowing without any soil t...

Evaluating energy efficiency of site-specific tillage in maize in NE Italy.

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Bertocco, M; Basso, B; Sartori, L; Martin, E C

2008-10-01

This paper examine the efficiency of energy use of three conservation tillage practices (SST - sub-soil tillage; MT - minimum tillage; and NT - no tillage) performed within two management zones, previously identified in a field according to the stability of yield variability. Experiments were carried out in 2003 in NE Italy, on a farm near Rovigo, on a 8-ha field with clay soil, in maize (Zea mays, L.). The purpose of the paper is (i) to investigate the energy variability due to these tillage practices performed spatially within two management zones and (ii) to analyze the long-term energetic efficiency for each tillage practice. The energy balance was highest for SST with respect to MT and NT, due to labor and fuel consumption rates. The energy balance was influenced by the spatial pattern of yield, with appreciable differences between practices in terms of both the conversion index of energy for tillage (9.0, 12.6 and 22.8GJha(-1) for SST, MT and NT, respectively) and the energy use efficiency for tillage (8.0, 11.6, 21.8GJha(-1) for SST, MT and NT, respectively). Based on the simulated data and the calibration results, SALUS model proved to be a good tool for analyzing long-term effects of tillage practices on yield. The NT treatment showed the best efficiency over years, due to the low inputs in comparison with the output level.

Effect of different fertilizer resources on yield and yield components of grain maize (Zea mays L. affected by tillage managements

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Ahmad Ghasemi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction Due to the development of sustainable agriculture and the reduction of utilizing chemical fertilizers, it is essential to use organic fertilizer. Organic matter is vital to soil fertility and its productivity. To maintain the level of fertility and the strength of soil, organic matter levels should be maintained at an appropriate level. Unfortunately, the level of organic matter in soil is generally less than 1%. One solution to increase the soil’s organic matter content is to use organic fertilizers such as animal manure, green manure, and vermicompost (Nuralvandy, 2011. As a correction factor, green manure can increase water supply and nutrient soil conservation (Tajbakhsh et al., 2005. Materials and methods In order to assess the effects of fertilizer sources (green manure, cow manure, and chemical fertilizer on maize yield and yield components (KSC 704 under tillage management, a field experiment was carried out at Zahak Agricultural and Natural Resource Research Station in two years (from 2013 to 2014. Before corn planting, barley was planted as green manure in the fall of each year. The experiment was conducted as a split plot arranged in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The main plots were tillage and no tillage, whereas the sub plots were: 1-barley green manure (without application of fertilizer, 2-barley green manure with applying 100% chemical fertilizer (NPK to the barley during cultivation, tillering and stemming stages, 3- green manure with 2/3 of chemical fertilizer to the barley and 1/3 to the maize, 4- green manure with 1/3 of chemical fertilizer to the barley and 2/3 to the maize, 5- barley green manure with 50% animal and chemical manures, 6- barley green manure with 40 t ha-1 of animal manure, 7-control (non-fertilizer application. Corn was planted on 15 March each year. Phosphorus, potassium fertilizer, and animal manure were added to the soil as the base fertilizers. At full

The Energy Effectiveness Of Crops In Crop Rotation Under Different Soil Tillage Systems

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Strašil Zdeněk

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The paper identifies and compares the energy balance of winter wheat, spring barley and white mustard – all grown in crop rotation under different tillage conditions. The field trial included the conventional tillage (CT method, minimum tillage (MT and a system with no tillage (NT. The energy inputs included both the direct and indirect energy component. Energy outputs are evaluated as gross calorific value (gross heating value of phytomass dry matter of the primary product and the total harvested production. The energy effectiveness (energy output: energy input was selected for evaluation. The greatest energy effectiveness for the primary product was established as 6.35 for barley, 6.04 for wheat and 3.68 for mustard; in the case of total production, it was 9.82 for barley, 10.08 for wheat and 9.72 for mustard. When comparing the different tillage conditions, the greatest energy effectiveness was calculated for the evaluated crops under the MT operation and represented the primary product of wheat at 6.49, barley at 6.69 and mustard at 3.92. The smallest energy effectiveness for the primary product was found in wheat 5.77 and barley 6.10 under the CT option; it was 3.55 for mustard under the option of NT. Throughout the entire cropping pattern, the greatest energy effectiveness was established under the minimum tillage option – 5.70 for the primary product and 10.47 for the total production. On the other hand, the smallest values were calculated under CT – 5.22 for the primary product and 9.71 for total production.

Comparison of effects of machine performance parameters and energy indices of soybean production in conservation and conventional tillage systems

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A Sharifi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction Nowadays, agricultural systems are seeking economic, ecological and bioenvironmental goals for production of agricultural crops with protection and sustainability of the environment. Therefore, there is need to extend sustainable agricultural systems such as conservation agriculture. One of the principles of conservation agriculture is conservation tillage. Conservation tillage is a kind of tillage that retains crop residues on the soil surface or mixes it with soil using related machines. It could also affect on machine performance parameters. Energy consumption for producing one kilogram crop could be studied for conservation tillage. Several researchers have conducted studies on this issue for production of different crops including wheat, sunflower and forage crops. This study conducted to assess machine performance parameters and energy indices of conservation tillage systems for soybean cultivation in Golestan province. Materials and Methods This study was conducted to investigate the effects of conservation tillage systems on machine performance and energy indices in soybean production at the Gorgan research station of Golestan Agricultural and Natural Resource Research Center in 2012. The precipitation was 450 mm. Soil texture was silty clay loam. Treatments were four tillage methods, including no-till using row crop direct planter, no-till using grain direct drill, conventional tillage usin a disk harrow with working depth of 10-15 cm and minimum tillage using chisel packer with a working depth of 20 cm. Machine performance parameters and energy indices studied in a farm covered by wheat residues in a randomized complete block design (RCBD with four treatments and four replications. Machine performance parameters consisted of field efficiency, field capacity, total field capacity and planting uniformity index were measured. Energy indices such as energy ratio, energy productivity, energy intensity and net energy gain were

Manejo do solo e o rendimento de soja, milho, feijão e arroz em plantio direto Yield of soybean, corn, common bean and rice under no-tillage management

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João Kluthcouski

2000-03-01

soil management associated with three levels of phosphorus and potassium fertilization (no fertilizer application, recommended fertilization, reposition of nutrients removed by grains on the yield of corn, soybean, bean and rice crops in area submitted to eight years of no-tillage. The experiments of corn, soybean, upland rice and bean were conducted using a randomized complete block design, in strip plots with four replications on a Oxisol of high fertility. Soil management or fertility did not affect soybean yield while moldboard plowing significantly increased corn, rice and common bean yields. The bean crop also showed positive effects of phosphorus and potsassium applications.

Legumes and forage species sole or intercropped with corn in soybean-corn succession in midwestern Brazil

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Gessí Ceccon

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The feasibility of no-tillage in the Cerrado (Savanna-like vegetation of Brazil depends on the production of sufficient above-ground crop residue, which can be increased by corn-forage intercropping. This study evaluated how above-ground crop residue production and yields of soybean and late-season corn in a soybean-corn rotation were influenced by the following crops in the year before soybean: corn (Zea mays L. intercropped with Brachiaria (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu, B. decumbens cv. Basilisk, B. ruziziensis, cv. comum., Panicummaximum cv. Tanzânia, sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L., pigeon pea [Cajanus cajan (L. Millsp]; sole corn, forage sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench (cv. Santa Elisa], and ruzi grass. In March 2005, corn and forage species were planted in alternate rows spaced 0.90 m apart, and sole forage species were planted in rows spaced 0.45 m apart. In October 2005, the forages were killed with glyphosate and soybean was planted. After the soybean harvest in March 2006, sole late-season corn was planted in the entire experimental area. Corn grain and stover yields were unaffected by intercropping. Above-ground crop residue was greater when corn was intercropped with Tanzania grass (10.7 Mg ha-1, Marandu (10.1 Mg ha-1, and Ruzi Grass (9.8 Mg ha-1 than when corn was not intercropped (4.0 Mg ha-1. The intercropped treatments increased the percentage of soil surface covered with crop residue. Soybean and corn grain yields were higher after sole ruzi grass and intercropped ruzi grass than after other crops. The intercropping corn with Brachiaria spp. and corn with Panicum spp. increases above-ground crop residue production and maintains nutrients in the soil without reducing late-season corn yield and the viability of no-till in the midwestern region of Brazil.

Carbon fractions and soil fertility affected by tillage and sugarcane residue management an Xanthic Udult

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Iara Maria Lopes

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The gradual change in management practices in sugarcane (Saccharum spp. production from burning straw to a green harvesting system, as well as the use of minimum soil tillage during field renovation, may affect soil fertility and soil organic matter (SOM contents. The objectives of this work were to investigate the influence of sugar cane production systems on: (1 soil fertility parameters; (2 on physical carbon fractions; (3 and on humic substance fractions, in a long-term experiment, comparing two soil tillage and two residue management systems an Xanthic Udult, in the coastal tableland region of Espírito Santo State, Brazil. The treatments consisted of plots (conventional tillage (CT or minimum tillage (MT and subplots (residue burned or unburned at harvesting, with five replicates The highest values of Ca2+ + Mg2+ and total organic carbon (TOC were observed in the MT system in all soil layers, while high values of K+ were observed in the 0.1-0.2 m layer. The CT associated with the burned residue management negatively influenced the TOC values, especially in the 0.1-0.2 and 0.2-0.4 m layers. The carbon in the humin fraction and organic matter associated with minerals were significantly different among the tillage systems; the MT showed higher values than the CT. However, there were no significant differences between the sugarcane residue management treatments. Overall, fractioning the SOM allowed for a better understanding of tillage and residue management systems effects on the soil properties.

Water quality of surface runoff and lint yield in cotton under furrow irrigation in Northeast Arkansas

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Use of furrow irrigation in row crop production is a common practice through much of the Midsouth US and yet, nutrients can be transported off-site through surface runoff. A field study with cotton (Gossypium hirsutum, L.) was conducted to understand the impact of furrow tillage practices and nitrog...

Effect of different input management on weed composition, diversity and density of corn field

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Surur Khoramdel

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In order to investigate the effects of input intensity on species diversity, composition and density of weeds in corn (Zea mays L., an experiment was conducted based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the Agricultural Research Station, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran during the year 2009. Treatments included low input, medium input and high input systems. Low input received 30 tonha-1or 30 tonha-1 compost, zero tillage and hand weeding (twice. Medium input was based on 15 tonha-1 manure, 150 kgha-1 urea as chemical fertilizer, twice tillage operations and 2, 4-D (1.5 Lha-1, at five leaves emergence as an herbicide and hand weeding (once. High input received 300 kgha-1 urea, four tillage operations and Paraquat (2 Lha-1, after planting and 2, 4-D (1.5 Lha-1, at five leaves emergence. Manure and compost were applied in the planting time. Weed samplings were done in three stages (early, mid and late growing season. Results indicated that the highest and the lowest weed species diversity and density were observed in low input based on manure and high input systems, respectively. The highest range of weed relative density was obtained for black nightshade (Solanum nigrum with 9.09-75.00%. The highest number of species was observed in low input based on manure. Also, management practices affected weed dry matter and diversity indices. The highest and the lowest amounts of weed dry matter were observed in low input based on manure and high input systems, respectively. In the first, second and the third stages of sampling, the maximum and the minimum amounts of Margalef index were observed in low input based on manure (with 5.3, 5.4 and 3.3, respectively and high input systems (with 0.8, 2.3 and 2.6, respectively. In the first, second and the third stages of sampling, the highest and the lowest values of Shannon index were observed in low input based on manure (with 0.6, 0.7 and 0.5 respectively and high input (with 0

Tillage Effects on Soil Properties & Respiration

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Rusu, Teodor; Bogdan, Ileana; Moraru, Paula; Pop, Adrian; Duda, Bogdan; Cacovean, Horea; Coste, Camelia

2015-04-01

Soil tillage systems can be able to influence soil compaction, water dynamics, soil temperature and soil structural condition. These processes can be expressed as changes of soil microbiological activity, soil respiration and sustainability of agriculture. Objectives of this study were: 1) to assess the effects of tillage systems (Conventional System-CS, Minimum Tillage-MT, No-Tillage-NT) on soil compaction, soil temperature, soil moisture and soil respiration and 2) to establish the relationship that exists in changing soil properties. Three treatments were installed: CS-plough + disc; MT-paraplow + rotary grape; NT-direct sowing. The study was conducted on an Argic-Stagnic Faeoziom. The MT and NT applications reduce or completely eliminate the soil mobilization, due to this, soil is compacted in the first year of application. The degree of compaction is directly related to soil type and its state of degradation. The state of soil compaction diminished over time, tending toward a specific type of soil density. Soil moisture was higher in NT and MT at the time of sowing and in the early stages of vegetation and differences diminished over time. Moisture determinations showed statistically significant differences. The MT and NT applications reduced the thermal amplitude in the first 15 cm of soil depth and increased the soil temperature by 0.5-2.20C. The determinations confirm the effect of soil tillage system on soil respiration; the daily average was lower at NT (315-1914 mmoli m-2s-1) and followed by MT (318-2395 mmoli m-2s-1) and is higher in the CS (321-2480 mmol m-2s-1). Comparing with CS, all the two conservation tillage measures decreased soil respiration, with the best effects of no-tillage. An exceeding amount of CO2 produced in the soil and released into the atmosphere, resulting from aerobic processes of mineralization of organic matter (excessive loosening) is considered to be not only a way of increasing the CO2 in the atmosphere, but also a loss of

Tillage systems and cover crops on soil physical properties after soybean cultivation

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Rafael B. Teixeira

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Soil management alters soil physical attributes and may affect crop yield. In order to evaluate soil physical attributes in layers from 0 to 0.40 m and soybean grain yield, in the 2012/2013 agricultural year, an essay was installed in the experimental area of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS/CPCS. Soil tillage systems were: conventional tillage (CT, minimum tillage (MT and no tillage (DS, the cover crops used were millet, sunn hemp and fallow. The experimental design was randomized blocks with split plots. For the layer of 0.20-0.30 m, millet provided the best results for soil bulk density, macro and microporosity. The resistance to penetration (RP was influenced in the layer of 0-0.10 m, and millet provided lower RP. The DS provided the lowest RP values for the layer of 0.10-0.20 m. The treatments did not influence yield or thousand-seed weight.

Effects of Plant Residues in Two Types of Soil Texture on Soil characteristics and corn (Zea mays L. NS640 Yield in a Reduced -Tillage cropping System

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E Hesami

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction The impact of agronomy on the subsequent product in rotational cropping systems depends on factors such as plant type, duration of crop growth, soil moisture content, tillage type, irrigation method, the amount of nitrogen fertilizer, quantity and quality of returned crop residues to the soil. Prior cultivated crops improve the next crop yield by causing different conditions (nitrogen availability, organic matter and volume of available water in soil. This study was conducted due to importance of corn cultivation in Khuzestan and necessity of increasing the soil organic matter, moisture conservation and in the other hand the lack of sufficient information about the relationship between soil texture, type of preparatory crop in low-tillage condition and some soil characteristics and corn growth habits. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of residue of preparatory crops in low plowing condition in two soil types on corn yield and some soil characteristics. Materials and Methods This experiment was carried out at Shooshtar city located in Khuzestan province. An experiment was performed by combined analysis in randomized complete block design in two fields and in two consecutive years with four replications. Two kinds of soil texture including: clay loam and clay sand. Five preparatory crops including: broad bean, wheat, canola, cabbage and fallow as control assigned as sub plots. SAS Ver. 9.1 statistical software was used for analysis of variance and comparison of means. Graphs were drawn using MS Excel software. All means were compared by Duncan test at 5% probability level. Results and Discussion The soil texture and the type of preparatory crop influenced the characteristics of the soil and corn grain yield. Returning the broad bean residue into two types of soil caused the highest grain yield of corn 10128.6 and 9547.9 kgha-1, respectively. The control treatment in sandy loam texture had the lowest corn seed

Nitrogen Transfer from Cover Crop Residues to Onion Grown under Minimum Tillage in Southern Brazil

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Leoncio de Paula Koucher

2017-08-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Nitrogen derived from cover crop residues may contribute to the nutrition of onion grown under minimum tillage (MT and cultivated in rotation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the N transferred from different cover crop residues to the onion crop cultivated under MT in southern Brazil. In June 2014, oilseed radish, black oat, and oilseed radish + black oat residues labeled with 15N were deposited on the soil surface before transplanting onions. During the growth season and at harvest, young expanded onion leaves, complete plants, and samples from different soil layers were collected and analyzed for recovery of 15N-labeled residue. Oilseed radish decomposed faster than other residues and 4 % of residue N was recovered in leaves and bulbs at harvest, but in general, N in plant organs was derived from sources other than the cover crop residues. In addition, leaf N was in the proper range for all treatments and was adequately mobilized to the bases for bulbing. The N derived from decomposing residues contributed little to onion development and the use of these plants should be chosen based on their advantages for physical and biological soil quality.

Energy indices in irrigated wheat production under conservation and conventional tillage and planting methods

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S. M Hosseini

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Conservation tillage system was recommended for soil erosion control in North America for the first time 60 years ago (Wang et al., 2006. Using this tillage system including minimum and zero tillage has been rapidly developed in recent years. Thearea covered by zero tillage in 2006 was 95 million ha all over the world (Dumanski et al., 2006. In addition to saving soil and water resources, conservation tillage system reduces energy consumption and improves energy indices by combining different tillage and planting operations. Results of research conducted in Fars province shows that conservation tillage saves fuel consumption for 77% compared to the conventional system (Afzalinia et al., 2009. Conservation tillage also reduces energy consumption from 23.6 to 42.8% in comparison to the conventional tillage (Rusu, 2005. Since energy indices would be affected by reduced input energies in conservation tillage, this research was conducted to evaluate the effect of different tillage and planting methods on energy inputs and energy indices in irrigated wheat production in Eghlid region. Materials and Methods: This research was performed to evaluate and compare the energy indices in irrigated wheat production under different tillage and planting methods. The study was conducted in the form of a randomized complete block experimental design with five treatments and three replications in Eghlid region. The treatments were included, conventional tillage and seed broadcasting (A, conventional tillage and planting with Machine Barzegar grain drill (B, reduced tillage and seeding with Roto-seeder (C, direct seeding with Jairan Sanaat grain drill (D, and direct seeding with Sfoggia direct drill (E. Experimental plots with 10 by 50 m dimensions were used in this study. Loss crop residues were taken out of the experimental plots and standing crop residues were retained in the plots. In the conventional tillage method, primary tillage was performed

Soil Tillage Conservation and its Effect on Soil Properties Bioremediation and Sustained Production of Crops

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Rusu, Teodor; Ioana Moraru, Paula; Muresan, Liliana; Andriuca, Valentina; Cojocaru, Olesea

2017-04-01

Soil Tillage Conservation (STC) is considered major components of agricultural technology for soil conservation strategies and part of Sustainable Agriculture (SA). Human action upon soil by tillage determines important morphological, physical-chemical and biological changes, with different intensities and evaluative directions. Nowadays, internationally is unanimous accepted the fact that global climatic changes are the results of human intervention in the bio-geo-chemical water and material cycle, and the sequestration of carbon in soil is considered an important intervention to limit these changes. STC involves reducing the number of tillage's (minimum tillage) to direct sowing (no-tillage) and plant debris remains at the soil surface in the ratio of at least 30%. Plant debris left on the soil surface or superficial incorporated contributes to increased biological activity and is an important source of carbon sequestration. STC restore soil structure and improve overall soil drainage, allowing more rapid infiltration of water into soil. The result is a soil bioremediation, more productive, better protected against wind and water erosion and requires less fuel for preparing the germinative bed. Carbon sequestration in soil is net advantageous, improving the productivity and sustainability. We present the influence of conventional plough tillage system on soil, water and organic matter conservation in comparison with an alternative minimum tillage (paraplow, chisel plow and rotary harrow) and no-tillage system. The application of STC increased the organic matter content 0.8 to 22.1% and water stabile aggregate content from 1.3 to 13.6%, in the 0-30 cm depth, as compared to the conventional system. For the organic matter content and the wet aggregate stability, the statistical analysis of the data showed, increasing positive significance of STC. While the soil fertility and the wet aggregate stability were initially low, the effect of conservation practices on the

Atributos físicos do solo e produtividade de milho em resposta a culturas de pré-safra Soil physical attributes and corn yield as a response to cover crops prior to corn

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Eurico Lucas de Sousa Neto

2008-02-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os atributos físicos de um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico argiloso e a produtividade de milho em sistemas de manejo que incluem plantas de cobertura cultivadas em pré-safra (setembro a novembro. Foram utilizadas, durante quatro anos, as seguintes plantas de cobertura: crotalária (Crotalaria juncea; milheto (Pennisetum americanum sin. tiphoydes; lab-lab (Dolichus lablab em sistema de semeadura direta; e pousio cultivado em sistema de preparo convencional, antecedendo o cultivo de milho. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos ao acaso com parcelas subdivididas e quatro repetições. Amostras de solo indeformadas foram coletadas para determinações físicas e avaliou-se a produtividade de milho em área de 22,5 m². As plantas de cobertura no sistema de semeadura direta promoveram maior estabilidade de agregados e maior densidade do solo na camada superficial, sem alteração do conteúdo de água disponível às plantas. A utilização de lab-lab, em pré-safra, promoveu a menor produtividade de milho. A utilização de plantas de cobertura em pré-safra no sistema de semeadura direta de milho é viável no Estado de São Paulo.The objective of this work was to evaluate soil physical attributes and corn productivity of a Typic Hapludox in system including cover crops before corn. During four years the following cover crop species were used: sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea; millet (Pennisetum americanum sin. tiphoydes; lab-lab (Dolichus lablab in no-tillage system. An additional treatment was used with a tillage system composed of a disk plow and two harrowing. The experiment was set up in randomized block with split-plot design, with four repetitions. Undisturbed soil samples were collected for physical determinations and corn yield was evaluated in 22.5 m² areas. The cover crop treatments in no-tillage promoted bigger aggregate stability and bulk density in the superficial layer, but did not affect the

Evaporação da água na superfície do solo em sistemas de plantio direto e preparo convencional Soil surface water evaporation under no-tillage and conventional tillage systems

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Genei Antonio Dalmago

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Este trabalho teve por objetivos quantificar a evaporação da água na superfície do solo, em plantio direto e em preparo convencional, e avaliar o uso de microlisímetros de pesagem para medir esse processo. As medições foram feitas em campo, nos verões de 2001/2002, 2002/2003 e 2004/2005, em experimentos irrigados e não irrigados. Utilizaram-se delineamentos inteiramente casualizados, com quatro repetições, cujos tratamentos consistiram de sistemas de manejo do solo – plantio direto e preparo convencional –, e a presença ou ausência de cultivo de milho. Mediu-se a evaporação diária durante períodos de secagem do solo, entre precipitações ou irrigações consecutivas. Em experimentos sem irrigação, a evaporação acumulada foi maior sob plantio direto, na maioria dos períodos de medição, independentemente da presença da lavoura de milho. Nos experimentos com irrigação, a evaporação não apresentou diferenças regulares entre sistemas de manejo de solo. Normalmente, no início dos períodos de medição, com dois a cinco dias de secagem do solo, a evaporação foi maior em solo sob preparo convencional, tendo-se tornado maior em plantio direto, no restante do período de secagem. O emprego de microlisímetros de pesagem é eficiente para medir a evaporação na superfície do solo.This work aimed to quantify the evaporation of water on the soil surface under no-tillage and conventional tillage systems, and to evaluate the microlysimeters use to measure this process. Measurements were performed in the field, during the summers of 2001/2002, 2002/2003 and 2004/2005, in experiments with and without irrigation. Completely randomized designs were used, with four repetitions. The treatments consisted of no-tillage and conventional soil tillage systems, in the presence or absence of corn cultivation. Evaporation was measured daily, during drying periods between precipitations and consecutive irrigations. Without

EDAPHIC PROPERTIES PLOTS CULTIVATED WITH MILPA USING MINIMUM TILLAGE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF OAXACA, WHERE THERE WAS MOUNTAIN CLOUD FOREST.

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Irma Reyes-Jaramillo

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Soil fertility in the first 20 cm of six plots and a cloud forest (MCF still preserved in Sta. María Chilchotla, north of Oaxaca, where the predominant MCF and grown landraces were evaluated. The soils are on slopes are shallow, rocky and not suitable for agriculture. Yields are low, the Mazatec perform traditional cultural practices such as minimum tillage as the terrain does not allow entering tractor or oxen, farmers do not burn, and do not use chemicals. Soil sampling randomly obtaining composite samples were made​​ physical, chemical and biological properties were analyzed. The results showed that are medium textured soils, the pH of the MCF is extremely acid (4.5 and in the plots ranged from 5 to 6.9, organic carbon is high from 24 to 100 g kg -1, total nitrogen ranged from 1.4 - 8.3 g kg-1 medium and high values, available phosphorus was low with the exception of the plot three, the CEC ranged from 8.8 to 36 cmoles(+ kg-1. They have high iron content of 20.26 to 94.18 mg kg-1 on BMM standing there also high in copper, zinc and manganese. Analysis of variance (ANOVA showed a significant difference (р 0.5 between the means of soil properties and soil analyzed than sodium. The multiple comparison test of Tukey was applied. Trap pots mycorrhizal fungi were isolated from different species. It is concluded that the soils of most of the plots are fertile, are poor in phosphorus but everything indicates that they make up the AM fungi; no physical degradation was observed, its major limitation is the stoniness and steep slopes. The practice of minimum tillage, barriers of rocks that outcrop at the surface and leaving stumps of tree ferns prevent erosion. It aims to increase maize production experimenting with chemical fertilizers. To preserve the MCF recommends building their biological and ethnobotanical wealth, carbon sequestration mazatec could receive a financial benefit.

RESEARCHES REGARDING TO CONTROL SPECIES CONVOLVULUS ARVENSIS L. ON RELATION WITH SOIL TILLAGE SYSTEMS

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Teodor RUSU

2007-07-01

Full Text Available The research paper presents the results obtained in the pedoclimatic conditions of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, concerning the control of Convolvulus arvensis L species. To determine or accomplish the relation with soil tillage systems and herbicides applied on soy-bean, wheat and maize crop. Minimum tillage systems determine an increasing percentage of Convolvulus arvensis species at weeding, different depending on experimental variant and on crop: 11.2-39.1% at soy-bean, 0.9-4.2% at wheat and 11.9-24.4% at maize crop. The number of Convolvulus arvensis seeds increases with 169% at tillage variant with disk + rotary harrow, 77% of these being located in the first 10 cm soil depth.

Effect of Tillage Practices on Soil Properties and Crop Productivity in Wheat-Mungbean-Rice Cropping System under Subtropical Climatic Conditions

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Islam, Md. Monirul; Hasanuzzaman, Mirza

2014-01-01

This study was conducted to know cropping cycles required to improve OM status in soil and to investigate the effects of medium-term tillage practices on soil properties and crop yields in Grey Terrace soil of Bangladesh under wheat-mungbean-T. aman cropping system. Four different tillage practices, namely, zero tillage (ZT), minimum tillage (MT), conventional tillage (CT), and deep tillage (DT), were studied in a randomized complete block (RCB) design with four replications. Tillage practices showed positive effects on soil properties and crop yields. After four cropping cycles, the highest OM accumulation, the maximum root mass density (0–15 cm soil depth), and the improved physical and chemical properties were recorded in the conservational tillage practices. Bulk and particle densities were decreased due to tillage practices, having the highest reduction of these properties and the highest increase of porosity and field capacity in zero tillage. The highest total N, P, K, and S in their available forms were recorded in zero tillage. All tillage practices showed similar yield after four years of cropping cycles. Therefore, we conclude that zero tillage with 20% residue retention was found to be suitable for soil health and achieving optimum yield under the cropping system in Grey Terrace soil (Aeric Albaquept). PMID:25197702

Integrated Palmer Amaranth Management in Glufosinate-Resistant Cotton: I. Soil-Inversion, High-Residue Cover Crops and Herbicide Regimes

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Michael G. Patterson

2012-11-01

Full Text Available A three year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of soil-inversion, cover crops and herbicide regimes for Palmer amaranth between-row (BR and within-row (WR management in glufosinate-resistant cotton. The main plots were two soil-inversion treatments: fall inversion tillage (IT and non-inversion tillage (NIT. The subplots were three cover crop treatments: crimson clover, cereal rye and winter fallow; and sub subplots were four herbicide regimes: preemergence (PRE alone, postemergence (POST alone, PRE + POST and a no herbicide check (None. The PRE herbicide regime consisted of a single application of pendimethalin at 0.84 kg ae ha−1 plus fomesafen at 0.28 kg ai ha−1. The POST herbicide regime consisted of a single application of glufosinate at 0.60 kg ai ha−1 plus S-metolachlor at 0.54 kg ai ha−1 and the PRE + POST regime combined the prior two components. At 2 weeks after planting (WAP cotton, Palmer amaranth densities, both BR and WR, were reduced ≥90% following all cover crop treatments in the IT. In the NIT, crimson clover reduced Palmer amaranth densities >65% and 50% compared to winter fallow and cereal rye covers, respectively. At 6 WAP, the PRE and PRE + POST herbicide regimes in both IT and NIT reduced BR and WR Palmer amaranth densities >96% over the three years. Additionally, the BR density was reduced ≥59% in no-herbicide (None following either cereal rye or crimson clover when compared to no-herbicide in the winter fallow. In IT, PRE, POST and PRE + POST herbicide regimes controlled Palmer amaranth >95% 6 WAP. In NIT, Palmer amaranth was controlled ≥79% in PRE and ≥95% in PRE + POST herbicide regimes over three years. POST herbicide regime following NIT was not very consistent. Averaged across three years, Palmer amaranth controlled ≥94% in PRE and PRE + POST herbicide regimes regardless of cover crop. Herbicide regime effect on cotton yield was highly significant; the maximum cotton yield was

The dependence of the content of Cs137 forms in sod-podzolic sabulous soil of different degree of humidification on the basic soil tillage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsybulko, N.N.; Ermolenko, A.V.; Lazarevich, S.S.

2011-01-01

The dependence of the content of 137 Cs-forms in sod-podzolic sabulous soils of different degree of humidification on the basic soil tillage is presented. Structure (in %) of plant available 137Cs in automorphic and semi-hydromorphic soils is shown. The influence of soil tillage type on 137Cs content is analyzed per 2007-2008. Content (in %) of plant available 137Cs in automorphic and semi-hydromorphic soils during moldboard plowing, beardless plowing, surface disc plowing and minimum tillage is evaluated. In sod-podzolic sabulous soils with 137 Cs pollution density which equals to 13-15 Cu/km2 the content of the accessible for plants forms (water-soluble, exchangeable, mobile forms) makes in average 9-11%; of those inaccessible (not exchangeable, fixed) 89-91%. It is established, that the degree of the hydromorphic feature in sod-podzolic sabolous soil influence the content of accessible forms of 1376cs in its top layer. The chisel tillage and the minimum tillage make it possible to decrease the accessible 137Cs connections by 2-4%

Tillage and Fertilizer Management Effects on Soil-Atmospheric Exchanges of Methane and Nitrous Oxide in a Corn Production System

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Ermson Z. Nyakatawa

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Land application of poultry litter (PL presents an opportunity to improve soil productivity and disposal of poultry waste. We investigated methane (CH4 and nitrous oxide (N2O emissions from agricultural soil receiving PL and ammonium nitrate (AN fertilizers using surface (SA, soil incorporation (SI, and subsurface band (BA application methods in conventional (CT and no-tillage (NT systems on a Decatur silt loam soil in North Alabama. Plots under CT and NT were sinks of CH4 in spring, summer, and fall. In winter, the plots had net emissions of 3.32 and 4.24 g CH4 ha-1 day-1 in CT and NT systems, respectively. Plots which received AN were net emitters of CH4 and N2O, whereas plots which received PL were net sinks of CH4. Plots which received PL using SA or SI methods were net emitters of N2O, whereas under PL using BA application, the plots were net sinks of N2O. Our study indicates that using subsurface band application of PL was the most promising environmentally sustainable poultry waste application method for reducing CH4 and N2O emissions from agricultural soil in NT and CT corn production systems on the Decatur soil in north Alabama.

High titer L-lactic acid production from corn stover with minimum wastewater generation and techno-economic evaluation based on Aspen plus modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Gang; Sun, Jiaoe; Zhang, Jian; Tu, Yi; Bao, Jie

2015-12-01

Technological potentials of l-lactic acid production from corn stover feedstock were investigated by experimental and techno-economic studies. An optimal performance with 104.5 g/L in l-lactic acid titer and 71.5% in overall yield from cellulose in corn stover to l-lactic acid using an engineered Pediococcus acidilactici strain were obtained by overcoming several technical barriers. A rigorous Aspen plus model for l-lactic acid production starting from dry dilute acid pretreated and biodetoxified corn stover was developed. The techno-economic analysis shows that the minimum l-lactic acid selling price (MLSP) was $0.523 per kg, which was close to that of the commercial l-lactic acid produced from starch feedstock, and 24% less expensive than that of ethanol from corn stover, even though the xylose utilization was not considered. The study provided a prototype of industrial application and an evaluation model for high titer l-lactic acid production from lignocellulose feedstock. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optical crop sensor for variable-rate nitrogen fertilization in corn: II - indices of fertilizer efficiency and corn yield

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Jardes Bragagnolo

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Generally, in tropical and subtropical agroecosystems, the efficiency of nitrogen (N fertilization is low, inducing a temporal variability of crop yield, economic losses, and environmental impacts. Variable-rate N fertilization (VRF, based on optical spectrometry crop sensors, could increase the N use efficiency (NUE. The objective of this study was to evaluate the corn grain yield and N fertilization efficiency under VRF determined by an optical sensor in comparison to the traditional single-application N fertilization (TSF. With this purpose, three experiments with no-tillage corn were carried out in the 2008/09 and 2010/11 growing seasons on a Hapludox in South Brazil, in a completely randomized design, at three different sites that were analyzed separately. The following crop properties were evaluated: aboveground dry matter production and quantity of N uptake at corn flowering, grain yield, and vegetation index determined by an N-Sensor® ALS optical sensor. Across the sites, the corn N fertilizer had a positive effect on corn N uptake, resulting in increased corn dry matter and grain yield. However, N fertilization induced lower increases of corn grain yield at site 2, where there was a severe drought during the growing period. The VRF defined by the optical crop sensor increased the apparent N recovery (NRE and agronomic efficiency of N (NAE compared to the traditional fertilizer strategy. In the average of sites 1 and 3, which were not affected by drought, VRF promoted an increase of 28.0 and 41.3 % in NAE and NRE, respectively. Despite these results, no increases in corn grain yield were observed by the use of VRF compared to TSF.

Incorporating Agricultural Management Practices into the Assessment of Soil Carbon Change and Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn Stover Ethanol Production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qin, Zhangcai [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Canter, Christina E. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Dunn, Jennifer B. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Mueller, Steffen [Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States); Kwon, Ho-young [International Food Policy Research Inst., Washington, DC (United States); Han, Jeongwoo [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wander, Michelle M. [Univ. of Illinois, Champaign, IL (United States); Wang, Michael [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2015-09-01

Land management practices such as cover crop adoption or manure application that can increase soil organic carbon (SOC) may provide a way to counter SOC loss upon removal of stover from corn fields for use as a biofuel feedstock. This report documents the data, methodology, and assumptions behind the incorporation of land management practices into corn-soybean systems that dominate U.S. grain production using varying levels of stover removal in the GREETTM (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) model and its CCLUB (Carbon Calculator for Land Use change from Biofuels production) module. Tillage (i.e., conventional, reduced and no tillage), corn stover removal (i.e., at 0, 30% and 60% removal rate), and organic matter input techniques (i.e., cover crop and manure application) are included in the analysis as major land management practices. Soil carbon changes associated with land management changes were modeled with a surrogate CENTURY model. The resulting SOC changes were incorporated into CCLUB while GREET was expanded to include energy and material consumption associated with cover crop adoption and manure application. Life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of stover ethanol were estimated using a marginal approach (all burdens and benefits assigned to corn stover ethanol) and an energy allocation approach (burdens and benefits divided between grain and stover ethanol). In the latter case, we considered corn grain and corn stover ethanol to be produced at an integrated facility. Life-cycle GHG emissions of corn stover ethanol are dependent upon the analysis approach selected (marginal versus allocation) and the land management techniques applied. The expansion of CCLUB and GREET to accommodate land management techniques can produce a wide range of results because users can select from multiple scenario options such as choosing tillage levels, stover removal rates, and whether crop yields increase annually or remain constant

Nitrogen fertilizer split-application for corn in no-till succession to black oats

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Ceretta Carlos Alberto

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The studies of fertilization splitting are necessary specially for the grass succession black oat-corn where N immobilization is very common. Four experiments were carried out in commercial farms under no-tillage, in four counties - Itaara, Santo Ângelo, Júlio de Castilhos and Tupanciretã, all of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, with the objective of evaluating the splitting of N application in a corn/black oat crop rotation, during the 97/98 and 98/99 cropping seasons. The N was applied at three times -- pre-planted, starter and sidedressed. The pre-planted applied N for corn, corresponding to total or partial rates that would be sidedressed presented similar results in relation to the sidedress application, however, years of above average rainfall presented N deficiency for corn, reducing yield, which indicates that N application as starter or sidedress is recommended.

Influence of Crop Management and Environmental Factors on Wolf Spider Assemblages (Araneae: Lycosidae) in an Australian Cotton Cropping System.

Science.gov (United States)

Rendon, Dalila; Whitehouse, Mary E A; Hulugalle, Nilantha R; Taylor, Phillip W

2015-02-01

Wolf spiders (Lycosidae) are the most abundant ground-hunting spiders in the Australian cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) agroecosystems. These spiders have potential in controlling pest bollworms, Helicoverpa spp. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in minimum-tilled fields. A study was carried out during a wet growing season (2011-2012) in Narrabri, New South Wales, Australia, to determine how different crop rotations and tillage affect wolf spider assemblages in cotton fields. Spider abundance and species richness did not differ significantly between simple plots (no winter crop) and complex plots (cotton-wheat Triticum aestivum L.-vetch Vicia benghalensis L. rotation). However, the wolf spider biodiversity, as expressed by the Shannon-Weaver and Simpson's indices, was significantly higher in complex plots. Higher biodiversity reflected a more even distribution of the most dominant species (Venatrix konei Berland, Hogna crispipes Koch, and Tasmanicosa leuckartii Thorell) and the presence of more rare species in complex plots. T. leuckartii was more abundant in complex plots and appears to be sensitive to farming disturbances, whereas V. konei and H. crispipes were similarly abundant in the two plot types, suggesting higher resilience or recolonizing abilities. The demographic structure of these three species varied through the season, but not between plot types. Environmental variables had a significant effect on spider assemblage, but effects of environment and plot treatment were overshadowed by the seasonal progression of cotton stages. Maintaining a high density and even distribution of wolf spiders that prey on Helicoverpa spp. should be considered as a conservation biological control element when implementing agronomic and pest management strategies. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The development and adoption of conservation tillage systems on the Canadian Prairies

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L. Awada

2014-03-01

Full Text Available One of the major agricultural innovations on the Canadian Prairies over the last 40 years has been the introduction of conservation tillage (CT. Conservation tillage-a system that includes minimum and zero tillage (ZT -was introduced as an alternative to traditional (conventional tillage (TT to control soil degradation and to promote agricultural sustainability. The development and adoption of CT systems involved pioneer farmers, engineers, scientists, and farmer associations. By the end of the 1970s, CT started to take shape on the Prairies, but for a number of economic, technical, political and social reasons, the adoption of CT did not occur on any major scale before the 1990s. Today, more than 75% of the Prairie's cropland is under some form of CT with more than 50% under ZT. In this paper, the factors behind the development and adoption of conservation tillage technology on the Prairies in the period between 1930 and 2011 are reviewed. Then, some of the benefits of the adoption of CT on the Prairies are highlighted. The data show that CT and ZT became profitable for the majority of farmers during and after the 1990s, and that the increased use of CT contributed to the dramatic decrease in the area under summerfallow and to the increase in the area sown to canola and pulse crops. These changes contributed to the reduction of all forms of land degradation and to decreases in agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG emissions.

Grain yield of corn at different population densities and intercropped with forages

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José M. do Nascimento

2015-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The no-tillage system optimizes agricultural areas, maintaining the supply of straw and promoting crop rotation and soil conservation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate sowing quality and grain yield of corn intercropped with three forage species of the Urochloa genus associated with two corn population densities. The experiment was conducted at the São Paulo State University (UNESP, in Jaboticabal-SP, Brazil. The experimental design was randomized blocks in a 2 x 3 factorial scheme with four replicates. The treatments consisted of two corn densities (55,000 and 75,000 plants ha-1 intercropped with three forages (Urochloa brizantha, Urochloa decumbens and Urochloa ruziziensis sown between rows of corn in the V4 stage. The following corn variables were analysed: mean number of days for emergence, longitudinal distribution, grain yield, initial population and final population. There were differences between corn populations (p < 0.1 and the intercropping of corn with the species U. brizantha and U. ruziziensis promoted the best results, which permitted concluding that the cultivation of corn at the population density of 75,000 plants ha-1 intercropped U. brizantha and U. ruziziensis promoted better sowing quality and, consequently, higher grain yields.

Soil tillage

OpenAIRE

Dierauer, Hansueli

2013-01-01

The web platform offers a compilation of various formats and materials dealing with reduced tillage and its challenges regarding weeds. A selection of short movies about mechanical weeding, green manure and tailor-made machinery is listed. Leaflets and publications on reduced tillage can be downloaded. In there, different treatments and machinery are tested and compared to advice farmers on how to conserve soil while keeping weed under control. For Swiss farmers information on the leg...

Modeling the CO2 and N2O Emissions From Stover Removal for Biofuel Production From Continuous Corn Production in Iowa

Science.gov (United States)

Paustian, K.; Killian, K.; Brenner, J.

2003-12-01

Corn stover, an agricultural residue, can be used as feedstock for near term bioethanol production and is available today at levels that can significantly impact energy supply. We evaluated the environmental impact of such a large-scale change in agricultural practices on green house gas production, soil erosion and soil carbon using the Century model. Estimates of soil C changes and GHG emissions were performed for the 99 counties in Iowa where previous environmental, management and erosion data was available. We employed climate, soil and historical management databases from a separate USDA-funded project as input to Century. RUSLE estimates of the residue requirements for acceptable soil loss rates under continuous corn agriculture were available from a previous study done Dr. Richard Nelson (Enersol Resources). Two mulch tillage and a no-till systems, where erosion estimates were available, were used as the basis for the simulations. Century simulations of these systems were run under a variety of stover removal rates. For each soil type within each county the model was run for 15 years (1980-1995) under continuous corn with convention tillage, and full residue return. Model simulation of crop yields and residue production were then calibrated to match those used by the Polysys model team at Oak Ridge and the simulation was repeated with the addition of the three corn tillage regimes, and several residue removal rates. County-average soil C changes (and net CO2 emissions) were calculated as area-weighted averages of the individual soil types in each county. For this study, we have utilized the IPCC approach to estimate annual N2O emissions. At low or zero residue removal rates, county-averaged soil C stocks were predicted to increase (i.e. net CO2 emissions are negative). Where the allowable residue removal rates (based on erosion tolerance) for mulch-tillage are on the order of 40-50% or more, the reduced input of C is such that the soils no longer sequester C

Interactions of tillage and cover crop on water, sediment, and pre-emergence herbicide loss in glyphosate-resistant cotton: implications for the control of glyphosate-resistant weed biotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Krutz, L Jason; Locke, Martin A; Steinriede, R Wade

2009-01-01

The need to control glyphosate [N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine]-resistant weed biotypes with tillage and preemergence herbicides in glyphosate-resistant crops (GRCs) is causing a reduction in no-tillage hectarage thereby threatening the advances made in water quality over the past decade. Consequently, if environmental gains afforded by GRCs are to be maintained, then an in-field best management practice (BMP) compatible with tillage is required for hectarage infested with glyphosate-resistant weed biotypes. Thus, 1 d after a preemergent application of fluometuron [N,N-dimethyl-N'-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)urea] (1.02 kg ha(-1)) and metolachlor [2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl)acetamide] (1.18 kg ha(-1)) to a Dundee silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, active, thermic Typic Endoaqualf), simulated rainfall (60 mm h(-1)) was applied to 0.0002-ha microplots for approximately 1.25 h to elucidate tillage (no tillage [NT] and reduced tillage [RT])and cover crop (no cover [NC] and rye cover [RC]) effects on water, sediment, and herbicide loss in surface runoff. Regardless of tillage, RC delayed time-to-runoff 1.3-fold, reduced cumulative runoff volume 1.4-fold, and decreased cumulative sediment loss 4.7-fold. Cumulative fluometuron loss was not affected by tillage or cover crop. Conversely, total metolachlor loss was 1.3-fold lower in NT than RT and 1.4-fold lower in RC than NC. These data indicate that RC can be established in hectarage requiring tillage and potentially curtail water, sediment, and preemergence herbicide losses in the spring to levels equivalent to or better than that of NT, thereby protecting environmental gains provided by GRCs.

Determination of crop residues and the physical and mechanical properties of soil in different tillage systems

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P Ahmadi Moghaddam

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Monitoring and management of soil quality is crucial for sustaining soil function in ecosystem. Tillage is one of the management operations that drastically affect soil physical quality. Conservation tillage methods are one of the efficient solutions in agriculture to reduce the soil erosion, air pollution, energy consumption, and the costs, if there is a proper management on the crop residues. One of the serious problems in agriculture is soil erosion which is rapidly increased in the recent decades as the intensity of tillage increases. This phenomenon occurs more in sloping lands or in the fields which are lacking from crop residues and organic materials. The conservation tillage has an important role in minimizing soil erosion and developing the quality of soil. Hence, it has attracted the attention of more researchers and farmers in the recent years. Materials and Methods: In this study, the effect of different tillage methods has been investigated on the crop residues, mechanical resistance of soil, and the stability of aggregates. This research was performed on the agricultural fields of Urmia University, located in Nazloo zone in 2012. Wheat and barley were planted in these fields, consecutively. The soil texture of these fields was loamy clay and the factorial experiments were done in a completely randomized block design. In this study, effect of three tillage systems including tillage with moldboard (conventional tillage, tillage with disk plow (reduced tillage, chisel plow (minimum tillage and control treatment on some soil physical properties was investigated. Depth is second factor that was investigated in three levels including 0-60, 60-140, and 140-200 mm. Moreover, the effect of different percentages of crop residues on the rolling resistance of non-driving wheels was studied in a soil bin. The contents of crop residues have been measured by using the linear transects and image processing methods. In the linear

Environmental and economic trade-offs in a watershed when using corn stover for bioenergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gramig, Benjamin M; Reeling, Carson J; Cibin, Raj; Chaubey, Indrajeet

2013-02-19

There is an abundant supply of corn stover in the United States that remains after grain is harvested which could be used to produce cellulosic biofuels mandated by the current Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). This research integrates the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed model and the DayCent biogeochemical model to investigate water quality and soil greenhouse gas flux that results when corn stover is collected at two different rates from corn-soybean and continuous corn crop rotations with and without tillage. Multiobjective watershed-scale optimizations are performed for individual pollutant-cost minimization criteria based on the economic cost of each cropping practice and (individually) the effect on nitrate, total phosphorus, sediment, or global warming potential. We compare these results with a purely economic optimization that maximizes stover production at the lowest cost without taking environmental impacts into account. We illustrate trade-offs between cost and different environmental performance criteria, assuming that nutrients contained in any stover collected must be replaced. The key finding is that stover collection using the practices modeled results in increased contributions to atmospheric greenhouse gases while reducing nitrate and total phosphorus loading to the watershed relative to the status quo without stover collection. Stover collection increases sediment loading to waterways relative to when no stover is removed for each crop rotation-tillage practice combination considered; no-till in combination with stover collection reduced sediment loading below baseline conditions without stover collection. Our results suggest that additional information is needed about (i) the level of nutrient replacement required to maintain grain yields and (ii) cost-effective management practices capable of reducing soil erosion when crop residues are removed in order to avoid contributions to climate change and water quality impairments as a result

Rotação de culturas e propriedades físicas e químicas em Latossolo Vermelho de Cerrado sob preparo convencional e semeadura direta em adoção Crop rotation and physical and chemical properties of a Red Latosol in the Cerrado under conventional tillage and recent no-tillage

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Vicente Pereira de Almeida

2008-06-01

Full Text Available O manejo inadequado do solo tem promovido a degradação de suas propriedades físicas, químicas e biológicas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar, após três anos da instalação de sistemas de manejo do solo, os efeitos da rotação com adubo verde, soja ou milho (verão e feijão "de inverno", sendo utilizadas as seguintes espécies na adubação verde: mucuna-preta, milheto, crotalária e guandu, nas propriedades físicas e químicas de um Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico e na produtividade das culturas. Outro tratamento foi adicionado como alternativa à adubação verde, o pousio. Os sistemas de manejo do solo foram: semeadura direta não consolidada e preparo convencional. O estudo foi realizado em Selvíria-MS, no ano agrícola de 1999/2000. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos casualizados com parcelas subdivididas e quatro repetições. O sistema de semeadura direta, após três anos de instalada a rotação, degradou mais as propriedades físicas do solo na camada superficial. Por outro lado, neste sistema e camada de solo, houve acréscimo no teor de matéria orgânica e no pH, bem como na produtividade do milho, superior à do sistema de preparo convencional. O feijão em rotação à cultura do milho, na semeadura convencional, e em rotação à soja, na semeadura direta, foi a melhor opção quanto à produtividade.Inadequate soil management has led to the degradation of physical, chemical and biological soil properties. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the yields and physical and chemical soil properties of a dystropherric Red Latosol (Oxisol in the third year of a crop rotation that included green manures, with soybean or corn (summer and common bean (winter crops. The following green manure species were used: velvet bean, millet, sunnhemp, pigeon pea, cultivated under conventional tillage and recently adopted no-tillage. The experiment was conducted in Selvíria, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in the 1999

Identifying the Tillage Effects on Phosphorus Export from Phaeozems-Dominated Agricultural Watershed: a Plot-Scale Rainfall-Runoff Study in Northeast China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yuyan; Xu, Y. Jun; Xiao, Weihua; Wang, Jianhua; Hao, Cailian; Zhou, Pu; Shi, Min

2017-12-01

Evaluating tillage effects on soil phosphorus (P) loss at the plot-scale has significant implication for developing best management practices (BMPs) to protect water quality and soil productivity management in agricultural watersheds. This paper aims to quantify P loss from tilled soils under different rainfall patterns in a Phaeozems-dominated agricultural watershed. Eleven rainfall events were monitored at three experimental sites growing corns with conventional till, conservational till, and no-till during a growing season from July to August in 2013. Mean event mean concentration of dissolved phosphorus was 0.130, 0.213 and 0.614 mg L-1 and mean particulate phosphorus transfer rate was 103.502, 33.359 and 27.127 g ha-1 hr-1, respectively for three tillage practices. Results showed that less tillage practices could significantly reduce sediment runoff and PP loss, accompanied with a moderate reduction of runoff yield. While the proportion of PP has been cut down, the proportion of DP could account for the majority. Hydrological factors, including antecedent soil moisture and rainfall variables, could exert various effects on DP, PP and sediment losses under different tillage conditions. Further, the results of this study imply that the soil P loss management and water quality protection in black soil region of Northeast China should take consideration of diverse effects of tillage on phosphorus loss and the dynamics of P between different forms.

Soil organic carbon sequestration and tillage systems in Mediterranean environments

Science.gov (United States)

Francaviglia, Rosa; Di Bene, Claudia; Marchetti, Alessandro; Farina, Roberta

2016-04-01

Soil carbon sequestration is of special interest in Mediterranean areas, where rainfed cropping systems are prevalent, inputs of organic matter to soils are low and mostly rely on crop residues, while losses are high due to climatic and anthropic factors such as intensive and non-conservative farming practices. The adoption of reduced or no tillage systems, characterized by a lower soil disturbance in comparison with conventional tillage, has proved to be positively effective on soil organic carbon (SOC) conservation and other physical and chemical processes, parameters or functions, e.g. erosion, compaction, ion retention and exchange, buffering capacity, water retention and aggregate stability. Moreover, soil biological and biochemical processes are usually improved by the reduction of tillage intensity. The work deals with some results available in the scientific literature, and related to field experiment on arable crops performed in Italy, Greece, Morocco and Spain. Data were organized in a dataset containing the main environmental parameters (altitude, temperature, rainfall), soil tillage system information (conventional, minimum and no-tillage), soil parameters (bulk density, pH, particle size distribution and texture), crop type, rotation, management and length of the experiment in years, initial SOCi and final SOCf stocks. Sampling sites are located between 33° 00' and 43° 32' latitude N, 2-860 m a.s.l., with mean annual temperature and rainfall in the range 10.9-19.6° C and 355-900 mm. SOC data, expressed in t C ha-1, have been evaluated both in terms of Carbon Sequestration Rate, given by [(SOCf-SOCi)/length in years], and as percentage change in comparison with the initial value [(SOCf-SOCi)/SOCi*100]. Data variability due to the different environmental, soil and crop management conditions that influence SOC sequestration and losses will be examined.

Biochar derived from corn straw affected availability and distribution of soil nutrients and cotton yield.

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Xiaofei Tian

Full Text Available Biochar application as a soil amendment has been proposed as a strategy to improve soil fertility and increase crop yields. However, the effects of successive biochar applications on cotton yields and nutrient distribution in soil are not well documented. A three-year field study was conducted to investigate the effects of successive biochar applications at different rates on cotton yield and on the soil nutrient distribution in the 0-100 cm soil profile. Biochar was applied at 0, 5, 10, and 20 t ha-1 (expressed as Control, BC5, BC10, and BC20, respectively for each cotton season, with identical doses of chemical fertilizers. Biochar enhanced the cotton lint yield by 8.0-15.8%, 9.3-13.9%, and 9.2-21.9% in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively, and high levels of biochar application achieved high cotton yields each year. Leaching of soil nitrate was reduced, while the pH values, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen (N, and available K content of the 0-20 cm soil layer were increased in 2014 and 2015. However, the changes in the soil available P content were less substantial. This study suggests that successive biochar amendments have the potential to enhance cotton productivity and soil fertility while reducing nitrate leaching.

Biochar derived from corn straw affected availability and distribution of soil nutrients and cotton yield.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Xiaofei; Li, Chengliang; Zhang, Min; Wan, Yongshan; Xie, Zhihua; Chen, Baocheng; Li, Wenqing

2018-01-01

Biochar application as a soil amendment has been proposed as a strategy to improve soil fertility and increase crop yields. However, the effects of successive biochar applications on cotton yields and nutrient distribution in soil are not well documented. A three-year field study was conducted to investigate the effects of successive biochar applications at different rates on cotton yield and on the soil nutrient distribution in the 0-100 cm soil profile. Biochar was applied at 0, 5, 10, and 20 t ha-1 (expressed as Control, BC5, BC10, and BC20, respectively) for each cotton season, with identical doses of chemical fertilizers. Biochar enhanced the cotton lint yield by 8.0-15.8%, 9.3-13.9%, and 9.2-21.9% in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively, and high levels of biochar application achieved high cotton yields each year. Leaching of soil nitrate was reduced, while the pH values, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen (N), and available K content of the 0-20 cm soil layer were increased in 2014 and 2015. However, the changes in the soil available P content were less substantial. This study suggests that successive biochar amendments have the potential to enhance cotton productivity and soil fertility while reducing nitrate leaching.

Influence of Conservation Tillage on some Soil Physical Properties and Crop Yield in Vetch-Wheat Rotation in Dryland Cold Region

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I Eskandari

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction Winter wheat is an important, well-adapted grain crop under dryland condition of the northwest of Iran. Soil water is the most limiting resource for crop growth in dryland areas. Therefore, farmers need to use crop residues and minimum tillage to control the soil erosion and effectively store and to use the limited precipitation received for crop production. Crop rotation and tillage system could affect crop yield due to their effects on water conservation and soil chemical and physical properties. Galantini et al., (2000 studied the effect of crop rotation on wheat productivity in the Pampean semi-arid region of Argentina and found that a wheat–vetch (Vicia sativa L. rotation resulted in higher yield and protein content, and greater yield components than the other rotations.Payne et al. (2000 stated that where precipitation amount is marginal (400 mm, dry field pea offers a potential alternative to summer fallowing. The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal tillage system for increasing crop productivity in a vetch–wheat rotation in dryland farming of the northwest of Iran. Materials and Methods The field experiment was carried out from 2010 to 2014 at the Dryland Agricultural Research Station (latitude37° 12´N; longitude 46◦20´E; 1730 m a.s.l., 25 km east of Maragheh, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. The long-term (10 years average precipitation, temperature and relative humidity of the station are 336.5 mm, 9.4 ◦C and 47.5%, respectively. The soil (Fine Mixed, Mesic, Vertic Calcixerepts, USDA system; Calcisols, FAO system at the study site had a clay loam texture in the 0–15 cm surface layer and a clay texture in the 15–80 cm depth. This study was conducted in vetch (Vicia pannonica- wheat (Triticum aestivum L. rotation. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The tillage treatments consisted of (1 conventional tillage: moldboard plowing followed by one

Impact of tillage, plant population and mulches on phenological characters of maize

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gul, B.; Khan, M.A.; Khan, H.

2014-01-01

Field experiments were conducted during 2006 and 2007 in Peshawar, using open pollinated maize variety Azam in RCB design having 3 factors viz., tillage, maize populations and mulches with split-split plot arrangements. Tillage levels (zero and conventional) were assigned to the main plots, populations (90000, 60000 and 30000 plants ha/sup -1/) to sub-plots and four types of mulches (weeds mulch, black plastic mulch, white plastic mulch and mungbean as living mulch), a hand weeding and a weedy check were allotted to sub-sub plots, respectively. Data were recorded on days to tasseling, days to silking, days to maturity, leaf area of maize plant-1 (cm/sub 2/) and plant height (cm). Tillage affected leaf area of maize, where zero tillage resulted lower leaf area of 4094 cm/sub 2/ compared to conventional tillage (4722 cm/sub 2/). Different levels of plant populations affected all the physiological parameters. Days to tasseling, silking and maturity were more in higher plant population as compared to medium and lower plant population. Similarly, minimum leaf area plant-1 was recorded in higher plant population (3894 cm/sub 2/) than medium and lower plant population of 4398 and 4932 cm/sub 2/, respectively. Maximum plant height was recorded in hand weeding treatment (173 cm). However, it was statistically at par with black plastic mulch (171 cm), followed by weeds mulch (162 cm) and white plastic mulch (161 cm) as compared to weedy check (152 cm). Based on two years study it is suggested that even if tillage options and plant populations are a part of the weed management program, it should not be used as a sole management tool, as both have a negative impact on the phenological parameters of maize which subsequently affected the final yield and must be integrated and supplemented with other control methods. (author)

Burrower bugs (Heteroptera: Cydnidae) in peanut: seasonal species abundance, tillage effects, grade reduction effects, insecticide efficacy, and management.

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Chapin, Jay W; Thomas, James S

2003-08-01

Pitfall traps placed in South Carolina peanut, Arachis hypogaea (L.), fields collected three species of burrower bugs (Cydnidae): Cyrtomenus ciliatus (Palisot de Beauvois), Sehirus cinctus cinctus (Palisot de Beauvois), and Pangaeus bilineatus (Say). Cyrtomenus ciliatus was rarely collected. Sehirus cinctus produced a nymphal cohort in peanut during May and June, probably because of abundant henbit seeds, Lamium amplexicaule L., in strip-till production systems. No S. cinctus were present during peanut pod formation. Pangaeus bilineatus was the most abundant species collected and the only species associated with peanut kernel feeding injury. Overwintering P. bilineatus adults were present in a conservation tillage peanut field before planting and two to three subsequent generations were observed. Few nymphs were collected until the R6 (full seed) growth stage. Tillage and choice of cover crop affected P. bilineatus populations. Peanuts strip-tilled into corn or wheat residue had greater P. bilineatus populations and kernel-feeding than conventional tillage or strip-tillage into rye residue. Fall tillage before planting a wheat cover crop also reduced burrower bug feeding on peanut. At-pegging (early July) granular chlorpyrifos treatments were most consistent in suppressing kernel feeding. Kernels fed on by P. bilineatus were on average 10% lighter than unfed on kernels. Pangaeus bilineatus feeding reduced peanut grade by reducing individual kernel weight, and increasing the percentage damaged kernels. Each 10% increase in kernels fed on by P. bilineatus was associated with a 1.7% decrease in total sound mature kernels, and kernel feeding levels above 30% increase the risk of damaged kernel grade penalties.

Environmental aspects of ethanol derived from no-tilled corn grain: nonrenewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seungdo; Dale, Bruce E.

2005-01-01

Nonrenewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with ethanol (a liquid fuel) derived from corn grain produced in selected counties in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin are presented. Corn is cultivated under no-tillage practice (without plowing). The system boundaries include corn production, ethanol production, and the end use of ethanol as a fuel in a midsize passenger car. The environmental burdens in multi-output biorefinery processes (e.g., corn dry milling and wet milling) are allocated to the ethanol product and its various coproducts by the system expansion allocation approach. The nonrenewable energy requirement for producing 1 kg of ethanol is approximately 13.4-21.5 MJ (based on lower heating value), depending on corn milling technologies employed. Thus, the net energy value of ethanol is positive; the energy consumed in ethanol production is less than the energy content of the ethanol (26.8 MJ kg -1 ). In the GHG emissions analysis, nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from soil and soil organic carbon levels under corn cultivation in each county are estimated by the DAYCENT model. Carbon sequestration rates range from 377 to 681 kg C ha -1 year -1 and N 2 O emissions from soil are 0.5-2.8 kg N ha -1 year -1 under no-till conditions. The GHG emissions assigned to 1 kg of ethanol are 260-922 g CO 2 eq. under no-tillage. Using ethanol (E85) fuel in a midsize passenger vehicle can reduce GHG emissions by 41-61% km -1 driven, compared to gasoline-fueled vehicles. Using ethanol as a vehicle fuel, therefore, has the potential to reduce nonrenewable energy consumption and GHG emissions

Identifying conservation hotspots using tillage erosion modeling

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Tillage operations redistribute soil within agricultural landscapes due to deviations in the quantity of soil moved during tillage. Tillage erosion is the net loss or accumulation of soil at any spot within an agricultural landscape due to soil being directly moved by tillage; it is a dominant erosi...

Produção de biomassa por cultivos de cobertura do solo e produtividade do algodoeiro em plantio direto Cover crops biomass production and cotton yield in no-tillage system

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Alexandre Cunha de Barcellos Ferreira

2010-06-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a produção, a persistência da matéria seca e a eficiência da dessecação em espécies vegetais utilizadas para cultivos de cobertura do solo, e quantificar seus efeitos sobre a produtividade do algodoeiro em plantio direto. O trabalho foi realizado em Santa Helena de Goiás, GO, com 16 tratamentos: Panicum maximum, cultivares Mombaça, Tanzânia e Massai; Urochloa brizantha, cultivares Piatã, Xaraés, Marandu e MG4; U. decumbens; Paspalum atratum cv. Pojuca; Sorghum bicolor cultivares Santa Eliza e BRS 700; Pennisetum glaucum cv. ADR 500; Raphanus sativus; Eleusine coracana, Crotalaria spectabilis, além da testemunha em pousio. As espécies foram semeadas no início de março (2007. As espécies com menores produtividades e persistência da matéria seca foram C. spectabilis, E. coracana e R. sativus. As produtividades de algodão em caroço e fibra foram maiores no cultivo sobre palhas residuais das cultivares Tanzânia e Mombaça de P. maximum, em comparação às observadas com uso de P. atratum cv. Pojuca, R. sativus e pousio. Em geral, S. bicolor, P. glaucum e as cultivares Tanzânia e Mombaça de P. maximum, e MG4, Piatã e Xaraés de U. brizantha apresentam produção e persistência da matéria seca adequadas para o cultivo do algodoeiro no sistema de plantio direto, no cerrado brasileiro.The objectives of this work were to evaluate biomass production and persistence and the desiccation efficiency in plant species used as cover crops, and to quantify its effects on cotton yield in a no-tillage system. The study was carried out in Santa Helena de Goiás, GO, Brazil, using 16 plant species: Panicum maximum, cultivars Mombaça, Tanzânia and Massai; Urochloa brizantha, cultivars Piatã, Xaraés, Marandu and MG4; U. decumbens; Paspalum atratum cv. Pojuca; Sorghum bicolor cultivars Santa Eliza and BRS 700; Pennisetum glaucum cv. ADR 500; Raphanus sativus; Eleusine coracana, Crotalaria spectabilis

Biochar derived from corn straw affected availability and distribution of soil nutrients and cotton yield

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Tian, Xiaofei; Zhang, Min; Wan, Yongshan; Xie, Zhihua; Chen, Baocheng; Li, Wenqing

2018-01-01

Biochar application as a soil amendment has been proposed as a strategy to improve soil fertility and increase crop yields. However, the effects of successive biochar applications on cotton yields and nutrient distribution in soil are not well documented. A three-year field study was conducted to investigate the effects of successive biochar applications at different rates on cotton yield and on the soil nutrient distribution in the 0–100 cm soil profile. Biochar was applied at 0, 5, 10, and 20 t ha-1 (expressed as Control, BC5, BC10, and BC20, respectively) for each cotton season, with identical doses of chemical fertilizers. Biochar enhanced the cotton lint yield by 8.0–15.8%, 9.3–13.9%, and 9.2–21.9% in 2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively, and high levels of biochar application achieved high cotton yields each year. Leaching of soil nitrate was reduced, while the pH values, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen (N), and available K content of the 0–20 cm soil layer were increased in 2014 and 2015. However, the changes in the soil available P content were less substantial. This study suggests that successive biochar amendments have the potential to enhance cotton productivity and soil fertility while reducing nitrate leaching. PMID:29324750

Monitoring of Conservation Tillage and Tillage Intensity by Ground and Satellite Imagery

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M.A Rostami

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Local information about tillage intensity and ground residue coverage is useful for policies in agricultural extension, tillage implement design and upgrading management methods. The current methods for assessing crop residue coverage and tillage intensity such as residue weighing methods, line-transect and photo comparison methods are tedious and time-consuming. The present study was devoted to investigate accurate methods for monitoring residue management and tillage practices. The satellite imagery technique was used as a rapid and spatially explicit method for delineating crop residue coverage and as an estimator of conservation tillage adoption and intensity. The potential of multispectral high-spatial resolution WorldView-2 local data was evaluated using the total of eleven satellite spectral indices and Linear Spectral Unmixing Analysis (LSUA. The total of ninety locations was selected for this study and for each location the residue coverage was measured by the image processing method and recorded as ground control. The output of indices and LSUA method were individually correlated to the control and the relevant R2 was calculated. Results indicated that crop residue cover was related to IPVI, RVI1, RVI2 and GNDVI spectral indices and satisfactory correlations were established (0.74 - 0.81. The crop residue coverage estimated from the LSUA approach was found to be correlated with the ground residue data (0.75. Two effective indices named as Infrared Percentage Vegetation Index (IPVI and Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI with maximum R2 were considered for classification of tillage intensity. Results indicated that the classification accuracy with IPVI and RVI indices in different conditions varied from 78-100 percent and therefore in good agreement with ground measurement, observations and field records.

Water stability of soil aggregates in different systems of Chernozem tillage

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Jaroslava Bartlová

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Effects of various agrotechnical measures on macrostructural changes in the ploughing layer and subsoil were studied within the period of 2008–2010. Soil macrostructure was evaluated on the base of water stability of soil aggregates. Altogether three variants of soil tillage were established, viz. ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m (Variant 1, deep soil loosening to the depth of 0.35–0.40 m (Variant 2, and shallow tillage to the depth of 0.15 m (Variant 3. Experiments were established on a field with Modal Chernozem in the locality Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou (maize-growing region, altitude of 210 m, average annual sum of precipitation 461 mm. In the first experimental year, winter rape was the cultivated crop and it was followed by winter wheat, maize and spring wheat in subsequent years. The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of different methods of tillage on water stability of soil aggregates and on yields of individual crops. An overall analysis of results revealed a positive effect of cultivation without ploughing on water stability of soil aggregates. In the variant with ploughing was found out a statistically significant decrease of this stability. At the same time it was also found out that both minimum tillage and deep soil loosening showed a positive effect on yields of crops under study (above all of maize and winter wheat.

Spectral response of spider mite infested cotton: Mite density and miticide rate study

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Two-spotted spider mites are important pests in many agricultural systems. Spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae) have been found to cause economic damage in corn, cotton, and sorghum. Adult glass vial bioassays indicate that Temprano™ (abamectin) is the most toxic technical miticide for adult two-spot...

Energy and greenhouse gas profiles of polyhydroxybutyrates derived from corn grain: a life cycle perspective.

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Kim, Seungdo; Dale, Bruce E

2008-10-15

Polyhydroxybutyrates (PHB) are well-known biopolymers derived from sugars orvegetable oils. Cradle-to-gate environmental performance of PHB derived from corn grain is evaluated through life cycle assessment (LCA), particularly nonrenewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Site-specific process information on the corn wet milling and PHB fermentation and recovery processes was obtained from Telles. Most of energy used in the corn wet milling and PHB fermentation and recovery processes is generated in a cogeneration power plant in which corn stover, assumed to be representative of a variety of biomass sources that could be used, is burned to generate electricity and steam. County level agricultural information is used in estimating the environmental burdens associated with both corn grain and corn stover production. Results show that PHB derived from corn grain offers environmental advantages over petroleum-derived polymers in terms of nonrenewable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, PHB provides greenhouse gas credits, and thus PHB use reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-derived polymers. Corn cultivation is one of the environmentally sensitive areas in the PHB production system. More sustainable practices in corn cultivation (e.g., using no-tillage and winter cover crops) could reduce the environmental impacts of PHB by up to 72%.

Effects of the Tillage Technology and the Forecrop on Weeds in Stands of Winter Wheat

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Jan Winkler

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The semipilot-scale field experiment was established in the cadastre of the village Letkovice in the South Moravian Region (Czech Republic. The study area was situated in a warm climatic region T2. Winter wheat was cultivated in two variants of tillage, viz. conventional tillage (CT and minimum tillage (MT and after three different forecrops (fodder beet, late potatoes, and broad (faba bean. Weed infestation of wheat stands was evaluated in spring seasons of 2007 and 2008, always before the application of herbicides. Numbers of weed specimens and their species were defined by means of a calculation method. Recorded data were processed by means of multidimensional analyses of ecological data, viz. Data Correspondence Analysis (DCA and Redundancy Analysis (RDA. Within the study period, altogether 22 weed species were identified in all variants with different tillage technologies and different forecrops. In the MT variant, the degree of winter wheat stand infestation with weeds was lower. As far as the forecrops were concerned, the most and the least intensive degrees of infestation were recorded on plots with faba bean and late potatoes, respectively.

Assessing the Economic Impact of inversion tillage, cover crops, and herbicide regimes in palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) infested cotton

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Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) producers in Alabama and across the Cotton Belt are faced with a rapidly expanding problem that decreases yields and increases production costs: herbicide-resistant weeds. Producers are increasingly relying on production methods that raise production costs, such as add...

Adubação verde e sistemas de manejo do solo na produtividade do algodoeiro Green manure and soil management systems on cotton yield

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Marco Antonio Camillo de Carvalho

2004-12-01

Full Text Available A adoção de sistemas de manejo conservacionistas e a sucessão de culturas com adubos verdes são práticas que visam preservar a qualidade do solo e do ambiente, sem prescindir da obtenção de produtividade elevada das culturas de interesse econômico. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de sistemas de manejo do solo e adubos verdes na produtividade do algodoeiro (Gossypium hirsutum L.. O experimento foi realizado num Latossolo Vermelho distrófico, originalmente sob vegetação de Cerrado. O delineamento utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, em esquema de parcela subdividida e quatro repetições. Nas parcelas, utilizaram-se quatro adubos verdes: mucuna-preta, guandu, crotalária e milheto, e área de pousio (vegetação espontânea. Nas subparcelas foram adotados dois sistemas de manejo do solo: plantio direto e preparo convencional (uma gradagem pesada + duas gradagens leves. Os sistemas de manejo do solo não interferiram na produtividade do algodoeiro. O algodoeiro apresentou produtividade semelhante quando cultivado em sucessão a diferentes espécies de adubos verdes, no sistema de plantio direto e convencional de preparo do solo.The adoption of conservation management system and succession of crops after green manures aim at preserving the environment and soil quality, without dispensing the largest cash crop yield. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of soil management systems and green manures on cotton yield (Gossypium hirsutum L.. The experiment was carried out in a Typic Hapludox, covered by Savannah vegetation. The experimental design used was that of randomized blocks, in a split plot scheme, with four replications. In plots, four green manures were used: black velvet bean, pigeon pea, sunn hemp, millet and fallow area (spontaneous vegetation. In subplots, two managament soil systems were used: no-tillage and conventional tillage (one disk harrow + two levelling harrow. Soil management systems do

Local PM10 and PM2.5 emission inventories from agricultural tillage and harvest in northeastern China.

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Chen, Weiwei; Tong, Daniel Q; Zhang, Shichun; Zhang, Xuelei; Zhao, Hongmei

2017-07-01

Mineral particles or particulate matters (PMs) emitted during agricultural activities are major recurring sources of atmospheric aerosol loading. However, precise PM inventory from agricultural tillage and harvest in agricultural regions is challenged by infrequent local emission factor (EF) measurements. To understand PM emissions from these practices in northeastern China, we measured EFs of PM 10 and PM 2.5 from three field operations (i.e., tilling, planting and harvesting) in major crop production (i.e., corn and soybean), using portable real-time PM analyzers and weather station data. County-level PM 10 and PM 2.5 emissions from agricultural tillage and harvest were estimated, based on local EFs, crop areas and crop calendars. The EFs averaged (107±27), (17±5) and 26mg/m 2 for field tilling, planting and harvesting under relatively dry conditions (i.e., soil moisture agricultural dust emissions to regional air quality in northeastern China. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Nitrous oxide emissions in cover crop-based corn production systems

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Davis, Brian Wesley

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas; the majority of N2O emissions are the result of agricultural management, particularly the application of N fertilizers to soils. The relationship of N2O emissions to varying sources of N (manures, mineral fertilizers, and cover crops) has not been well-evaluated. Here we discussed a novel methodology for estimating precipitation-induced pulses of N2O using flux measurements; results indicated that short-term intensive time-series sampling methods can adequately describe the magnitude of these pulses. We also evaluated the annual N2O emissions from corn-cover crop (Zea mays; cereal rye [Secale cereale], hairy vetch [Vicia villosa ], or biculture) production systems when fertilized with multiple rates of subsurface banded poultry litter, as compared with tillage incorporation or mineral fertilizer. N2O emissions increased exponentially with total N rate; tillage decreased emissions following cover crops with legume components, while the effect of mineral fertilizer was mixed across cover crops.

Evaluation of simulated corn yields and associated uncertainty in different climate zones of China using Daycent Model

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Fu, A.; Xue, Y.

2017-12-01

Corn is one of most important agricultural production in China. Research on the simulation of corn yields and the impacts of climate change and agricultural management practices on corn yields is important in maintaining the stable corn production. After climatic data including daily temperature, precipitation, solar radiation, relative humidity, and wind speed from 1948 to 2010, soil properties, observed corn yields, and farmland management information were collected, corn yields grown in humidity and hot environment (Sichuang province) and cold and dry environment (Hebei province) in China in the past 63 years were simulated by Daycent, and the results was evaluated based on published yield record. The relationship between regional climate change, global warming and corn yield were analyzed, the uncertainties of simulation derived from agricultural management practices by changing fertilization levels, land fertilizer maintenance and tillage methods were reported. The results showed that: (1) Daycent model is capable to simulate corn yields under the different climatic background in China. (2) When studying the relationship between regional climate change and corn yields, it has been found that observed and simulated corn yields increased along with total regional climate change. (3) When studying the relationship between the global warming and corn yields, It was discovered that newly-simulated corn yields after removing the global warming trend of original temperature data were lower than before.

7 CFR 810.404 - Grades and grade requirements for corn.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Grades and grade requirements for corn. 810.404... OFFICIAL UNITED STATES STANDARDS FOR GRAIN United States Standards for Corn Principles Governing the Application of Standards § 810.404 Grades and grade requirements for corn. Grade Minimum test weight per...

Effect of different tillage intensity on yields and yield-forming factors in winter wheat

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Martin Houšť

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents results of a study on application of minimum tillage technologies when growing winter wheat. Experiments were performed in the sugar-beet-growing region with loamy chernozem within the period of 2005–2009. Aanalysed and evaluated were effects of different methods of soil processing on yield-forming factors in stands of winter wheat grown after three different preceding crops (i.e. alfalfa, maize for silage and pea. Evaluated were the following four variants of tillage: (1 conventional ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m (Variant 1; (2 ploughing to the depth of 0.15 m (Variant 2; (3 direct sowing into the untilled soil (Variant 3, and (4 shallow tillage to the depth of 0.10 m (Variant 4.The effect of different tillage intensity on winter wheat yields was statistically non-significant after all forecrops. After alfalfa, the highest and the lowest average yields were recorded in Variant 2 (i.e. with ploughing to the depth of 0.15 m and Variant 3 (direct sowing into the untilled soil, respectively. After maize grown for silage, higher yields were obtained in Variant 2 and Variant 1 (conventional ploughing while in Variants 4 and 3 the obtained yields were lower. When growing winter wheat after pea as a preceding crop, the highest and the lowest average yields were recorded after direct sowing (Variant 3 and in Variant 1 (i.e. ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m, respectively. Results of studies on effect of different tillage technologies on yields of winter wheat crops indicate that under the given pedological and climatic conditions it is possible to apply methods of reduced tillage intensity. However, the choice of the corresponding technology must be performed with regard to the type of preceding crop.

Current and potential sustainable corn stover feedstock for biofuel production in the United States

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Tan, Zhengxi; Liu, Shu-Guang; Tieszen, Larry L.; Bliss, Norman

2012-01-01

Increased demand for corn (Zea mays L.) stover as a feedstock for cellulosic ethanol raises concerns about agricultural sustainability. Excessive corn stover harvesting could have long-term impacts on soil quality. We estimated current and future stover production and evaluated the potential harvestable stover amount (HSA) that could be used for biofuel feedstock in the United States by defining the minimum stover requirement (MSR) associated with the current soil organic carbon (SOC) content, tillage practices, and crop rotation systems. Here we show that the magnitude of the current HSA is limited (31 Tg y−1, dry matter) due to the high MSR for maintaining the current SOC content levels of soils that have a high carbon content. An alternative definition of MSR for soils with a moderate level of SOC content could significantly elevate the annual HSA to 68.7 Tg, or even to 132.2 Tg if the amount of currently applied manure is counted to partially offset the MSR. In the future, a greater potential for stover feedstock could come from an increase in stover yield, areal harvest index, and/or the total planted area. These results suggest that further field experiments on MSR should be designed to identify differences in MSR magnitude between maintaining SOC content and preventing soil erosion, and to understand the role of current SOC content level in determining MSR from soils with a wide range of carbon contents and climatic conditions.

Efeito de sistemas de manejo de solo e de rotação de culturas na fertilidade do solo, após vinte anos Soil tillage and crop rotation systems on soil fertility attributes after twenty years

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Henrique Pereira dos Santos

2008-01-01

Full Text Available No Brasil, ainda são escassos os estudos disponíveis com experimentos de longa duração em sistemas de manejo de solo e de rotação de culturas. Após vinte anos (1985 a 2005, a fertilidade de solo foi avaliada, em Latossolo Vermelho distrófico típico, em Passo Fundo (RS, em quatro sistemas de manejo de solo (SMSs - 1 plantio direto (PD, 2 cultivo mínimo (CM, 3 preparo convencional de solo com arado de discos e com grade de discos (PCD e 4 preparo convencional de solo com arado de aivecas e com grade de discos (PCA - e em três sistemas de rotação de culturas (SRCs: I (trigo/soja, II (trigo/soja e ervilhaca/milho e III (trigo/soja, ervilhaca/milho e aveia branca/soja, incluindo como testemunha um fragmento adjacente de floresta subtropical (FST. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos completos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições. As parcelas (4 x 90 m no total de 12, foram constituídas pelos SMSs, e as subparcelas, pelos SRCs (4 x 10 m, no total de 72. Os valores de pH, carbono, P extraível e K disponível diferiram entre os SMSs. No PD, houve acúmulo de carbono orgânico, P e K, na camada superficial. Não houve diferença do nível de matéria orgânica (MOS entre PD e FST, em todas as camadas estudadas. O nível de MOS e os teores de P e K foram mais elevados na camada 0-0,05 m, quando comparados com os observados de 0,15-0,20 m de profundidade, sob PD e nas rotações II e III. Observou-se que em FST os valores de pH, Ca, P e de K foram menores do que os dos SMSs e SRCs.Long term field studies on crop rotation and soil tillage systems under Brazilian conditions are scarce. Soil fertility characteristics were assessed after twenty years (1985 to 2005 on a typical dystrophic Red Latosol located in Passo Fundo, in Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state of Brazil. Four soil tillage systems (STS - 1 no-tillage, 2 minimum tillage, 3 conventional tillage using disk plow followed by disk harrow, and 4

Atributos físicos do solo em sistemas de manejo de solo e de rotação de culturas Soil tillage and crop rotation systems on the soil physical attributes

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Silvio Tulio Spera

2009-01-01

attributes were assessed after twenty years of implementation (1985 to 2005 on a typical Dystrophic Red Latosol (Rodic Hapludox located in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Four soil tillage systems were evaluated: 1 no-tillage; 2 minimum tillage; 3 conventional tillage using a disk plow plus disk harrow, and 4 conventional tillage using a moldboard plow plus disk harrow. Three crop rotation systems were evaluated: I (wheat/soybean, II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn or sorghum, and III (wheat/soybean, common vetch/corn or sorghum and white oats/soybean. A randomized complete block design, with split-plots and three replicates, was used. The main plots were formed by the soil tillage systems, while split-plots were composed by crop rotation systems. As control, soil samples were collected in a subtropical forest fragment adjacent to the experiment. Soil tillage systems and crop rotation systems influenced soil physical parameters when compared to the samples collected in a fragment of subtropical forest. During four years (2001 to 2005 the physical attributes were altered among different soil tillage management. The no-tillage system (PD presented higher soil bulk density and microporosity in comparison to the other systems, mainly in 0.10 to 0.15 m layer, characterizing high soil compaction levels. Crop systems did not promote favorable changes in physical attributes independent of the type of soil management.

A multiple soil ecosystem services approach to evaluate the sustainability of reduced tillage systems

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Pérès, Guénola; Menasseri, Safya; Hallaire, Vincent; Cluzeau, Daniel; Heddadj, Djilali; Cotinet, Patrice; Manceau, Olivier; Pulleman, Mirjam

2017-04-01

In the current context of soil degradation, reduced tillage systems (including reduced soil disturbance, use of cover crops and crop rotation, and improved organic matter management) are expected to be good alternatives to conventional system which have led to a decrease of soil multi-functionality. Many studies worldwide have analysed the impact of tillage systems on different soil functions, but overran integrated view of the impact of these systems is still lacking. The SUSTAIN project (European SNOWMAN programme), performed in France and the Netherlands, proposes an interdisciplinary collaboration. The goals of SUSTAIN are to assess the multi-functionality of soil and to study how reduced-tillage systems impact on multiple ecosystem services such as soil biodiversity regulation (earthworms, nematodes, microorganisms), soil structure maintenance (aggregate stability, compaction, soil erosion), water regulation (run-off, transfer of pesticides) and food production. Moreover, a socio-economic study on farmer networks has been carried out to identify the drivers of adoption of reduced-tillage systems. Data have been collected in long-term experimental fields (5 - 13 years), representing conventional and organic farming strategies, and were complemented with data from farmer networks. The impact of different reduced tillage systems (direct seeding, minimum tillage, non-inverse tillage, superficial ploughing) were analysed and compared to conventional ploughing. Measurements (biological, chemical, physical, agronomical, water and element transfer) have been done at several dates which allow an overview of the evolution of the soil properties according to climate variation and crop rotation. A sociological approach was performed on several farms covering different production types, different courses (engagement in reduced tillage systems) and different geographical locations. Focusing on French trials, this multiple ecosystem services approach clearly showed that

Resurrection of glyphosate resistant palmer amaranth control in conservation tillage dicamba tolerant cotton; soil health salvation using herbicide technology

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Conservation agriculture hecterage in the mid-south and southeastern US has decreased because of herbicide resistant and other hard to control weeds. Producers have increasingly utilized tillage, the majority either using a moldboard plow to deeply bury weed seed and decrease emergence, or ‘vertica...

TEST OF COTTON LINES WITH DROUGHT TOLERANT INTERCROPPED WITH MAIZE

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Kadarwati F.T.

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The distribution of cotton cultivation is mostly located in the sub-optimal land due to competition with the field crop. The cotton cultivation in Indonesia is always done through intercropping with pulses. This research aims to test the suitability of cotton lines with drought-tolerant intercropped with maize. The research is conducted in February to August 2016 at Asembagus Experimental Garden, Situbondo. Planting materials used in this research are 6 lines and 2 varieties of drought-tolerant cotton consist of strain 03001/9, 03008/24, 03008/25, 03017/13, 06062/3, 06063/3, kanesia 10 and kanesia 14. The research prepared by the draft randomized group with three replications. The observation parameter consists of plant height, canopy width, number of generative branches, number of fruits, fruits weight, the yield of seed cotton, and corn dry results. The research result shows that the strain 03017/13 and 03008/24 have the highest consecutive acceptance of IDR 17,860,681 and IDR 17,520,879, the increase in revenue compared to monoculture is IDR 6,278,473 and IDR 5,668,191, seed cotton production amounted to 2470.01 kg/ha and 2329.72 kg/ha, maize production amounted to 2001.54 kg/ha and 2112.74 kg/ha, LER 1.68 and 1.60, number of harvested fruit of 12.66 and 11.76 fruits/plant, fruit weight of 4.05 and 4.17 g/fruit.

Efeito de três sistemas de preparo do solo sobre a rentabilidade econômica da mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz = Effects of three tillage systems on economic profitability of cassava crop (Manihot esculenta Crantz

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Manoel Genildo Pequeno

2007-07-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a rentabilidade econômica da cultura damandioca em três sistemas de preparo de solo durante os anos agrícolas de 1999/2000 a2002/2003, em Araruna, Estado do Paraná. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o deblocos completos casualizados, com oito repetições. Os tratamentos foram constituídos deplantio direto; preparo mínimo (escarificação e preparo convencional (aração + gradagemniveladora. A força de tração e o consumo de combustível requeridos nas operações depreparo do solo e de plantio da mandioca foram maiores no sistema de preparoconvencional. Os maiores custos com combustível, preparo do solo e plantio da mandioca, ecusto operacional relativo às culturas de inverno e à cultura da mandioca, bem como a maiorrenda bruta foram observados no sistema de preparo convencional, seguidos pelo preparomínimo e plantio direto. A maior renda líquida e a melhor relação benefício/custo foramobservadas no sistema de preparo convencional que proporcionou maior produtividade deraízes tuberosas em relação aos sistemas de preparo mínimo e de plantio direto.The objective of this paper was to evaluate the economicprofitability of cassava crop submitted to the three soil tillage systems during the years1999/2000 to 2002/2003, in Araruna, state of Parana. The treatments consisted of three soiltillage systems: no-tillage, minimum tillage using chiseling, and conventional tillage withmoldboard plow and disking, arranged in a randomized complete blocks with eightreplications. The traction strength and fuel consumption in the soil tillage and in the cassavasowed operation were more required in the conventional tillage system. The conventionaland the minimum tillage systems showed the highest costs for fuel, soil tillage and cassavasowed. They also presented the highest gross income. The greatest net income and the bestbenefit/cost relation were observed in the conventional tillage system, which

Weed Population Dynamics, Water Productivity and Grain Yield of Durum Wheat (Triticum durum L. in No-Tillage and Conventional Tillage Systems

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Mehdi Mojab

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Elimination or reduction of tillage in conservation agricultural systems has led to wide variations in germination, emergence, and growth of weeds and has caused variations in the density and diversity of weeds under such systems. Maintaining crop residues on the soil surface has many potential benefits in agricultural production systems; such as reducing water and wind erosions, increasing the soil organic matter content, improving the soil structure and sowing conditions, as well as a better weed management through allelopathy or physical interference provided by the crop residues. Crop residue and tillage system cause potential changes in the soil temperature and water content, which influence soil density, structure, moisture, as well as soil temperature and nutrients. Crop residues act as mulches and can effect on weed seed germination and seedling emergence. Therefore, the objectives of current study were to evaluate the effects of no-tillage systems on: (i narrow- and broadleaved weed densities, (ii crop yield and (iii water productivity (WP. Materials and Methods: A two-year field study based on a split plot experiment in a randomized complete block design with four replications was carried out in Zahedshahr, Fars province, Iran (latitude 28˚44΄N, longitude 53˚48΄E, 1180 m altitude during 2009-10 and 2010-11 growing seasons. The planting practices including moldboard plow, disk and leveler were practiced in conventional tillage plots and crop planting was performed using a drill seeder (made by Kohorasan Co., Iran. The no-tillage plots were directly planted without any soil disturbance and removing wheat residues of the last year using a direct planter machine (model Berteni, Argentina. Furrow irrigation was used at both systems and a water counter (model WD, size DN100 was applied to measure the amount of used water based on m3 ha-1. 1 x 1 m quadrates that were installed at the center of each plot. Crop density, narrow

Degradation and persistence of cotton pesticides in sandy loam soils from Punjab, Pakistan.

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Tariq, Muhammad Ilyas; Afzal, Shahzad; Hussain, Ishtiaq

2006-02-01

The present study evaluated the influence of temperature, moisture, and microbial activity on the degradation and persistence of commonly used cotton pesticides, i.e., carbosulfan, carbofuran, lambda-cyhalothrin, endosulfan, and monocrotophos, with the help of laboratory incubation and lysimeter studies on sandy loam soil (Typic Ustocurepts) in Pakistan. Drainage from the lysimeters was sampled on days 49, 52, 59, 73, 100, 113, and 119 against the pesticide application on days 37, 63, 82, 108, and 137 after the sowing of cotton. Carbofuran, monocrotophos, and nitrate were detected in the drainage samples, with an average value, respectively, of 2.34, 2.6 microg/L, and 15.6 mg/L for no-tillage and 2.16, 2.3 microg/L, and 13.4 mg/L for tillage. In the laboratory, pesticide disappearance kinetics were measured with sterile and nonsterile soils from 0 to 10 cm in depth at 15, 25, and 35 degrees C and 50% and 90% field water capacities. Monocrotophos and carbosulfan dissipation followed first-order kinetics while others followed second-order kinetics. The results of incubation studies showed that temperature and moisture contents significantly reduced the t(1/2) (half-life) values of pesticides in sterile and nonsterile soil, but the effect of microbial activity was nearly significant that might be due to less organic carbon (0.3%). The presence of carbofuran and monocrotophos in the soil profile (0-10, 10-30, 30-60, 60-90, 90-150 cm) and the higher concentrations of endosulfan and lambda-cyhalothrin in the top layer (0-10 cm) showed the persistence of the pesticides. The detection of endosulfan and lambda-cyhalothrin in the 10-30 cm soil layer might be due to preferential flow. The data generated from this study could be helpful for risk assessment studies of pesticides and for validating pesticide transport models for sandy loam soils in cotton-growing areas of Pakistan.

New Concept of Cultivation Using Limited Strip-Tillage with Strip Shallow Irrigation

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Yazid Ismi Intara

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false IN X-NONE X-NONE Dry land is one of land resources which potentially used for food crop cultivation, especially in the areas which have light to medium technical obstacles. The development of technology to improve soil quality in marginal lands to be productive lands is still widely open for agricultural development in Indonesia. Rooting medium quality can be improved by changing soil tillage method and observing the proper crop irrigation technology. It can be the solution for crop cultivation in clay loam soil. This study aimed to obtain water movement model in a minimally-tilled clay soil with strip shallow irrigation. The concept is limited soil-tillage with strip shallow irrigation method, water supply technique, and crop water requirement. Method used in this study includes developing water movement model (software development in a minimally-tilled clay soil with subsurface irrigation. In the final stages, research also conducted water movement analysis testing apparatus in the laboratory, field validation of the subsurface irrigation performance, and cultivation technique testing to chili pepper growth (Capsicum annuumL.. The development of water movement simulation on a limited strip-tillage with subsurface irrigation uses the concept to quantify the amount of water in the soil. The analysis of movement pattern was demonstrated on contour patterns. It showed that the wetting process can reach depth zone – 5 cm to the rooting zone. It was an important discovery on the development of minimum stripe tillage soil with subsurface irrigation. Specifically, it can be concluded that: the result of fitting by eyes to diffusivity graphic and water content obtained the required parameter values for soil physical properties. It was then simulated on horizontal water movement model on a minimum strip-tillage with strip shallow irrigation /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso

Distribution of nitrogen ammonium sulfate (15N) soil-plant system in a no-tillage crop succession

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandes, Flavia Carvalho da Silva; Libardi, Paulo Leonel

2012-01-01

the n use by maize (Zea mays, l.) is affected by n-fertilizer levels. this study was conducted using a sandy-clay texture soil (Hapludox) to evaluate the efficiency of n use by maize in a crop succession, based on 15 N labeled ammonium sulfate (5.5 atom %) at different rates, and to assess the residual fertilizer effect in two no-tillage succession crops (signal grass and corn). Two maize crops were evaluated, the first in the growing season 2006, the second in 2007, and brachiaria in the second growing season. The treatments consisted of n rates of 60, 120 and 180 kg ha -1 in the form of labeled 15 N ammonium sulfate. This fertilizer was applied in previously defined subplots, only to the first maize crop (growing season 2006). The variables total accumulated n; fertilizer-derived n in corn plants and pasture; fertilizer-derived n in the soil; and recovery of fertilizer-n by plants and soil were evaluated.The highest uptake of fertilizer n by corn was observed after application of 120 kg ha -1 N and the residual effect of n fertilizer on subsequent corn and brachiaria was highest after application of 180 kg ha -1 N. After the crop succession, soil n recovery was 32, 23 and 27 % for the respective applications of 60, 120 and 180 kg ha -1 N. (author)

Forms of carbon in an oxisol under no-tillage and crop-livestock integration systems in the cerrado, Goias State, Brazil

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Régis Pinheiro Martins Bezerra

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The no-tillage system (NTS and more recently, the crop-livestock integration (CLI are very used for grain production in the Cerrado biome. This, the soil organic matter (SOM is one of the main components responsible for maintaining the quality of tropical soils. This study aimed to quantify the levels of total organic carbon (TOC, total nitrogen (total N, water soluble carbon (WSC and carbon of humic fractions in areas with different land use systems in the Cerrado of Goias. The farming systems were used: CLI (brachiaria + corn/beans/cotton/soybean and NTS (sunflower/millet/soybean/corn andas a reference, area native Cerrado vegetation (Cerradão. We collected soil samples at 0-10, 10- 20, 20-30 and 30-40 cm. The contents of TOC, total N, WSC, humin fraction carbon (C-HUM, humic acid fraction (C-HAF and fulvic acid fraction (C-FAF. The area of Cerradão had the highest TOC, total N, C-HUM and C-FAH in the surface layer (0-10 cm. The levels of WSC and humic fractions of SOM showed significant differences between the systems of land use and sampling depths. The highest levels of C-HAF were found in the area of CLI, at 0-10 and 20-30 cm. The CLI systems and NTS did not differ for the TOC and total N except for N in layer 20-30 cm. The system CLI favors the formation of C-HUM compared to the NTS. The CLI system leads to lower levels of WSC and higher C-FAF compared with the NTS, which has higher levels of WSC and C-FAH. The use of WSC and carbon of humic fractions was more efficient to identify differences from the land use systems evaluated (NTS, CLI and Cerradão when compared to the TOC for the climatic conditions of this study.

Organics and mineral fertilizers and biological control on the incidence of stalk rot and corn yield

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Elena Blume

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The expansion of area under maize (Zea mays L. and the use of no tillage have favored the incidence of stalk rot on this crop. The study aimed to evaluate the organic fertilizers and the treatment of corn seeds with Trichoderma spp. on the production of dry matter (DM of shoot, incidence of stalk rot and corn yield. The experiment consisted in a factorial with split-plot in strips, on the randomized block design with four replicates, and the fertilization treatments (pig slurry; swine deep bedding; cattle slurry; mineral fertilizer; control treatment were applied to the plots and the seeds treatment (with and without Trichoderma spp. in the subplots. At the flowering stage, three corn plants per subplot were collected for the assessment of DM production. At physiological maturity stage, the incidence of stalk rot was assessed, and the ears of corn harvested for productivity assessment. The organic and mineral fertilizers increased the production of DM and productivity of corn. Trichoderma spp. increased the production of DM of corn, but had no reflection on productivity. The incidence of stalk rot in corn was higher in treatments with organic and mineral fertilization. Organic fertilizers increase dry matter production of shoot and corn yield, and Trichoderma spp. provides an increase in dry matter production of shoot.

Case Study: Trap Crop with Pheromone Traps for Suppressing Euschistus servus (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae in Cotton

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P. G. Tillman

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The brown stink bug, Euschistus servus (Say, can disperse from source habitats, including corn, Zea mays L., and peanut, Arachis hypogaea L., into cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. Therefore, a 2-year on-farm experiment was conducted to determine the effectiveness of a sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench spp. bicolor trap crop, with or without Euschistus spp. pheromone traps, to suppress dispersal of this pest to cotton. In 2004, density of E. servus was lower in cotton fields with sorghum trap crops (with or without pheromone traps compared to control cotton fields. Similarly, in 2006, density of E. servus was lower in cotton fields with sorghum trap crops and pheromone traps compared to control cotton fields. Thus, the combination of the sorghum trap crop and pheromone traps effectively suppressed dispersal of E. servus into cotton. Inclusion of pheromone traps with trap crops potentially offers additional benefits, including: (1 reducing the density of E. servus adults in a trap crop, especially females, to possibly decrease the local population over time and reduce the overwintering population, (2 reducing dispersal of E. servus adults from the trap crop into cotton, and (3 potentially attracting more dispersing E. servus adults into a trap crop during a period of time when preferred food is not prevalent in the landscape.

Assessing Tillage Effects on Soil Hydraulic Properties via Inverse Parameter Estimation using Tension Infiltrometry

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Schwen, Andreas; Bodner, Gernot; Loiskandl, Willibald

2010-05-01

technique (NT). Infiltration measurements were supplemented by retention data for dryer conditions (-10 to -300 kPa) as determined by pressure plate extraction on steel core samples. The HYDRUS 2D/3D software package was used to inversely fit the parameters of suitable soil retention models to the data. Beside the most common model of Van Genuchten (1978), we also assessed the lognormal distribution model proposed by Kosugi (1994) and the dual porosity approach of Durner (1994). We will show that a dual porosity model best fits the infiltration data. It allows the retention curve to account for both the cumulative infiltration (structure-controlled flow) as well as the measured retention data points (texture-controlled flow). The pressure plate extraction data are used to determine one of the shape-determining parameter sets of the model equation. As the tillage effect on the temporal variability is expected to be negligible for texture-controlled water flow, these parameters are set constant with time for each tillage treatment. All remaining model parameters were inversely determined by the infiltration data. The advantage of a bimodal retention model is greatest when macropores strongly contribute to water movement. This can be observed especially under conventional tillage, where a strong increase of macropores is caused by annual ploughing, but also for reduced (oder minimum) tillage treatments, where biopores from earthworm burrows and dead plant roots increase macropore flow.

Residue management practices and planter attachments for corn production in a conservation agriculture system

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J. Nejadi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Seed placement and failure to establish a uniform plant stand are critical problems associated with production of corn (Zea mays following wheat (Triticum aestivum in a conservation agriculture system in Iran. Our objectives were to evaluate the performance of a corn row- crop planter equipped with two planter attachments (smooth/toothed coulters at six wheat residue management systems (three tillage systems and two levels of surface residue at two forward speeds of 5 and 7 km h-1. Residue retained after planting, seeding depth, emergence rate index (ERI and seed spacing indices were determined. The baled residue plots tilled by chisel plow followed by disc harrow (BRCD resulted in minimum residue after planting as compared to other residue treatments. Furthermore, the maximum values of the ERI and uniformity of plant spacing pertained to this treatment. Other results showed that the ERI increased up to 18% for the toothed coulter as compared to the smooth coulter. The toothed coulter also established a deeper seed placement as compared to the smooth coulter. Planting at forward speed of 5 km h-1 resulted in deeper seeding depth as compared to a forward speed of 7 km h-1. However, lower values of miss and precision indices were obtained at forward speed of 7 km h-1, indicating a more uniformity of plant spacing. Results of this study showed that equipping the conventional planter with toothed coulter and planting in soil prepared under the BRCD residue management system can result in a satisfactory conservation crop production system.

Effects of Tillage Methods on Some Soil Physical Properties, Growth and Yield of Water Melon in a Semi-Arid Region of Nigeria

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A. Dauda

2017-02-01

Full Text Available An appropriate tillage method is necessary to create an optimum seed bed condition for optimum crop growth and yield. Two-year field experiment was conducted in 2013 and 2014 to investigate the effects of different tillage methods on the physical properties of sandy loam soil, growth and yield of water melon (Citrullus vulgaris in a semi-arid environment. The Tillage treatments were disc ploughing plus disc harrowing (DP+DH, double disc ploughing (DDP, double disc harrowing (DDH, disc ploughing (DP and disc harrowing (DH as minimum tillage (MT and zero tillage (ZT and direct drilling method (control. The watermelon seeds were Planted manually placing three (3 seeds per hole at an interval of 1.5m along the rows and 50cm between the rows at an average depth of 5cm. The treatments were laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD with four replications. Results showed that disc ploughing + disc harrowing (DP+DH was found to be more appropriate and profitable tillage method in improving soil physical properties and growth and yield of water melon in a sandy loam soil. Watermelon yield, fruit weight (FW, fruit length (FL, fruit diameter (FD and leaf area index (LAI were significantly influenced (P=0.05, but influence of tillage treatments were not significant on the number of fruit per plant (NFPP. A numerical value of 31.0t/ha, 26.0, 5.4kg, 29.0cm, and 33.8cm were recorded for maximum crop yield, NFPP, FW, FD and FL respectively in DP+DH-treated plots. For zero tillage (ZT treatment, maximum of crop yield and NFPP were 26.5t/ha and 20.0 respectively. Thus for enhanced growth and yield of watermelon, DP/DH would be more preferable. The orthodox method of zero tillage is out rightly discouraged

Sistemas de preparo do solo, plantas de cobertura e produtividade da cultura da mandioca Soil tillage systems, cover crops and productivity in cassava

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Auro Akio Otsubo

2008-03-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos do uso de plantas de cobertura e de sistemas de preparo do solo, no desenvolvimento e na produtividade da cultura da mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz. O trabalho foi conduzido em Argissolo Vermelho, sob sistema convencional de preparo do solo, e em cultivo mínimo sobre palhada de mucuna-cinza (Stizolobium cinereum Piper & Tracy, sorgo granífero [Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench] e milheto [Pennisetum americanum (L. K. Schum.]. Aos dezoito meses após o plantio da mandioca, foram avaliados: altura de plantas, produção de massa de matéria seca da parte aérea, número de raízes tuberosas, produtividade, percentagem de matéria seca e de amido nas raízes tuberosas e índice de colheita. Observou-se que o sistema convencional de preparo do solo pode ser substituído, na cultura da mandioca, pela prática do cultivo mínimo, associada ao uso de coberturas vegetais, por promover incrementos significativos na produtividade da cultura, especialmente, quando se utiliza o milheto como planta de cobertura. O uso de plantas de cobertura no pré-cultivo de mandioca, em sistema de preparo mínimo do solo, representa uma alternativa eficiente para um melhor manejo dessa cultura.The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of cover crops and soil tillage systems in the development and yield of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz. The experiment was carried out in an Arenic Hapludult under conventional tillage, and in a minimum tillage system over mucuna (Stizolobium cinereum Piper & Tracy, sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench] and millet straw [Pennisetum americanum (L. K. Schum.]. Eighteen months after cassava planting, the following variables were evaluated: plant height, shoot dry matter production, number of roots, yield, dry matter and starch content on storage roots, and harvest index. It was observed that conventional tillage could be replaced by minimum tillage in cassava crop, when associated

Monoculture Maize (Zea mays L. Cropped Under Conventional Tillage, No-tillage and N Fertilization: (II Fumonisin Incidence on Kernels

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Adriano Marocco

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Planting maize under no-tillage is an increasing farming practice for sustainable agriculture and sound environmental management. Although several studies on yield of no-till maize have been done, there is few information about the effect of tillage on fumonisin contamination. The present study was done to determine the effect of notillage and conventional tillage with two rates of nitrogen on fumonisin content in kernels of continuous maize. Average grain contamination with fumonisins B1 and B2 over the years 2004-06 was not significantly different, with mean values of 1682, 1984 and 2504 μg kg-1, respectively. Fumonisin B1 was the most abundant toxin found in the samples. No-tillage significantly affected the incidence of fumonisins during the first year of the trial, in which fumonisin content was significantly higher with no-till (2008 μg kg-1 compared with conventional tillage (1355 μg kg-1. However, no-tillage did not significantly affect the incidence of fumonisins in the second and third years of the study. Fumonisin content at the rate of 300 kg N ha-1 was not statistically different compared to that obtained without N fertilization. The interaction between the soil management system and the rate of applied nitrogen was only evident in the second year. Our results indicate that fumonisin contamination was affected by no-tillage only in the first year. Nitrogen fertilization had no significant effect on fumonisin content in any year. The weather conditions during susceptible stages of maize development have probably overridden the effect of nitrogen fertilization.

Tillage system affects microbiological properties of soil

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Delgado, A.; de Santiago, A.; Avilés, M.; Perea, F.

2012-04-01

Soil tillage significantly affects organic carbon accumulation, microbial biomass, and subsequently enzymatic activity in surface soil. Microbial activity in soil is a crucial parameter contributing to soil functioning, and thus a basic quality factor for soil. Since enzymes remain soil after excretion by living or disintegrating cells, shifts in their activities reflect long-term fluctuations in microbial biomass. In order to study the effects of no-till on biochemical and microbiological properties in comparison to conventional tillage in a representative soil from South Spain, an experiment was conducted since 1982 on the experimental farm of the Institute of Agriculture and Fisheries Research of Andalusia (IFAPA) in Carmona, SW Spain (37o24'07''N, 5o35'10''W). The soil at the experimental site was a very fine, montomorillonitic, thermic Chromic Haploxerert (Soil Survey Staff, 2010). A randomized complete block design involving three replications and the following two tillage treatments was performed: (i) Conventional tillage, which involved mouldboard plowing to a depth of 50 cm in the summer (once every three years), followed by field cultivation to a depth of 15 cm before sowing; crop residues being burnt, (ii) No tillage, which involved controlling weeds before sowing by spraying glyphosate and sowing directly into the crop residue from the previous year by using a planter with double-disk openers. For all tillage treatments, the crop rotation (annual crops) consisted of winter wheat, sunflower, and legumes (pea, chickpea, or faba bean, depending on the year), which were grown under rainfed conditions. Enzymatic activities (ß-glucosidase, dehydrogenase, aryl-sulphatase, acid phosphatase, and urease), soil microbial biomass by total viable cells number by acridine orange direct count, the density of cultivable groups of bacteria and fungi by dilution plating on semi-selective media, the physiological profiles of the microbial communities by BiologR, and the

YIELD OF MAIZE (ZEA MAYS L. ON DIFFERENT SOIL TILLAGE VARIANTS

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Danijel Jug

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Reduced tillage, as well as the most reduced tillage – No-till – every year are becoming more important in our region. Unfortunately, the areas under reduced tillage are still very small. In order to establish optimal system of reduced soil tillage, the experimental trials were set on Chernozem soil type in northern Baranja during three vege¬tation seasons (1998/1999-2000/2001 and five soil tillage systems: CT Conventional Tillage (primary soil tillage by moldboard ploughing at 30-35 cm depth, DH Multiple Diskharrowing at 10-15 cm as primary tillage, CH Chiseling and diskharrowing (chiseling at 30-35 cm and diskharrowing at 10-15 cm as primary tillage, PD One diskharro-wing pass (diskharrowing at 10-15 cm as primary tillage, and NT No-tillage system. The highest yields were recor¬ded at CT with three-year average of 9.29 t/ha, followed by CH with 8.37 t/ha, DH with 8.07 t/ha, PD with 6.99 t/ha, whereas the lowest yields were recorded at NT treatment, with three-year average of 5.94 t/ha. The highest profit was achieved at CT treatment (665,34 HRK/ha, followed by CH (189,24 HRK/ha, DH (77,20 HRK/ha, PD (-334,95 HRK/ha and NT (-459,81 HRK/ha.

Sublethal effects of Cry 1F Bt corn and clothianidin on black cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larval development.

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Kullik, Sigrun A; Sears, Mark K; Schaafsma, Arthur W

2011-04-01

Black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon (Hufnagel) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is an occasional pest of maize (corn), Zea mays L., that may cause severe stand losses and injury to corn seedlings. The efficacy of the neonicotinoid seed treatment clothianidin at two commercially available rates and their interaction with a transgenic corn hybrid (Bt corn), trait expressing the Bacillus thuringiensis variety aizawai insecticidal toxin Cry 1Fa2, against black cutworm larvae was investigated. Clothianidin at a rate of 25 mg kernel(-1) on Bt corn increased larval mortality and reduced larval weight gains additively. In contrast, weights of larvae fed non-Bt corn seedlings treated with clothianidin at a rate of 25 mg kernel(-1) increased significantly, suggesting either compensatory overconsumption, hormesis, or hormoligosis. Both Bt corn alone and clothianidin at a rate of 125 mg kernel(-1) applied to non-Bt corn seedlings caused increased mortality and reduced larval weight gains. In two field trials, plots planted with Bt corn hybrids consistently had the highest plant populations and yields, regardless of whether they were treated with clothianidin at the lower commercial rate of 25 mg kernel(-1) The use of Bt corn alone or in combination with the low rate of clothianidin (25 mg kernel(-1)) seems suitable as a means of suppressing black cutworm in no-tillage cornfields, although rescue treatments may still be necessary under severe infestations. Clothianidin alone at the low rate of 25 mg kernel(-1) is not recommended for black cutworm control until further studies of its effects on larval physiology and field performance have been completed.

TILLAGE EROSION: THE PRINCIPLES, CONTROLLING FACTORS AND MAIN IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

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Agnieszka Wysocka-Czubaszek

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Tillage erosion is one of the major contributors to landscape evolution in hummocky agricultural landscapes. This paper summarizes the available data describing tillage erosion caused by hand-held or other simple tillage implements as well as tools used in typical conventional agriculture in Europe and North America. Variations in equipment, tillage speed, depth and direction result in a wide range of soil translocation rates observed all over the world. The variety of tracers both physical and chemical gives a challenge to introduce the reliable model predicting tillage erosion, considering the number and type of tillage operation in the whole tillage sequence.

Utilization of residual nitrogen (15N) from cover crop and urea by corn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Edson Cabral da; Muraoka, Takashi; Trivelin, Paulo Cesar Ocheuze; Buzetti, Salatier; Veloso, Marcos Emanuel da Costa

2006-01-01

The majority of N from mineral fertilizers and cover crops is usually not used by the very next corn crop, but can be absorbed by follow-up crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of residual nitrogen from urea, sunnhemp (Crotalaria juncea) and millet (Pennisetum americanum) labeled with 15 N, applied to no-tillage corn in the previous growing season, in a Red Latosol of the Cerrado. The study was conducted in an experimental farm of the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Ilha Solteira, in Selviria county (MS), Brazil, in different areas. The experiment had a randomized complete block design, with 15 treatments and four replications. Treatments were applied to corn crop in the 2001/02 and 2003/04 growing seasons. They were distributed in a 3 x 5 factorial layout, representing the combination of three cover crops: sunnhemp, millet and spontaneous vegetation (fallow) and five N rates (as urea): 0, 30, 80, 130, and 180 kg ha-1 of N. After corn harvest, the two areas were followed in the dry season and were followed by corn crop in the 2002/03 (experiment 1) and 2003/04 (experiment 2) growing seasons, using the same fertilizer rate on all plots to distinguish the residual effect of N sources. The average use of residual N from the millet and sunnhemp residues (above-ground part) by corn crop was less than 3.5 and 3 %, respectively, of the initial amount. The corn uptake of residual N from urea increased in a quadratic manner in experiment 1 and linearly in experiment Two as a response to the applied N rates, and the recover was below 3 %. The cover crop type did not affect the use of residual N of urea by corn, and vice-versa. (author)

Earthworms influenced by reduced tillage, conventional tillage and energy forest in Swedish agricultural field experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lagerloef, Jan (SLU, Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden)), Email: Jan.Lagerlof@ekol.slu.se; Paalsson, Olof; Arvidsson, Johan (SLU, Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden))

2012-03-15

We compared earthworm density, depth distribution and species composition in three soil cultivation experiments including the treatments ploughless tillage and mouldboard ploughing. Sampling was done in September 2005 and for one experiment also in 1994. By yearly sampling 1995-2005, earthworms in an energy forest of Salix viminalis were compared with those in an adjacent arable field. Sampling method was digging of soil blocks and hand sorting and formalin sampling in one cultivation experiment. Both methods were used in the energy forest and arable land comparison. In two soil cultivation experiments, highest abundances or biomass were found in ploughless tillage. Earthworm density was higher in the upper 10 cm, especially in the ploughless tillage. Earthworm density was significantly higher in the energy forest than in the arable field. Formalin sampling revealed c. 36% of the earthworm numbers found by digging in the energy forest and gave almost no earthworms in the arable field. In all treatments with soil cultivation, species living and feeding in the rhizosphere and soil dominated. One such species, Allolobophora chlorotica, was more abundant under mouldboard ploughing than ploughless tillage. Lumbricus terrestris, browsing on the surface and producing deep vertical burrows, was more common in the ploughless tillage. Species living and feeding close to the soil surface were almost only found in the energy forest, which had not been soil cultivated since 1984. The findings support earlier studies pointing out possibilities to encourage earthworms by reduced soil cultivation. This is one of the first published studies that followed earthworm populations in an energy forest plantation during several years. Explanation of earthworm reactions to management and environmental impacts should be done with consideration of the ecology of species or species groups. Earthworm sampling by formalin must always be interpreted with caution and calibrated by digging and

Atributos físicos, químicos e erosão entressulcos sob chuva simulada, em sistemas de plantio direto e convencional Physics and chemical attributes and enter-rill erosion under simulated rain in no tillage and conventional systems

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Cristiane G. da Silva

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Este trabalho teve como objetivo estimar as perdas de solo e água, nos sistemas de plantio direto e convencional, e foi realizado no câmpus experimental da UFMS, em Dourados - MS, em solo classificado como Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico, no período compreendido entre outubro de 2001 e novembro de 2002. As estimativas das perdas de solo e de água foram feitas utilizando-se do infiltrômetro de aspersão InfiAsper/UFMS, regulado para aplicar chuva com intensidade de 60 mm h-1, correspondendo à energia cinética de aproximadamente 820 Jm-2. Foram utilizados os seguintes tratamentos: sucessão milho-pousio; sucessão milho-trigo; sucessão milho-nabo; sucessão milho-ervilhaca; sucessão milho-aveia, os quais foram avaliados nos sistemas de preparo convencional (PC e plantio direto (PD. Com os resultados obtidos, foram ajustadas equações de regressão, com as quais foi possível obter valores de perda de solo que variaram de 5,34 g m-2 na sucessão milho-aveia a 47,75 g m-2 na sucessão milho-nabo para o PC, e de 1,09 g m-2 na sucessão milho-trigo a 4,19 g m-2 na sucessão milho-ervilhaca para o PD. As perdas de água variaram de 0,00329 m³m-2 na sucessão milho-aveia a 0,00988 m³m-2 na sucessão milho-nabo, e de 0,00123 a 0,00663 m³m-2 na sucessão milho-pousio para o PC e para o PD, respectivamente.This work was developed in order to estimate the soil and water loss in no tillage and conventional systems. The work was carried out at Experimental Center of the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul - UFMS, in Dourados - MS - Brazil, in a soil classified as "Latossolo Vermelho distroférrico", in a period between October, 2001, and November, 2002. Soil and water loss estimations were done using a sprinkling infiltrometer InfiAsper/UFMS, adjusted to apply a rainfall of 60 mm h-1 of intensity, corresponding to kinetic energy of 820 Jm-2. The estimates were calculated in five treatments: corn-rest succession, corn-wheat succession, corn

Impact of tillage intensity on clay loam soil structure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daraghmeh, Omar; Petersen, Carsten; Munkholm, Lars Juhl

Soil structure and structural stability are key parameters in sustainable soil management and optimum cropping practices. Locally and temporally adapted precision tillage may improve crop performance while at the same time reduce environmental impacts. The main objective of this study...... was to improve the knowledge of precision tillage practices through characterizing the effect of varied tillage intensities on structural properties of a clay loam soil. A field experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with two main factors, i.e. operational speed (OS, 2 levels......) and rotovating speed (RS, 3 levels). The tillage was conducted using a PTO-driven rotovator equipped to measure angular velocity. The effect of traffic compaction, made directly after tillage, was measured on soil taken from wheel track (WT) compared with soil outside wheel track (NWT). Soil samples from 0-3 cm...

Effect of Tillage in Day or Night and Application of Reduced Dosage of Imazethapyr and Trifluralin on Weed Control, Yield and Yield Components of Chickpea

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A Abbasian

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This Experiment was arranged as a strip-plot on the base of a completely randomized block design with three replications to study the effect of tillage (whether in day or night or in day by light-proof cover and application of reduced dosage of imazethapyr and trifluralin on weed control, yield and yield components of chickpea. Main plots consisted of tillage methods and subplots consisted of trifluralin (at doses of 480, 960 and 1440 g ai /ha and imazethapyr (at doses of 50, 100 and 150 g ai /ha, plus weed free and weedy checks. Results showed weed biomass in day tillage, night tillage and in light-proof cover tillage were respectively 86, 127 and 148 g m-2. Therefore tillage at night or by light-proof cover in day time showed not enough efficiency in weed control. Weed biomass increased when application dose of herbicides decreased. Chickpea grain yield showed significant differences when different doses of herbicides applied. The minimum and the maximum seed yield were obtained respectively in weed free (by 208 g m-2 and weedy checks (by 123 g m-2. Reduced dosage of imazethapyr and trifluralin could control weeds good enough by no significant decrease in chickpea yield. Efficacy of imazethapyr to control weeds grown in chickpea was significantly better than that of trifluralin

EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SOIL TILLAGE SYSTEMS ON NODULATION AND YIELD OF SOYBEAN

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D. Jug

2005-12-01

Full Text Available The primary soil tillage for different crops in Croatia is generally based on mouldboard ploughing which is the most expensive for crops production. Negative effects due to frequent passes by equipment and machines (deterioration of soil structure, soil compaction, lower biogenity and soil tilth, together with negative economical and energetical costs, can be lowered and avoided by introduction of reduced soil tillage or direct drilling (No-tillage. Accordingly, the main goal of this research was to determine effects of conventional and reduced soil tillage systems on yield components and nodulation ability of nitrogen fixing bacteria in soybean crop. The research was established at chernozem soil type of northern Baranja as monofactorial completely randomized block design in four repetitions. The soil tillage variants were as follows: CT Conventional Tillage (primary soil tillage by moldboard ploughing at 25-30 cm depth, DH Multiple Diskharrowing at 10-15 cm as primary tillage, and NT No-tillage system. Results show significantly lower plant density, mass of 1000 grains and grain yield at variants with reduced soil tillage in both investigation years. However, reduced tillage systems had positive trend on nitrogen-fixing bacteria nodulation, since the highest values of number and mass of nodules per plant were recorded. This research was run during the years 2002 and 2003, the last one extremely droughty, thus it requires continuation.

Nitrous oxide emissions from corn-soybean systems in the midwest.

Science.gov (United States)

Parkin, Timothy B; Kaspar, Thomas C

2006-01-01

Soil N2O emissions from three corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] systems in central Iowa were measured from the spring of 2003 through February 2005. The three managements systems evaluated were full-width tillage (fall chisel plow, spring disk), no-till, and no-till with a rye (Secale cereale L. 'Rymin') winter cover crop. Four replicate plots of each treatment were established within each crop of the rotation and both crops were present in each of the two growing seasons. Nitrous oxide fluxes were measured weekly during the periods of April through October, biweekly during March and November, and monthly in December, January, and February. Two polyvinyl chloride rings (30-cm diameter) were installed in each plot (in and between plant rows) and were used to support soil chambers during the gas flux measurements. Flux measurements were performed by placing vented chambers on the rings and collecting gas samples 0, 15, 30, and 45 min following chamber deployment. Nitrous oxide fluxes were computed from the change in N2O concentration with time, after accounting for diffusional constraints. We observed no significant tillage or cover crop effects on N2O flux in either year. In 2003 mean N2O fluxes were 2.7, 2.2, and 2.3 kg N2O-N ha(-1) yr(-1) from the soybean plots under chisel plow, no-till, and no-till + cover crop, respectively. Emissions from the chisel plow, no-till, and no-till + cover crop plots planted to corn averaged 10.2, 7.9, and 7.6 kg N2O-N ha(-1) yr(-1), respectively. In 2004 fluxes from both crops were higher than in 2003, but fluxes did not differ among the management systems. Fluxes from the corn plots were significantly higher than from the soybean plots in both years. Comparison of our results with estimates calculated using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default emission factor of 0.0125 indicate that the estimated fluxes underestimate measured emissions by a factor of 3 at our sites.

Sowing depths of brachiaria in intercropping with corn in no tillage planting Profundidade de semeadura de braquiárias em consorciação com milho em plantio direto

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Rodolfo de N. Gazola

2013-02-01

Full Text Available The forage production in crop-livestock integration is critical both for formation of straw for no tillage planting and food for livestock farm. The experiment was conducted in the autumn/winter of 2009 and 2010, in the city of Selvíria -state of Mato Grosso do Sul -MS, Brazil, at Experimental Station of FEIS/UNESP. The objective was to evaluate the optimal depth for deposition of seeds of two Brachiaria species intercropped with corn with emphasis on grain yield and straw. The experimental design was a randomized block design in a factorial scheme 3 x 3, with four replications. The main treatments were two species of Brachiaria (Urochloa brizantha "Marandú" and Urochloa ruziziensis, which seeds were mixed with corn fertilizer and a control treatment (without intercropping. Secondary treatments consisted of three depths (8; 10 and 16 cm in the deposition of fertilizer (in the consortium and the control treatments. The intercropping corn with Brachiaria produced similar amounts of straw. The straw total production was higher when intercropped and decreased with depth. The consortium with U. ruziziensis provided higher grain yield of corn in relation to U. brizantha, in 2010. The sowing depth of forages did not affect corn yield.A produção de forragem na integração lavoura-pecuária é de suma importância, tanto para alimentação animal como para formação de palhada para plantio direto. O experimento foi conduzido no outono/inverno de 2009 e 2010, em Selvíria -MS, na Fazenda de Ensino, Pesquisa e Extensão da FEIS/UNESP. O objetivo foi avaliar a profundidade mais adequada para deposição das sementes de duas espécies de braquiárias em consórcio com milho, com ênfase para a produtividade do milho e formação de palha. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, em esquema fatorial 3 x 3, com quatro repetições. Os tratamentos principais foram duas espécies de braquiárias (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandú e Urochloa

Baby corn, green corn, and dry corn yield of corn cultivars

OpenAIRE

Castro,Renato S; Silva,Paulo Sérgio L; Cardoso,Milton J

2013-01-01

In corn, when the first female inflorescence is removed, the plant often produces new female inflorescences. This allows the first ear to be harvested as baby corn (BC) and the second as green corn (GC) or dry corn (DC), that is, mature corn. The flexibility provided by a variety of harvested products allows the grower to compete with better conditions in the markets. We evaluated BC, GC, and DC yields in corn cultivars AG 1051, AG 2060, and BRS 2020, after the first ear was harvested as BC. ...

Efeitos de sistemas de cultivo na densidade e macroporosidade do solo e no desenvolvimento radicular do milho em latossolo roxo Effects of tillage systems on bulk density, aeration porosity and root development of corn in a typic haplorthox soil

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Paulo César Corsini

1999-02-01

Full Text Available Neste trabalho foram estudados os efeitos imediato e residual de dois sistemas de preparo na densidade e macroporosidade do solo e no desenvolvimento radicular do milho (Zea mays L., em camadas estruturalmente estabilizadas de um Latossolo Roxo, mantido por longo período sob plantio direto de milho. Os efeitos imediatos das operações envolvendo a subsolagem e a aração e gradagem aumentaram, em menos de um ano agrícola, a macroporosidade da camada superficial desse solo bem como o potencial de desenvolvimento radicular. Nesses tratamentos e nos três primeiros anos agrícolas, a adoção contínua do sistema de plantio direto diminuiu a porosidade de aeração do solo e o potencial de desenvolvimento radicular do milho. Os benefícios da manutenção desse sistema conservacionista nos valores de macroporosidade e densidade na camada superficial do solo iniciaram-se no quarto ano agrícola. A partir daí aumentaram, atingindo no oitavo ano agrícola consecutivo valores semelhantes aos imediatamente obtidos após as operações mecânicas realizadas na instalação do experimento. As relações entre desenvolvimento radicular, densidade e macroporosidade do solo foram estabelecidas por equações bem como por classes de desenvolvimento radicular.The objective of this study was to evaluate the immediate and the residual effects of soil preparation on bulk density, aeration porosity and root development relationships in stabilized structural layers of a typic Haplorthox soil due to long-term no-tillage system of corn (Zea mays L..The immediate effects of soil preparation to planting involving subsoiling, plowing, and disking improved soil macroporosity and root development for a short period of time. In these treatments and on the first three consecutive years, the adoption of continuous no-tillage management decreased soil macroporosity and root development. The long-term benefits of continuous no-tillage on soil macroporosity initiated at the

Visual soil structure effects of tillage and corn stover harvest in Iowa, U.S.A.

Science.gov (United States)

Excessive harvest of corn (Zea mays L.) stover for ethanol production has raised concerns regarding negative consequences on soil structure and physical quality. Visual soil structure assessment methods have the potential to help address these concerns through simple, straightforward on-farm evaluat...

Fluometuron and pendimethalin runoff from strip and conventionally tilled cotton in the southern atlantic coastal plain.

Science.gov (United States)

Potter, Thomas L; Truman, Clint C; Bosch, David D; Bednarz, Craig

2004-01-01

In the Atlantic Coastal Plain region of southern Georgia (USA), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) acreage increased threefold in the past decade. To more effectively protect water quality in the region, best management practices are needed that reduce pesticide runoff from fields in cotton production. This study compared runoff of two herbicides, fluometuron [N,N-dimethyl-N'-[3-(trifluoromethyl)-phenyl]-urea] and pendimethalin [N-(1-ethylpropyl)-3,4-dimethyl-2,6-dinitro-benzenamine], from plots in strip-tillage (ST) and conventional-tillage (CT) management near Tifton, GA. Rainfall simulations were conducted one day after preemergence herbicide applications to 0.0006-ha plots and runoff from 0.15-ha plots due to natural rainfall following preemergence pendimethalin and fluometuron and postemergence fluometuron use was monitored. Pendimethalin runoff was greater under CT than ST due to strong pendimethalin soil sorption and higher erosion and runoff under CT. The highest losses, 1.3% of applied in CT and 0.22% of applied in ST, were observed during rainfall simulations conducted 1 DAT. Fluometuron runoff from natural rainfall was substantially lower from ST than from CT plots but the trend was reversed in rainfall simulations. In all studies, fluometuron runoff was also relatively low (<1% of applied), and on plots under natural rainfall, desmethylfluometuron (DMF) represented about 50% of total fluometuron runoff. Fluometuron's relatively low runoff rate appeared linked to its rapid leaching, and high DMF detection rates in runoff support DMF inclusion in fluometuron risk assessments. Results showed that ST has the potential to reduce runoff of both herbicides, but fluometuron leaching may be a ground water quality concern.

The effect of conservation tillage forward speed and depth on farm fuel consumption

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A Jalali

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In recent years, production techniques and equipment have been developed for conservation tillage systems that have been adopted by many farmers. With proper management, overall yield averages for conventional and reduced tillage systems are nearly identical. Sometimes, field operations can be combined by connecting two or more implements. Much research has focused on either reducing or eliminating tillage operations to develop sustainable crop production methods. The greatest costs in farm operations are associated with tillage due to greater specific energy requirement in tillage and the high fuel costs. Combined operations reduce both fuel consumption and time and labor requirements by eliminating at least one individual trip over the field. Light tillage, spraying, or fertilizing operations can be combined with eitherprimary or secondary tillage or planting operations. The amount of fuel saved depends on the combined operations. Generally, light tillage, spraying, and fertilizing operations consume between 0.25 and 0.50 gallons of diesel fuel per acre. Fuel savings of 0.12 to 0.33 gallons per acre can usually be expected from combining operations. Eliminating one primary tillage operation and combining one light tillage, spraying, or fertilizing operation with another tillage or planting operation can usually save at least a gallon of diesel fuel per acre. Combining operations has the added benefit of reducing wheel traffic and compaction. To improve the tillage energy efficiency, implementing effective and agronomic strategies should be improved. Different tillage systems should be tested to determine the most energy efficient ones. Tillage helps seed growth and germination through providing appropriate conditions for soil to absorb sufficient temperature and humidity. Tillage is a time consuming and expensive procedure. With the application of agricultural operations, we can save considerable amounts of fuel, time and

Soil biological activity as affected by tillage intensity

Science.gov (United States)

Gajda, A. M.; Przewłoka, B.

2012-02-01

The effect of tillage intensity on changes of microbiological activity and content of particulate organic matter in soil under winter wheat duirng 3 years was studied. Microbial response related to the tillage-induced changes in soil determined on the content of biomass C and N, the rate of CO2 evolution, B/F ratio, the activity of dehydrogenases, acid and alkaline phosphatases, soil C/N ratio and microbial biomass C/N ratio confirmed the high sensitivity of soil microbial populations to the tillage system applied. After three year studies, the direct sowing system enhanced the increase of labile fraction of organic matter content in soil. There were no significant changes in the labile fraction quantity observed in soil under conventional tillage. Similar response related to the tillage intensity was observed in particulate organic matter quantities expressed as a percentage of total organic matter in soil. A high correlation coefficients calculated between contents of soil microbial biomass C and N, particulate organic matter and potentially mineralizable N, and the obtained yields of winter wheat grown on experimental fields indicated on a high importance of biological quality of status of soil for agricultural crop production.

Effects of nitrogen fertilizer application on greenhouse gas emissions and economics of corn production.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seungdo; Dale, Bruce E

2008-08-15

Nitrogen fertilizer plays an important role in corn cultivation in terms of both economic and environmental aspects. Nitrogen fertilizer positively affects corn yield and the soil organic carbon level, but it also has negative environmental effects through nitrogen-related emissions from soil (e.g., N20, NOx, NO3(-) leaching, etc.). Effects of nitrogen fertilizer on greenhouse gas emissions associated with corn grain are investigated via life cycle assessment. Ecoefficiency analysis is also used to determine an economically and environmentally optimal nitrogen application rate (NAR). The ecoefficiency index in this study is defined as the ratio of economic return due to nitrogen fertilizer to the greenhouse gas emissions of corn cultivation. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with corn grain decrease as NAR increases at a lower NAR until a minimum greenhouse gas emission level is reached because corn yield and soil organic carbon level increase with NAR. Further increasing NAR after a minimum greenhouse gas emission level raises greenhouse gas emissions associated with corn grain. Increased greenhouse gas emissions of corn grain due to nitrous oxide emissions from soil are much higher than reductions of greenhouse gas emissions of corn grain due to corn yield and changes in soil organic carbon levels at a higher NAR. Thus, there exists an environmentally optimal NAR in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The trends of the ecoefficiency index are similar to those of economic return to nitrogen and greenhouse gas emissions associated with corn grain. Therefore, an appropriate NAR could enhance profitability as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with corn grain.

Effects of Tillage Systems on Changes of Soil Nutrients, Yield and Land Equivalent Ratio in Roselle – Green Gram Intercropping

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A Hodiani mehr

2017-10-01

amount of magnesium of soil after harvest. The comparison of means showed that the highest and the lowest magnesium content were observed in conventional tillage (17.9 ppm and zero tillage (16.7 ppm respectively, (Table 2. The calcium amount in a pure culture of green gram (17.9 ppm was higher than the net cultivation of Roselle (15.5 ppm. The Most of potassium soil of intercropping 25 % Roselle +75% green gram (480.1 ppm and the lowest amount of pure cultures of Roselle (401.8 ppm, were obtained (Table 2. Bohrani et al., (2 were reported that no tillage systems compared with conventional tillage with crop residue have increases soil organic carbon content. With the increase of Roselle in intercropping reduced soil potassium and with increase the proportion of green gram in intercropping, potassium was increased. Tillage systems, planting ratio and interactions (tillage system × planting ratio had a significant effect on soil water content and soil temperature. Comparison of means showed that maximum and minimum soil water content of the soil related to the zero tillage (18.6 % and conventional tillage (12.6 %. soil water content pure culture of green gram was the greater than intercropping and pure culture of Roselle. Soil temperature in pure culture of Roselle was greater than of pure culture of green gram. Effect of planting ratio was significant on LER in 1% probability level. The highest and lowest of LER was obtained in 75 %green gram + 25% (1.36 and 25 % green gram +75 % Roselle (1.15. Beheshti and Soltaniyan (2012 reported that LER in various combinations of sorghum and beans intercropping was higher than of unit. Conclusions Investigation showed that the zero tillage treatments and intercropping increased the efficiency of environmental resources and improved the soil nutrient, significantly. The highest LER was achieved 75% green gram + 25% Roselle, which is indicative of the excellence of intercropping compared to monoculture. The amount of organic carbon has

Water quality of surface runoff and lint yield in cotton under furrow irrigation in Northeast Arkansas.

Science.gov (United States)

Adviento-Borbe, M Arlene A; Barnes, Brittany D; Iseyemi, Oluwayinka; Mann, Amanda M; Reba, Michele L; Robertson, William J; Massey, Joseph H; Teague, Tina G

2018-02-01

Use of furrow irrigation in row crop production is a common practice through much of the Midsouth US and yet, nutrients can be transported off-site through surface runoff. A field study with cotton (Gossypium hirsutum, L.) was conducted to understand the impact of furrow tillage practices and nitrogen (N) fertilizer placement on characteristics of runoff water quality during the growing season. The experiment was designed as a randomized complete block design with conventional (CT) and conservation furrow tillage (FT) in combination with either urea (URN) broadcast or 32% urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) injected, each applied at 101kgNha -1 . Concentrations of ammonium (NH 4 -N), nitrate (NO 3 -N), nitrite (NO 2 -N), and dissolved phosphorus (P) in irrigation runoff water and lint yields were measured in all treatments. The intensity and chemical form of nutrient losses were primarily controlled by water runoff volume and agronomic practice. Across tillage and fertilizer N treatments, median N concentrations in the runoff were water. Water pH, specific electrical conductivity, alkalinity and hardness were within levels that common to local irrigation water and less likely to impair pollution in waterways. Lint yields averaged 1111kgha -1 and were higher (P-value=0.03) in FT compared to CT treatments. Runoff volumes across irrigation events were greater (P-value=0.02) in CT than FT treatments, which increased NO 3 -N mass loads in CT treatments (394gNO 3 -Nha -1 season -1 ). Nitrate-N concentrations in CT treatments were still low and pose little threat to N contaminations in waterways. The findings support the adoption of conservation practices for furrow tillage and N fertilizer placement that can reduce nutrient runoff losses in furrow irrigation systems. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Role of secondary metabolites biosynthesis in resistance to cotton ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Secondary metabolites production in healthy and diseased sample of leaves of cotton varieties after the attack of CLCuV found maximum phenolics, carotenoids, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll a and b in healthy sample and minimum contents present in diseased sample. CIM-446 was the best variety to ...

Effects of No-Till on Yields as Influenced by Crop and Environmental Factors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toliver, Dustin K.; Larson, James A.; Roberts, Roland K.; English, B.C.; De La Torre Ugarte, D. G.; West, Tristram O.

2012-02-07

Th is research evaluated diff erences in yields and associated downside risk from using no-till and tillage practices. Yields from 442 paired tillage experiments across the United States were evaluated with respect to six crops and environmental factors including geographic location, annual precipitation, soil texture, and time since conversion from tillage to no-till. Results indicated that mean yields for sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with no-till were greater than with tillage. In addition, no-till tended to produce similar or greater mean yields than tillage for crops grown on loamy soils in the Southern Seaboard and Mississippi Portal regions. A warmer and more humid climate and warmer soils in these regions relative to the Heartland, Basin and Range, and Fruitful Rim regions appear to favor no-till on loamy soils. With the exception of corn (Zea mays L.) and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in the Southern Seaboard region, no-till performed poorly on sandy soils. Crops grown in the Southern Seaboard were less likely to have lower no-till yields than tillage yields on loamy soils and thus had lower downside yield risk than other farm resource regions. Consistent with mean yield results, soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] and wheat grown on sandy soils in the Southern Seaboard region using no-till had larger downside yield risks than when produced with no-till on loamy soils. Th e key fi ndings of this study support the hypothesis that soil and climate factors impact no-till yields relative to tillage yields and may be an important factor infl uencing risk and expected return and the adoption of the practice by farmers.

Uncertainties in assessing tillage erosion - How appropriate are our measuring techniques?

Science.gov (United States)

Fiener, P.; Wilken, F.; Aldana-Jague, E.; Deumlich, D.; Gómez, J. A.; Guzmán, G.; Hardy, R. A.; Quinton, J. N.; Sommer, M.; Van Oost, K.; Wexler, R.

2018-03-01

Tillage erosion on arable land is a very important process leading to a net downslope movement of soil and soil constitutes. Tillage erosion rates are commonly in the same order of magnitude as water erosion rates and can be even higher, especially under highly mechanized agricultural soil management. Despite its prevalence and magnitude, tillage erosion is still understudied compared to water erosion. The goal of this study was to bring together experts using different techniques to determine tillage erosion and use the different results to discuss and quantify uncertainties associated with tillage erosion measurements. The study was performed in northeastern Germany on a 10 m by 50 m plot with a mean slope of 8%. Tillage erosion was determined after two sequences of seven tillage operations. Two different micro-tracers (magnetic iron oxide mixed with soil and fluorescent sand) and one macro-tracer (passive radio-frequency identification transponders (RFIDs), size: 4 × 22 mm) were used to directly determine soil fluxes. Moreover, tillage induced changes in topography were measured for the entire plot with two different terrestrial laser scanners and an unmanned aerial system for structure from motion topography analysis. Based on these elevation differences, corresponding soil fluxes were calculated. The mean translocation distance of all techniques was 0.57 m per tillage pass, with a relatively wide range of mean soil translocation distances ranging from 0.39 to 0.72 m per pass. A benchmark technique could not be identified as all used techniques have individual error sources, which could not be quantified. However, the translocation distances of the macro-tracers used were consistently smaller than the translocation distances of the micro-tracers (mean difference = - 26 ± 12%), which questions the widely used assumption of non-selective soil transport via tillage operations. This study points out that tillage erosion measurements, carried out under almost

Strip Tillage and Early-Season Broadleaf Weed Control in Seeded Onion (Allium cepa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Gegner-Kazmierczak

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Field experiments were conducted in 2007 and 2008 near Oakes, North Dakota (ND, USA, to evaluate if strip tillage could be incorporated into a production system of seeded onion (Allium cepa to eliminate the standard use of a barley (Hordeum vulgare companion crop with conventional, full width tillage, yet support common early-season weed control programs. A split-factor design was used with tillage (conventional and strip tillage as the main plot and herbicide treatments (bromoxynil, DCPA, oxyfluorfen, and pendimethalin as sub-plots. Neither tillage nor herbicide treatments affected onion stand counts. Common lambsquarters (Chenopodium album densities were lower in strip tillage compared to conventional tillage up to three weeks after the post-emergence applied herbicides. In general, micro-rate post-emergence herbicide treatments provided greater early-season broadleaf weed control than pre-emergence herbicide treatments. Onion yield and grade did not differ among herbicide treatments because the mid-season herbicide application provided sufficient control/suppression of the early-season weed escapes that these initial weed escapes did not impact onion yield or bulb diameter. In 2007, onion in the strip tillage treatment were larger in diameter resulting in greater total and marketable yields compared to conventional tillage. Marketable onion yield was 82.1 Mg ha−1 in strip tillage and 64.9 Mg ha−1 in conventional tillage. Results indicate that strip tillage use in direct-seeded onion production was beneficial, especially when growing conditions were conducive to higher yields and that the use of strip tillage in onion may provide an alternative to using a companion crop as it did not interfere with either early-season weed management system.

Characterization of tillage effects on soil permeability using different measures of macroporosity derived from tension infiltrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Bodner, G.; Schwen, A.; Scholl, P.; Kammerer, G.; Buchan, G.; Kaul, H.-P.; Loiskandl, W.

2010-05-01

approaches (direct vs. inverse evaluation, capillary vs. flow weighted pore radius). We will show the influence of the distinct evaluation procedures on the resulting effective macroporosity, as well as on the relationships between macropore radius and hydraulic conductivity (Moret and Arrúe, 2007) and pore fraction respectively (Carey et al., 2007). The infiltration measurements used in this study were obtained in a long-term tillage trial located in the semi-arid region of Eastern Austria. Measurements were taken five times over the vegetation period, starting immediately after tillage until harvest of the winter wheat crop. Three tillage systems were evaluated, being conventional tillage with plough, minimum tillage with chisel and no-tillage. Additional to infiltration measurements, also soil water content was monitored continuously by a capacitance probe in all three replicates of each tillage treatment in 10, 20 and 40 cm soil depth. Water content time series are used to derive flow velocity in the wet range by cross-correlation analysis (Wu et al., 1997). This effective parameter of water transmission will then be compared to the flow behaviour expected from the characterization of soil macroporosity. We will show that mainly in no-tillage systems large macropores contribute essentially to flow and therefore the decision on pore measure and evaluation procedure to be used leads to substantial differences. For a detailed comparison of tillage effects on soil hydraulic properties it is therefore essential to analyse the contribution of different tension infiltrometry based evaluation methods to explain effective water transmission through the complex porous network of the soil. References Carey, S.K., Quinton, W.L., Goeller, N.T. 2007. Field and laboratory estimates of pore size properties and hydraulic characteristics for subarctic organic soils. Hydrol. Process. 21, 2560-2571. Moret, D., Arrúe, J.L. 2007. Characterizing soil water conducting macro- and mesoporosity

N-utilization in non-inversion tillage systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Elly Møller; Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Olesen, Jørgen E

2011-01-01

When changing from ploughing to non-inversion tillage, N rates are of particular importance both for farmers and the environment. A tillage and fertilizer experiment was established in Denmark under temperate coastal climatic conditions to evaluate the N fertilizer responses on yields and N uptake......–30 kg N ha−1 of the total fertilizer N amount in autumn to autumn-sown crops (1.00NAut). In all the crop rotations, straw was chopped and retained after harvest. Different types of N fertilizer responses were observed in the six crops, but generally yields were lower with non-inversion tillage than...... with ploughing. On two occasions, yields in ploughed plots were significantly (p able to offset the growth reduction, which resulted from poor growth in patches probably caused...

Inoculação de sementes com Bacillus subtilis, formulado com farinha de ostras e desenvolvimento de milho, soja e algodão Seed inoculation with Bacillus subtilis, formulated with oyster meal and growth of corn, soybean and cotton

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Fernando de Araujo

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Bacillus subtilis, bactéria habitante natural do solo, produz antibióticos, enzimas e fitohormonios que proporcionam benefícios para as plantas. Essa espécie microbiana é também descrita como rizobactéria promotora de crescimento de plantas (RPCP. Sementes de milho, algodão e soja foram inoculadas com células de B. subtilis formulado com farinha de ostras objetivando-se avaliar a emergência e o desenvolvimento das plantas. A inoculação proporcionou aumento de emergências em algodão e soja. Além disso, a inoculação com o produto biológico incrementou significativamente a produção de massa seca, na parte aérea do milho. Os teores de fósforo e nitrogênio foram maiores no tecido foliar de milho, inoculados com a bactéria e farinha de ostras, comparando-se com a testemunha. A interação do resíduo orgânico com a bactéria proporcionou ganhos no crescimento e nutrição das plantas. A inoculação de sementes com B. subtilis, formulado com o resíduo orgânico, apresentou-se como uma alternativa tecnológica viável para a inoculação de sementes.Bacillus subtilis is a soil bacteria able to synthesize antibiotics, enzymes and phytohormones importants for plant growth. This specie is also classified in plant growth as promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR. A biological product containing oyster meal and cells of B. subtilis was inoculated in seeds of corn, cotton and soybean. This inoculation increased emergence in cotton and soybean. The growth of corn was stimulated by seed inoculation with B. subtilis and organic amendment. The concentration of phosphorus and nitrogen significantly increased in the corn treated with the product. The interaction bacteria with organic amendment provided increments in plant growth. The inoculation of seeds with B. subtilis and amendments is promising technological alternative for seed treatment.

[Conservation tillage systems in North America and their significance for China].

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xueming; Zhang, Xiaoping; Fang, Huajun; Liang, Aizhen; Qi, Xiaoning; Wang, Yang

2004-02-01

Soil degradation through erosion and desertification reduces soil productivity, and is a serious problem in agricultural production of China. To avert our arable land from further degradation, soil management must be shifted from degrading tillage to conservation practices. Over viewing the technology used in the 20th century for controlling soil degradation from erosion, conservation tillage developed in the United States and adopted in South America and Africa is one of the most successful measures to overcome soil degradation problems. This paper reviewed the historical development and the current situation of conservation tillage systems used in North and South America, with special reference to their effects on soil erosion control and soil quality. The increasing adoption of conservation tillage systems in North and South America and Africa followed an enhanced awareness of the increasing risk of soil erosion and the high cost of fuel associated with conventional tillage. Many crucial points for successfully adopting conservation tillage systems were emphasized, such as equipment/tool development and chemical weed control. Adopting conservation tillage could provide China with low-priced means of reducing soil degradation and improving soil and water quality.

Field-Evolved Resistance in Corn Earworm to Cry Proteins Expressed by Transgenic Sweet Corn

Science.gov (United States)

Dively, Galen P.; Finkenbinder, Chad

2016-01-01

sweet corn provide strong evidence of field-evolved resistance in H. zea populations to multiple Cry toxins. The high adoption rate of Bt field corn and cotton, along with the moderate dose expression of Cry1Ab and related Cry toxins in these crops, and decreasing refuge compliance probably contributed to the evolution of resistance. Our results have important implications for resistance monitoring, refuge requirements and other regulatory policies, cross-resistance issues, and the sustainability of the pyramided Bt technology. PMID:28036388

Predicting soil workability and fragmentation in tillage: a review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Obour, Peter Bilson; Lamandé, Mathieu; Edwards, Gareth T. C.

2017-01-01

of SWRC and the drop-shatter tests or tensile strength; (i) to quantify the effects of soil texture, organic matter and compaction on soil workability; and (ii) to compare soil water content for workability in the field with theoretical soil workability, thereby improving the prediction of soil......Soil workability and friability are required parameters to consider when creating suitable seedbeds for crop establishment and growth. Knowledge of soil workability is important for scheduling tillage operations and for reducing the risk of tillage-induced structural degradation of soils....... A reliable evaluation of soil workability implies a distinctive definition of the critical water content (wet and dry limits) for tillage. In this review, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the methods for determining soil workability, and the effects of soil properties and tillage systems on soil...

Synthesis of Cotton from Tossa Jute Fiber and Comparison with Original Cotton

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Md. Mizanur Rahman

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Cotton fibers were synthesized from tossa jute and characteristics were compared with original cotton by using FTIR and TGA. The FTIR results indicated that the peak intensity of OH group from jute cotton fibers occurred at 3336 cm−1 whereas the peak intensity of original cotton fibers occurred at 3338 cm−1. This indicated that the synthesized cotton fiber properties were very similar to the original cotton fibers. The TGA result showed that maximum rate of mass loss, the onset of decomposition, end of decomposition, and activation energy of synthesized cotton were higher than original cotton. The activation energy of jute cotton fibers was higher than the original cotton fibers.

Efeitos da calagem em semedura direta de milho Effect of lime application on no-tillage corn

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Josinei Antonio Tissi

2004-12-01

yet. To evaluate these effects on maize and its reflexes on grain yield performance, a field trial was carried out on a dystrophic clayey Rhodic Hapludox, previously managed under no-tillage for six years, at Tibagi, State of Paraná, Brazil. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications, using 44.8 m² plots. The treatments consisted of four liming rates (0, 1, 2 and 3 t.ha-1, pure CaCO3 equivalents which represented 1/3, 2/3 and the total amount calculated for the soil to reach a base saturation of 70%, in the 0-20 cm layer. Dolomitic limestone (27% of CaO, 20% of MgO and 85% of ECCE was broadcast-applied to the soil surface without incorporation. After 22 months, lime application increased soil pH in CaCl2 0.01 mol.L-1, exchangeable Ca and Mg, and base saturation, and reduced H + Al and exchangeable Al at the superficial layer (0-10 cm. It also increased exchangeable Ca and decreased exchangeable Al at the subsoil (20-40 cm. Liming did not significantly affect length and relative distribution of corn root at the 40 cm depth, reduced average root radius and increased plant uptake of P, Ca, Mg, and S, with no significant effects on grain yields. Surface lime application did not affect Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn concentrations in the soil and leaves or plant uptake of these micronutrients.

Understanding N timing in corn yield and fertilizer N recovery: An insight from an isotopic labeled-N determination

Science.gov (United States)

de Almeida, Rodrigo Estevam Munhoz; Pierozan Junior, Clovis; Lago, Bruno Cocco; Trivelin, Paulo Cesar Ocheuze

2018-01-01

Early fertilizer nitrogen (N) application on cover crops or their residues during the off-season is a practice adopted in Brazil subtropical conditions under no-tillage corn (Zea mays L.) systems. However, the effect of early N application on yield, plant N content, and N recovery efficiency (NRE) for corn is not yet well documented. Five fertilizer N timings in an oat-corn system were evaluated in two studies utilizing an isotopic-labeled N determination, 15N isotope. The N fertilization timings were: (i) oat tillering, (ii) 15 days before corn planting time, over the oat residues, (iii) at corn planting time, (iv) in-season at the three-leaf growth stage (V3), and (v) in-season split application at V3 and six-leaf (V6) growth stages. Based on the statistical analysis, the N fertilization timings were separated into three groups: 1) N-OATS, designated to N applied at oat; 2) N-PLANT, referred to pre-plant and planting N applications; and 3) N-CORN, designated to in-season corn N applications. Corn yield was not affected by the N fertilization timing. However, the N-CORN N fertilization timings enhanced NRE by 17% and 35% and final N recovery system (plant plus soil) by 16% and 24% all relative to N-OATS and N-PLANT groups, respectively. Overall, N-OATS resulted in the largest N derived from fertilizer (NDFF) amount in the deeper soil layer, in overall a delta of 10 kg N ha-1 relative to the rest of the groups. Notwithstanding corn yield was not affected, early N fertilization under subtropical conditions is not a viable option since NRE was diminished and the non-recovery N increased relative to the in-season N applications. PMID:29462178

Understanding N timing in corn yield and fertilizer N recovery: An insight from an isotopic labeled-N determination.

Science.gov (United States)

Maciel de Oliveira, Silas; Almeida, Rodrigo Estevam Munhoz de; Ciampitti, Ignacio A; Pierozan Junior, Clovis; Lago, Bruno Cocco; Trivelin, Paulo Cesar Ocheuze; Favarin, José Laércio

2018-01-01

Early fertilizer nitrogen (N) application on cover crops or their residues during the off-season is a practice adopted in Brazil subtropical conditions under no-tillage corn (Zea mays L.) systems. However, the effect of early N application on yield, plant N content, and N recovery efficiency (NRE) for corn is not yet well documented. Five fertilizer N timings in an oat-corn system were evaluated in two studies utilizing an isotopic-labeled N determination, 15N isotope. The N fertilization timings were: (i) oat tillering, (ii) 15 days before corn planting time, over the oat residues, (iii) at corn planting time, (iv) in-season at the three-leaf growth stage (V3), and (v) in-season split application at V3 and six-leaf (V6) growth stages. Based on the statistical analysis, the N fertilization timings were separated into three groups: 1) N-OATS, designated to N applied at oat; 2) N-PLANT, referred to pre-plant and planting N applications; and 3) N-CORN, designated to in-season corn N applications. Corn yield was not affected by the N fertilization timing. However, the N-CORN N fertilization timings enhanced NRE by 17% and 35% and final N recovery system (plant plus soil) by 16% and 24% all relative to N-OATS and N-PLANT groups, respectively. Overall, N-OATS resulted in the largest N derived from fertilizer (NDFF) amount in the deeper soil layer, in overall a delta of 10 kg N ha-1 relative to the rest of the groups. Notwithstanding corn yield was not affected, early N fertilization under subtropical conditions is not a viable option since NRE was diminished and the non-recovery N increased relative to the in-season N applications.

Improving maize productivity through tillage and nitrogen management

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Continuous cultivation of fields with same implement (cultivator) creates a hard pan in the subsoil which adversely affects crop productivity. In addition to tillage, nitrogen management is a key factor for better crop growth and yield. Impact of different tillage systems and nitrogen management on yield attributes and grain yield ...

Tillage effects on soil. Physical properties and sunflower ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Soil physical properties and sunflower (Helianthus annuus) yield under convectional tillage (CT) and zero-tillage (Z,TJ. was monitored for 3 consecutive years in Ilorin, Southern Guinea Savannah zone of Nigeria (SGSZN). While bulk density of CT increased slightly over the years, significant decrease of 12 and 8% were ...

Drought tolerance studies through WSSI and stomata in upland cotton

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baloch, M.J.; Jatoi, W.A.; Soomro, Z.A.; Khan, N.U.; Hassan, G.; Khakwani, A.A.; Veesar, N.F.

2011-01-01

Water stress susceptibility index (WSSI) and stomatal conductance were used to determine the stress tolerance of 10 upland cotton cultivars during 2009 at Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, Pakistan. The experiment was conducted in spilt plot design with irrigations as main plots and cultivars as sub-plots. Two irrigation treatments were used i.e. one has two irrigations (water stress) and other has eight irrigations (non-stress). Analysis of variance revealed significant genotypic differences about WSSI for all the traits. Non-significant interaction between irrigations and cultivars for seed cotton yield and boll weight exhibited varietals stability over irrigation regimes, whereas significant interactions between above parameters for plant height and bolls per plant suggested genotypic instability over irrigation treatments for these traits. Overall, cultivars mean performance for all the traits in stress conditions was poor as compared to non-stress conditions, nevertheless some cultivars exhibited nonsignificant mean differences in both irrigation regimes, thus showing higher stress tolerance. The WSSI values of seed cotton yield as displayed in bi plot revealed that cultivars CRIS-477, CRIS-483 and CRIS-486 were found highly susceptible to water stress. Cultivars CRIS-476, CRIS-482, CRIS-487 and NIAB-78 were characterized as highly susceptible with minimum production even under optimum irrigation conditions. Cultivar CRIS-9 was moderately tolerant as produced low production. However, cultivars CRIS-485 and CRIS-484 were found highly stress tolerant because of minimum WSSI value and lower stomatal conductance. Negative correlations between water stress and WSSI for seed cotton yield and plant height revealed that any increase in the degree of stress caused a corresponding decrease in WSSI. (author)

Soil respiration in a long-term tillage treatment experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Gelybó, Györgyi; Birkás, Márta; Dencsö, Márton; Horel, Ágota; Kása, Ilona; Tóth, Eszter

2016-04-01

Regular soil CO2 efflux measurements have been carried out at Józsefmajor longterm tillage experimental site in 2014 and 2015 with static chamber technique in no-till and ploughing plots in seven spatial replicates. The trial was established in 2002 on a loamy chernozem soil at the experimental site of the Szent István University nearby the city Hatvan, northern Hungary. At the site sunflower (Helianthus A.) and wheat (Triticum A.) was grown in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Ancillary measurements carried out at the site included weather parameters, soil water content, soil temperature. The aim of the investigation was to detect the effect of soil disturbance and soil tillage treatments on soil CO2 emission in agricultural ecosystems. Soil respiration measurements were carried out every week during the vegetation period and campaign measurements were performed scheduled to tillage application. In this latter case, measurements were carried out 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12, 18, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 hours and 7 days after tillage operation. Results showed that during the vegetation season in the majority of measurement occasions emission was higher in the no-till plots. These differences; however were not found to be statistically significant. Due to the short term effect of tillage treatment, emissions increased following tillage treatment in the ploughed plots. Soil water content was also examined as main driver of soil CO2 fluxes. Soil water content sharply decreases in the surface layer (5-10 cm depth) after tillage treatment indicating a fast drying due to soil disturbance. This effect slowly attenuated and eventually extincted in approx. two weeks. CO2 emission measurements were associated with high uncertainties as a result of the measurement technique. Our further aim is to reduce this uncertainty using independent measurement techniques on the field.

Quantification of tillage, plant cover, and cumulative rainfall effects on soil surface microrelief by statistical, geostatistical and fractal indices

Science.gov (United States)

Paz-Ferreiro, J.; Bertol, I.; Vidal Vázquez, E.

2008-07-01

Changes in soil surface microrelief with cumulative rainfall under different tillage systems and crop cover conditions were investigated in southern Brazil. Surface cover was none (fallow) or the crop succession maize followed by oats. Tillage treatments were: 1) conventional tillage on bare soil (BS), 2) conventional tillage (CT), 3) minimum tillage (MT) and 4) no tillage (NT) under maize and oats. Measurements were taken with a manual relief meter on small rectangular grids of 0.234 and 0.156 m2, throughout growing season of maize and oats, respectively. Each data set consisted of 200 point height readings, the size of the smallest cells being 3×5 cm during maize and 2×5 cm during oats growth periods. Random Roughness (RR), Limiting Difference (LD), Limiting Slope (LS) and two fractal parameters, fractal dimension (D) and crossover length (l) were estimated from the measured microtopographic data sets. Indices describing the vertical component of soil roughness such as RR, LD and l generally decreased with cumulative rain in the BS treatment, left fallow, and in the CT and MT treatments under maize and oats canopy. However, these indices were not substantially affected by cumulative rain in the NT treatment, whose surface was protected with previous crop residues. Roughness decay from initial values was larger in the BS treatment than in CT and MT treatments. Moreover, roughness decay generally tended to be faster under maize than under oats. The RR and LD indices decreased quadratically, while the l index decreased exponentially in the tilled, BS, CT and MT treatments. Crossover length was sensitive to differences in soil roughness conditions allowing a description of microrelief decay due to rainfall in the tilled treatments, although better correlations between cumulative rainfall and the most commonly used indices RR and LD were obtained. At the studied scale, parameters l and D have been found to be useful in interpreting the configuration properties of

Manejo de plantas daninhas na cultura do algodoeiro em sistema de plantio direto Weed management of cotton under no-tillage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R.S. Freitas

2006-06-01

, under no-tillage systems. A factorial scheme (4 x 4 + 1 was used in a completely randomized block design, with four replications. The first factor consisted of four S-metolachlor doses (0, 384, 768 and 1.152 g ha-1 and the second of four trifloxysulfuron-sodium doses (0.0; 2.625; 5.250; and 7.875 g ha-1, plus a control kept weeded throughout the cotton cycle. The weeds were evaluated 25, 45 and 60 DAE. The following weed species were present in the area: Alternanthera tenella, representing over 80% of the total, Bidens spp., Tridax procumbens, Acanthospermum hispidum, Ipomoea grandifolia, Digitaria horizontalis, Eleusine indica, and Commelina benghalensis. S-metolachlor controlled these species with low efficiency. The best control was obtained with the combination of S-metolachlor at 1.152 g ha-1 with trifloxysulfuron-sodium at 7.875 g ha-1, which controlled more than 90% of A. tenella and other dicotyledonous weeds until 60 DAE. This control was still not sufficient to clear the ground for the cotton harvest. The combinations S-metolachlor at 384 and 768 g ha¹ with trifloxysufuron-sodium at 7.875 g ha-1 and S-metolachlor at 1.152 g ha-1 with trifloxysulfuron-sodium in the doses 5.250 and 7.875 g ha-1 provided similar yields for the weeded control.

Effect of Tillage Technology on Species Composition of Weeds in Monoculture of Maize

OpenAIRE

S. Chovancova; F. Illek; J. Winkler

2014-01-01

The effect of tillage technology of maize on intensity of weed infestation and weed species composition was observed at experimental field. Maize is grown consecutively since 2001. The experimental site is situated at an altitude of 230 m above sea level in the Czech Republic. Variants of tillage technology are CT: plowing – conventional tillage 0.22 m, MT: loosening – disc tillage on the depth of 0.1 – 0.12 m, NT: direct sowing – without tillage. The evaluation of weed infestation was carrie...

Obtaining biodiesel from oils mixtures of corn and cotton; Obtencao de biodiesel a partir da mistura dos oleos de milho e algodao

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lima, Lionete Nunes de; Santos, Jose Carlos Oliveira; Carvalho, Maria Wilma Nunes Cordeiro [Universidade Federal de Campina Grande (UFCG), PB (Brazil); Dantas, Manoel Barbosa; Rosenhaim, Raul; Sousa, Antonio Gouveia [Universidade Federal da Paraiba (UFPB), Joao Pessoa, PB (Brazil)

2008-07-01

Most of the world energy consumption derives from oil, coal and natural gas. The shortage of the energy sources, especially the energy from fossil fuels, and moreover the impossibility of its renovation has motivated the development of technologies that allow for the usage of renewable energy sources. Biodiesel is biodegradable, renewable and it obeys the cycle of carbon. It is defined as a blend of mono-alkyl esters of fatty acids derived from renewable sources, as vegetable oils and animal fats. It is obtained by means of a transesterification process, in which the transformation of triglycerides into smaller molecules of fatty acid esters takes place, and it displays physical and chemical characteristics similar to the ones of a fossil fuel-derived diesel oil. This work presents the attainment of biodiesel from the mixture of oils of corn and cotton, utilizing the homogeneous potassium hydroxide catalyst (KOH). The biodiesel was characterized on the basis of physico-chemical properties, of infrared spectroscopy (IR), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and thermogravimetry (TG). In thermogravimetric analyses, it was observed that the biodiesel presented an initial decomposition temperature of lower than that of oil, demonstrating be more volatile and bringing up the diesel. (author)

Urease activity and its relation to soil organic matter, microbial biomass nitrogen and urea-nitrogen assimilation by maize in a Brazilian oxisol under no-tillage and tillage systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roscoe, R.; Vasconcellos, C.A.; Furtini Neto, A.E.; Guedes, G.A.A.; Fernandes, L.A.

2000-01-01

We studied the relationship between urease activity (UA) and soil organic matter (SOM), microbial biomass N (Nbiom) content, and urea-N fertilizer assimilation by maize in a Dark Red Latosol (Typic Haplustox) cultivated for 9 years under no-tillage (NT), tillage with a disc plough (DP), and tillage

Economic and energy assessment of minimalized soil tillage methods in maize cultivation

OpenAIRE

Piotr Szulc; Andrzej Dubas

2014-01-01

Grain yield of maize cultivated in the years 1997-2009 in monoculture and with annual tillage simplifications was assessed in energy and economy terms. Effects of no-tillage system and direct sowing (D) with cultivation with autumn deep (A) and shallow (B) ploughing and cultivation with spring pre-sowing ploughing (C) were compared. It was demonstrated that the 13-year maize grain yield in no-tillage system and direct sowing was lower by 10.4% than the yield obtained in conventional tillage s...

Response of CH4 and N2O emissions and wheat yields to tillage method changes in the North China plain.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shenzhong Tian

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to quantify soil methane (CH(4 and nitrous oxide (N(2O emissions when converting from minimum and no-tillage systems to subsoiling (tilled soil to a depth of 40 cm to 45 cm in the North China Plain. The relationships between CH(4 and N(2O flux and soil temperature, moisture, NH(4 (+-N, organic carbon (SOC and pH were investigated over 18 months using a split-plot design. The soil absorption of CH(4 appeared to increase after conversion from no-tillage (NT to subsoiling (NTS, from harrow tillage (HT to subsoiling (HTS and from rotary tillage (RT to subsoiling (RTS. N(2O emissions also increased after conversion. Furthermore, after conversion to subsoiling, the combined global warming potential (GWP of CH(4 and N(2O increased by approximately 0.05 kg CO(2 ha(-1 for HTS, 0.02 kg CO(2 ha(-1 for RTS and 0.23 kg CO(2 ha(-1 for NTS. Soil temperature, moisture, SOC, NH(4 (+-N and pH also changed after conversion to subsoiling. These changes were correlated with CH(4 uptake and N(2O emissions. However, there was no significant correlation between N(2O emissions and soil temperature in this study. The grain yields of wheat improved after conversion to subsoiling. Under HTS, RTS and NTS, the average grain yield was elevated by approximately 42.5%, 27.8% and 60.3% respectively. Our findings indicate that RTS and HTS would be ideal rotation tillage systems to balance GWP decreases and grain yield improvements in the North China Plain region.

Effects of ridge tillage on photosynthesis and root characters of rice

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Yao Yuan-zhi

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Rice (Oryza sativa L. is an important crop and breeding has not been able to improve yield. Root characteristics of hybrid rice 'Zhuliangyou 02' under conventional tillage and ridge tillage were studied in a Calcisols in Huaihua, China, from 2011 to 2013 to find better tillage methods to resolve massive water consumption, improve yield, and enhance productivity of agricultural labor for rice cultivation. Results showed ridge tillage increased photosynthetic parameters such as photosynthetic rate (P N, stomatal conductance (g s, and water use efficiency (WUE. It also significantly enhanced rice root number, root activity, and antioxidant enzyme activities; it also increased effective panicle number and actual yield by 22.12% and 15.18%, respectively, and enhanced aerenchymae during the early growth stage. Overall, ridge tillage could promote hybrid rice yields by enhancing root absorption, gas exchange, and reducing water consumption. It could be widely used in rice cultivation.

Efeito de práticas culturais na conversão e no balanço energéticos Effect of cultural practices on energy conversion and balance

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Henrique Pereira dos Santos

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Desenvolveu-se de 1997 a 2003, em Passo Fundo (RS, um experimento constituído de quatro sistemas de manejo de solo (plantio direto, cultivo mínimo, preparo convencional de solo com arado de discos e preparo convencional de solo com arado de aivecas e de três sistemas de rotação de culturas: sistema I (trigo/soja; sistema II (trigo/soja e ervilhaca/milho ou sorgo e sistema III (trigo/soja, ervilhaca/milho ou sorgo e aveia branca/soja. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições. A parcela principal foi constituída pelos sistemas de manejo de solo, e as subparcelas, pelos sistemas de rotação de culturas. Neste trabalho, apresentam-se a conversão energética (energia disponível/energia consumida e o balanço energético (energia disponível - energia consumida no período de 7 anos. No sistema plantio direto houve conversão e balanço energéticos (72,44 e 190.766 MJ ha-1 superiores ao cultivo mínimo (64,06 e 167.349 MJ ha-1, aos preparos convencionais de solo com arado de discos (54,35 e 134.982 MJ ha-1 e com arado de aivecas (52,02 e 128.159 MJ ha-1 respectivamente. O trigo em rotação de culturas foi mais eficiente energeticamente do que a monocultura desse cereal. Na cultura de milho foi observada maior eficiência energética.The effects of soil management systems and crop rotations were assessed from 1997 to 2003, in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Four soil management systems (no-tillage, minimum tillage, conventional tillage using disk plow, and conventional tillage using moldboard plow and three crop rotation systems [system I (wheat/soybean, system II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn or sorghum, and system III (wheat/soybean, common vetch/corn or sorghum and white oats/soybean] were compared. An experimental design of blocks at random with split-plots and three replications was used. The main plot consisted of soil management systems, while the split

Haplic Chernozem Properties as Affected by Different Tillage Systems

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Magdalena Hábová

2016-01-01

Full Text Available During 2007–2011 we assessed content and quality of humic substances with relationship to soil structure. Object of study was Haplic Chernozem (Hrušovany nad Jevišovkou, Czech Republic under three different tillage systems: – conventional ploughing to a depth of 0.22 m (CP; – reduced tillage with shallow harrowing to a depth of 0.15 m (RTSH; – reduced tillage with subsoiling to a depth of 0.35–0.40 m (RTS. Isolation of humic acids was made according to IHSS standard method using spectrometer Shimadzu 8700. Aggregates stability was determined by wet sieving method. Results showed that macrostructure stability was directly connected with time of sampling and content and quality of humic substances. After five years of experiment statistically significant differences in humic substances content were found. The highest structure stability, quantity and quality of humic substances were achieved under reduced tillage with shallow harrowing.

Temporal Dynamics of Soil Microbial Communities below the Seedbed under Two Contrasting Tillage Regimes

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Florine Degrune

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Agricultural productivity relies on a wide range of ecosystem services provided by the soil biota. Plowing is a fundamental component of conventional farming, but long-term detrimental effects such as soil erosion and loss of soil organic matter have been recognized. Moving towards more sustainable management practices such as reduced tillage or crop residue retention can reduce these detrimental effects, but will also influence structure and function of the soil microbiota with direct consequences for the associated ecosystem services. Although there is increasing evidence that different tillage regimes alter the soil microbiome, we have a limited understanding of the temporal dynamics of these effects. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing of bacterial and fungal ribosomal markers to explore changes in soil microbial community structure under two contrasting tillage regimes (conventional and reduced tillage either with or without crop residue retention. Soil samples were collected over the growing season of two crops (Vicia faba and Triticum aestivum below the seedbed (15–20 cm. Tillage, crop and growing stage were significant determinants of microbial community structure, but the impact of tillage showed only moderate temporal dependency. Whereas the tillage effect on soil bacteria showed some temporal dependency and became less strong at later growing stages, the tillage effect on soil fungi was more consistent over time. Crop residue retention had only a minor influence on the community. Six years after the conversion from conventional to reduced tillage, soil moisture contents and nutrient levels were significantly lower under reduced than under conventional tillage. These changes in edaphic properties were related to specific shifts in microbial community structure. Notably, bacterial groups featuring copiotrophic lifestyles or potentially carrying the ability to degrade more recalcitrant compounds were favored under conventional

Temporal Dynamics of Soil Microbial Communities below the Seedbed under Two Contrasting Tillage Regimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Degrune, Florine; Theodorakopoulos, Nicolas; Colinet, Gilles; Hiel, Marie-Pierre; Bodson, Bernard; Taminiau, Bernard; Daube, Georges; Vandenbol, Micheline; Hartmann, Martin

2017-01-01

Agricultural productivity relies on a wide range of ecosystem services provided by the soil biota. Plowing is a fundamental component of conventional farming, but long-term detrimental effects such as soil erosion and loss of soil organic matter have been recognized. Moving towards more sustainable management practices such as reduced tillage or crop residue retention can reduce these detrimental effects, but will also influence structure and function of the soil microbiota with direct consequences for the associated ecosystem services. Although there is increasing evidence that different tillage regimes alter the soil microbiome, we have a limited understanding of the temporal dynamics of these effects. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing of bacterial and fungal ribosomal markers to explore changes in soil microbial community structure under two contrasting tillage regimes (conventional and reduced tillage) either with or without crop residue retention. Soil samples were collected over the growing season of two crops ( Vicia faba and Triticum aestivum ) below the seedbed (15-20 cm). Tillage, crop and growing stage were significant determinants of microbial community structure, but the impact of tillage showed only moderate temporal dependency. Whereas the tillage effect on soil bacteria showed some temporal dependency and became less strong at later growing stages, the tillage effect on soil fungi was more consistent over time. Crop residue retention had only a minor influence on the community. Six years after the conversion from conventional to reduced tillage, soil moisture contents and nutrient levels were significantly lower under reduced than under conventional tillage. These changes in edaphic properties were related to specific shifts in microbial community structure. Notably, bacterial groups featuring copiotrophic lifestyles or potentially carrying the ability to degrade more recalcitrant compounds were favored under conventional tillage, whereas

Tillage methods and mulch on water saving and yield of spring maize in Chitwan

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Ishwari Prasad Upadhyay

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Tillage methods and mulch influences the productivity and water requirement of spring maize hence a field experiment was conducted at the National Maize Research Program, Rampur in spring seasons of 2011 and 2012 with the objectives to evaluate different tillage methods with and without mulch on water requirement and grain yield of spring maize. The experiment was laid out in two factors factorial randomized complete design with three replications. The treatments consisted of tillage methods (Permanent bed, Zero tillage and Conventional tillage and mulch (with and without. Irrigation timing was fixed as knee high stage, tasseling stage and milking/dough stage. Data on number of plants, number of ears, thousand grain weight and grain yield were recorded and analysed using GenStat. Two years combined result showed that the effect of tillage methods and mulch significant influenced grain yield and water requirement of spring maize. The maize grain yield was the highest in permanent beds with mulch (4626 kg ha-1 followed by zero tillage with mulch (3838 kg ha-1. Whereas total water applied calculated during the crop period were the highest in conventional tillage without mulch followed by conventional tillage with mulch. The permanent bed with mulch increased the yield and reduced the water requirement of spring maize in Chitwan.

The effect of tillage systems and mulching on soil microclimate ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2008-12-17

Dec 17, 2008 ... Most of these traditional farmers employ zero tillage system and mulching .... Based on tillage systems, some researchers have ... The planting activity took ... tree as practised by most traditional farmers, owing to the high cost.

Effect of Interplanting with Zero Tillage and Straw Manure on Rice Growth and Rice Quality

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Shi-ping LIU

2007-09-01

Full Text Available The interplanting with zero-tillage of rice, i.e. direct sowing rice 10–20 days before wheat harvesting, and remaining about 30-cm high stubble after cutting wheat or rice with no tillage, is a new cultivation technology in wheat-rice rotation system. To study the effects of interplanting with zero tillage and straw manure on rice growth and quality, an experiment was conducted in a wheat-rotation rotation system. Four treatments, i.e. ZIS (Zero-tillage, straw manure and rice interplanting, ZI (Zero-tillage, no straw manure and rice interplanting, PTS (Plowing tillage, straw manure and rice transplanting, and PT (Plowing tillage, no straw manure and rice transplanting, were used. ZIS reduced plant height, leaf area per plant and the biomass of rice plants, but the biomass accumulation of rice at the late stage was quicker than that under conventional transplanting cultivation. In the first year (2002, there was no significant difference in rice yield among the four treatments. However, rice yield decreased in interplanting with zero-tillage in the second year (2003. Compared with the transplanting treatments, the number of filled grains per panicle decreased but 1000-grain weight increased in interplanting with zero-tillage, which were the main factors resulting in higher yield. Interplanting with zero-tillage improved the milling and appearance qualities of rice. The rates of milled and head rice increased while chalky rice rate and chalkiness decreased in interplanting with zero-tillage. Zero-tillage and interplanting also affected rice nutritional and cooking qualities. In 2002, ZIS showed raised protein content, decreased amylose content, softer gel consistency, resulting in improved rice quality. In 2003, zero-tillage and interplanting decreased protein content and showed similar amylose content as compared with transplanting treatments. Moreover, protein content in PTS was obviously increased in comparison with the other three treatments

[Corn.

Science.gov (United States)

Iowa History for Young People, 1993

1993-01-01

This theme issue focuses on corn. Iowa is the number one corn producing state in the United States. The featured articles in the issue concern, among other topics, Iowa children who live on farms, facts and statistics about corn, the Mesquakie Indians and corn shelling, corn hybrids, a short story, and the corn palaces of Sioux City. Activities,…

N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4} emissions from a fallow–wheat rotation with low N input in conservation and conventional tillage under a Mediterranean agroecosystem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tellez-Rio, Angela, E-mail: angela.tellez@upm.es [E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid (Spain); García-Marco, Sonia [E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Navas, Mariela; López-Solanilla, Emilia [E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas UPM-INIA. Dpto Biotecnología. E.T.S.I. Agrónomos. Technical University of Madrid. Campus Montegancedo, UPM. Autovía M-40, Salida 38 N, 36S. 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón. Madrid (Spain); Tenorio, Jose Luis [Dpto. de Medio Ambiente, INIA. Ctra. de La Coruña km. 7.5, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Vallejo, Antonio [E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2015-03-01

Conservation agriculture that includes no tillage (NT) or minimum tillage (MT) and crop rotation is an effective practice to increase soil organic matter in Mediterranean semiarid agrosystems. But the impact of these agricultural practices on greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as nitrous oxide (N{sub 2}O) and methane (CH{sub 4}), is variable depending mainly on soil structure and short/long-term tillage. The main objective of this study was to assess the long-term effect of three tillage systems (NT, MT and conventional tillage (CT)) and land-covers (fallow/wheat) on the emissions of N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4} in a low N input agricultural system during one year. This was achieved by measuring crop yields, soil mineral N and dissolved organic C contents, and fluxes of N{sub 2}O and CH{sub 4}. Total cumulative N{sub 2}O emissions were not significantly different (P > 0.05) among the tillage systems or between fallow and wheat. The only difference was produced in spring, when N{sub 2}O emissions were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in fallow than in wheat subplots, and NT reduced N{sub 2}O emissions (P < 0.05) compared with MT and CT. Taking into account the water filled pore space (WFPS), both nitrification and denitrification could have occurred during the experimental period. Denitrification capacity in March was similar in all tillage systems, in spite of the higher DOC content maintained in the topsoil of NT. This could be due to the similar denitrifier densities, targeted by nirK copy numbers at that time. Cumulative CH{sub 4} fluxes resulted in small net uptake for all treatments, and no significant differences were found among tillage systems or between fallow and wheat land-covers. These results suggest that under a coarse-textured soil in low N agricultural systems, the impact of tillage on GHG is very low and that the fallow cycle within a crop rotation is not a useful strategy to reduce GHG emissions. - Highlights: • Tillage systems and land-covers with low N

Infrared thermometry: a remote sensing technique for predicting yield in water-stressed cotton

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pinter, P.J.; Fry, K.E.; Guinn, G.; Mauney, J.R.

1983-01-01

A crop water stress index (CWSI) was derived from air temperatures, air vapor pressure deficits and the midday radiant leaf temperatures of cotton plants that were exposed to different early-season irrigation treatments at Phoenix, AZ, U.S.A. To calculate the CWSI, an infrared thermometer was used to measure leaf temperatures which were then scaled relative to minimum and maximum temperatures expected for no-stress (CWSI=0) and extreme drought-stress conditions (CWSI=1). Results showed the CWSI behaved as expected, dropping to low levels following an irrigation and increasing gradually as the cotton plants depleted soil moisture reserves. The final yield of seed cotton was significantly inversely correlated with the average CWSI observed over the interval from the appearance of the first square until two weeks following the final irrigation

The tillage effect on the soil acid and alkaline phosphatase activity

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Lacramioara Oprica

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Phosphatases (acid and alkaline are important in soils because these extracellular enzymes catalyze the hydrolysis of organic phosphate esters to orthophosphate; thus they form an important link between biologically unavailable and mineral phosphorous. Phosphatase activity is sensitive to environmental perturbations such as organic amendments, tillage, waterlogging, compaction, fertilizer additions and thus it is often used as an environmental indicator of soil quality in riparian ecosystems. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of tillage systems on phosphatases activity in a field experiment carried out in Ezăreni farm. The phosphatase activitiy were determined at two depths (7-10 cm and 15-25cm layers of a chernozem soil submitted to conventional tillage (CT in a fertilised and unfertilised experiment. Monitoring soil alkaline phosphatase activity showed, generally, the same in fertilized soil profiles collected from both depths; the values being extremely close. In unfertilized soils, alkaline phosphatase activity is different only in soils that were exposed to unconventional work using disc harrows and 30cm tillage. Both works type (no tillage and conventional tillage cause an intense alkaline phosphatase activity in 7-10 cm soil profile. Acid phosphatase activity is highly fluctuating in both fertilized as well unfertilized soil, this enzyme being influenced by the performed works.

Structure and properties of tempo-oxidized cotton fibers

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Milanovic Jovana

2012-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the influence of the catalytic oxidation using water soluble and stable nitroxyl radical 2,2´,6,6´-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO on structure and properties of cotton fibers was studied. In particular, the selective TEMPO-mediated oxidation has become very interesting way for introduction of functional groups into cellulose fibers with the aim to obtain oxycellulose fibers with specific properties. Unmodified and modified fibers were characterized in terms of weight loss values, introduced functional groups and crystallinity index. Also, oxidized fibers were characterized in terms of the sorption, morphological, and physico-mechanical properties. The TEMPO-oxidized cotton fibers show a minimum increase of fineness (from 1.32 to 1.28 dtex and increase of crystallinity index (up to 91.9%, while the tensile strength of fibers decreases (up to 10.82 cN/tex. By the TEMPO-mediated oxidation of cotton fibers significant amount of carboxyl groups (up to 0.795 mmol/g cell can be introduced into cellulose fibers. Introduced hydrophilic carboxyl groups increases the sorption properties of oxidized fibers, that can be used directly or for further chemical modification.

Strip Tillage and Early-Season Broadleaf Weed Control in Seeded Onion (Allium cepa)

OpenAIRE

Sarah Gegner-Kazmierczak; Harlene Hatterman-Valenti

2016-01-01

Field experiments were conducted in 2007 and 2008 near Oakes, North Dakota (ND), USA, to evaluate if strip tillage could be incorporated into a production system of seeded onion (Allium cepa) to eliminate the standard use of a barley (Hordeum vulgare) companion crop with conventional, full width tillage, yet support common early-season weed control programs. A split-factor design was used with tillage (conventional and strip tillage) as the main plot and herbicide treatments (bromoxynil, DCPA...

Effects of Different Soil Tillage Intensity on Yields of Spring Barley

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Alena Pernicová

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Within the period 1990–2012, effects of different soil tillage intensity on yields of spring barley were studied in a field experiment in the sugar-beet producing region (Ivanovice na Hané, Czech Republic. The forecrop of the spring barley was always sugar beet; following in three different crop rotations, after maize for silage, winter wheat and spring barley. Four variants of tillage were evaluated: Variant 1 – ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m; Variant 2 – shallow ploughing to the depth of 0.15 m; Variant 3 – no tillage; Variant 4 – shallow loosening soil to the depth of 0.10 m.Effect of different tillage on yields of spring barley was statistically insignificant. In all three crop rotations, the highest and the lowest average yields were obtained in Variant 2 (ploughing to the depth of 0.15 m and Variant 1 (ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m, respectively. Average yields in variants of soil tillage were these: variant 1 – 6.42 t.ha−1; variant 2 – 6.57 t.ha−1, variant 3 – 6.53 t.ha−1, variant 4 – 6.50 t.ha−1. The obtained results indicate that in these pedo-climatic conditions reduction of intensity soil tillage represented a very suitable alternative in case of growing spring barley after sugar beet as compared with the conventional method of tillage by ploughing to the depth of 0.22 m.

Simulation of Tillage Systems Impact on Soil Biophysical Properties Using the SALUS Model

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Luigi Sartori

2011-02-01

Full Text Available A sustainable land management has been defined as the management system that allows for production, while minimizing risk, maintaining quality of soil and water. Tillage systems can significantly decrease soil carbon storage and influence the soil environment of a crop. Crop growth models can be useful tools in evaluating the impact of different tillage systems on soil biophysical properties and on the growth and final yield of the crops. The objectives of this paper were i to illustrate the SALUS model and its tillage component; ii to evaluate the effects of different tillage systems on water infiltration and time to ponding, iii to simulate the effect of tillage systems on some soil biophysical properties. The SALUS (System Approach to Land Use Sustainability model is designed to simulate continuous crop, soil, water and nutrient conditions under different tillage and crop residues management strategies for multiple years. Predictions of changes in surface residue, bulk density, runoff, drainage and evaporation were consistent with expected behaviours of these parameters as described in the literature. The experiment to estimate the time to ponding curve under different tillage system confirmed the theory and showed the beneficial effects of the residue on soil surface with respect to water infiltration. It also showed that the no-tillage system is a more appropriate system to adopt in areas characterized by high intensity rainfall.

Effects of Tillage Model on Healthy Plough Layer Structure and Its Development Trends

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HU Jun-ming

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Soil cultivation is closely related to land productivity. Nutrient in plough layer is the key factor affecting the absorption and utilization of crop nutrients. Good plough layer structure is beneficial to the coordination of water, fertilizer, gas and heat. The depth of arable layer is related to tillage methods. Constructing good plough layer structure is conducive to crop growth and distribution. This paper reviewed both domestic and foreign researches regarding tillage models, which included conventional tillage, protective cultivation, rotary tillage, deep tillage, and so on. Based on the above research results, the effects of tillage models on the healthy soil layer construction were discussed from the soil bulk density, soil porosity, soil aggregates, infiltration of soil, soil heavy metals, soil respiration and the characters of root system. The deficiencies of current research were pointed out from several aspects such as tillage system, system positioning, tillage efficiency, suitable crop. In order to maximize the comprehensive production capacity of cultivated land resources and solve the contradiction between human being and land, this paper forecasted the development trend of ideal plough layer structure from four aspects:Cultivate patterns according to local conditions, the establishment of complex farming models, accelerating the research and application of new agricultural machinery, conducting systematic research of farmland microclimate environment. This will provide the theoretical basis and technical support for the optimal farming mode in agricultural production.

Simulation of Tillage Systems Impact on Soil Biophysical Properties Using the SALUS Model

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Bruno Basso

2006-12-01

Full Text Available A sustainable land management has been defined as the management system that allows for production, while minimizing risk, maintaining quality of soil and water. Tillage systems can significantly decrease soil carbon storage and influence the soil environment of a crop. Crop growth models can be useful tools in evaluating the impact of different tillage systems on soil biophysical properties and on the growth and final yield of the crops. The objectives of this paper were i to illustrate the SALUS model and its tillage component; ii to evaluate the effects of different tillage systems on water infiltration and time to ponding, iii to simulate the effect of tillage systems on some soil biophysical properties. The SALUS (System Approach to Land Use Sustainability model is designed to simulate continuous crop, soil, water and nutrient conditions under different tillage and crop residues management strategies for multiple years. Predictions of changes in surface residue, bulk density, runoff, drainage and evaporation were consistent with expected behaviours of these parameters as described in the literature. The experiment to estimate the time to ponding curve under different tillage system confirmed the theory and showed the beneficial effects of the residue on soil surface with respect to water infiltration. It also showed that the no-tillage system is a more appropriate system to adopt in areas characterized by high intensity rainfall.

The effects of forward speed and depth of conservation tillage on soil bulk density

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A Mahmoudi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In recent years, production techniques and equipment have been developed for conservation of tillage systems that have been adopted by many farmers. With proper management, overall yield averages for conventional and reduced tillage systems are nearly identical. Sometimes, field operations can be combined by connecting two or more implements. Combined operations reduce both fuel consumption, and time and labor requirements by eliminating at least one individual trip over the field. Light tillage, spraying, or fertilizing operations can be combined with either primary or secondary tillage or planting operations. Tillage helps seed growth and germination through providing appropriate conditions for soil to absorb sufficient temperature and humidity. Moreover, it helps easier development of root through reducing soil penetration resistance. Tillage is a time-consuming and expensive procedure. With the application of agricultural operations, we can save substantial amounts of fuel, time and energy consumption. Conservation tillage loosens the soil without turning, but by remaining the plant left overs, stems and roots. Bulk density reflects the soil’s ability to function for structural support, water and solute movement, and soil aeration. Bulk densities above thresholds indicate impaired function. Bulk density is also used to convert between weight and volume of soil. It is used to express soil physical, chemical and biological measurements on a volumetric basis for soil quality assessment and comparisons between management systems. This increases the validity of comparisons by removing the error associated with differences in soil density at the time of sampling. The aim of conservation tillage is to fix the soil structure. This investigation was carried out considering the advantages of conservation tillage and less scientific research works on imported conservation tillage devices and those which are made inside the country

Influence of Soil Tillage Systems on Soil Respiration and Production on Wheat, Maize and Soybean Crop

Science.gov (United States)

Moraru, P. I.; Rusu, T.

2012-04-01

Soil respiration leads to CO2 emissions from soil to the atmosphere, in significant amounts for the global carbon cycle. Soil capacity to produce CO2 varies depending on soil, season, intensity and quality of agrotechnical tillage, soil water, cultivated plant, fertilizer etc. The data presented in this paper were obtained on argic-stagnic Faeoziom (SRTS, 2003). These areas were was our research, presents a medium multiannual temperature of 8.20C, medium of multiannual rain drowns: 613 mm. The experimental variants chosen were: A. Conventional system (CS): V1-reversible plough (22-25 cm)+rotary grape (8-10 cm); B. Minimum tillage system (MT): V2 - paraplow (18-22 cm) + rotary grape (8-10 cm); V3 - chisel (18-22 cm) + rotary grape (8-10 cm);V4 - rotary grape (10-12 cm); C. No-Tillage systems (NT): V5 - direct sowing. The experimental design was a split-plot design with three replications. In one variant the area of a plot was 300 m2. The experimental variants were studied in the 3 years crop rotation: maize - soy-bean - autumn wheat. To soil respiration under different tillage practices, determinations were made for each crop in four vegetative stages (spring, 5-6 leaves, bean forming, harvest) using ACE Automated Soil CO2 Exchange System. Soil respiration varies throughout the year for all three crops of rotation, with a maximum in late spring (1383 to 2480 mmoli m-2s-1) and another in fall (2141 to 2350 mmoli m-2s-1). The determinations confirm the effect of soil tillage system on soil respiration, the daily average is lower at NT (315-1914 mmoli m-2s-1), followed by MT (318-2395 mmoli m-2s-1) and is higher in the CS (321-2480 mmol m-2s-1). Productions obtained at MT and NT don't have significant differences at wheat and are higher at soybean. The differences in crop yields are recorded at maize and can be a direct consequence of loosening, mineralization and intensive mobilization of soil fertility. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by CNCSIS

Carbon dioxide emissions after application of different tillage systems for loam in northern China

Science.gov (United States)

Hongwen, Li; Lifeng, Hu; Fub, Chen; Xuemin, Zhang

2010-05-01

Tillage operations influence soil physical properties and crop growth, and thus both directly and indirectly the cropland CO2 exchange with the atmosphere. In this study, the results of CO2 flux measurements on cropland, under different tillage practices in northern China, are presented. CO2 flux on croplands with a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and maize (Zea may L.) rotation was monitored on plots with conventional tillage (CT), rotary tillage (RT) and no tillage (NT). Soil CO2 flux was generally greater in CT than in NT, and the RT CO2 flux was only slightly smaller than the CT. Daily soil CO2 emissions for CT, RT, and NT averaged 11.30g m-2, 9.63 g m-2 and 7.99 g m-2, respectively, during the growing period. Analysis of variance shows that these differences are significant for the three tillage treatments. Peak CO2 emissions were recorded on the CT and RT croplands after tillage operations. At the same time, no obviously increased emission of CO2 occurred on the NT plot. These differences demonstrate that tillage results in a rapid physical release of CO2.

NUTRIMENTAL POTENTIAL OF RED DOLICHOS, BROWN DOLICHOS AND COWPEA FOR GREEN MANURE PRODUCED UNDER THREE TILLAGE SYSTEMS

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Felix Alfredo Beltran-Morales

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The nutrimental content of N, NO3-N, P, K, Mg, Ca, Mn, Zn, Cu, Fe, and B, was evaluated in three bean cultivars of two species with potential to be used as green manure. Cultivars were the red lab-lab bean (RL (Lablab purpureus, brown lab-lab bean (BL (L. purpureus and cowpea (CW (Vigna unguiculata. Three tillage systems were assayed: conventional tillage (CT, minimum tillage (MT and optimal tillage (OT. Results showed that the nutrimental content of N, NO3, P, K did not evidence statistical differences (P≤0.05 among bean cultivars and tillage systems. However, the greater content of N was in BL-CT with 4.85%. The content of P varied from 0.38 to 0.41% and the concentration of K from 2.40 to 2.84%. Ca showed the highest concentration in RL-OT with 2.88%, while the lowest percentage was evidenced by CW-CT, with 2.12% (P≤0.05. The highest percentage of Mg appeared in CW-OT with 0.89% and the lowest concentration was registered for BL-CT, showing 0.52% (P≤0.05. The highest Fe concentration was observed in RL-OT with 0.15% and the lowest in BL-CT and RL-CT, with 0.10%. The Mn content was significantly greater in CW without concerning the tillage system with 0.39% and the smallest concentration was obtained in RL-MT with 0.17%. The greatest percentage content of nutriment B was observed in BL-OT, RL-CT, CW-MT and CW-OT, from 0.024 to 0.030%. In contrast, the lowest content of B was found in RL-MT with 0.015%. The content of Zn did not showed statistical differences respect to the cropping system; the lowest concentration of Zn was observed in CW-OT with 0.0026% and the highest percentage in BL-OT with 0.0040. Cu was significantly highest in BL-CT, BL-MT, BL-OT, RL-CT, RL-MT, RL-OT and CW-OT, being BL-MT and BL-OT the combinations with the highest concentration (0.0061%, while the lowest concentration was observed in CW-MT and CW-CT, with 0.0048% and 0.0044%, respectively.

Effect of Simulated Tillage in Combination with Post-Shattering Temperature Conditions on Senna obtusifolia and Xanthium strumarium Seed Survival, Seedling Emergence and Seedbank Potential

OpenAIRE

Taghi Bararpour; Nicholas E. Korres

2018-01-01

Two of the most troublesome weeds in soybean, cotton, and corn in cropping systems of mid-south United States (US) are Senna obtusifolia and Xanthium strumarium. Understanding their population dynamics, particularly weed seedling emergence patterns, is important for the timely implementation and the success of weed management strategies. Identifying the sources of variation of emergence patterns could greatly improve our ability to predict emergence timing. A three-years field study was condu...

Consumo energético, eficiencia de campo y cobertura vegetal en labranza-siembra de maíz en el Valle del Cauca, Colombia

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Herrera G Oscar A.

2005-03-01

Full Text Available En el Centro de Investigaciones Palmira de la Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria, Corpoica, se realizó un estudio de auditoría energética en cuatro métodos de labranza-siembra (vertisol de maíz en rotación con algodón. El mayor consumo de energía fósil correspondió a labranza convencional (LC, en la cual más del 70% se invirtió en las labores de labranza primaria y secundaria, seguida de cincel vibratorio (CV con un 65% y de mulch-tiller (MT con 54%; siembra directa (SD sólo empleó combustible fósil en la operación de desbroce de la soca y en la siembra; LC requirió casi 4 veces más energía que SD, CV casi 3 veces más y MT 2.7 veces más; el costo del combustible estuvo en igual proporción, lo mismo que el costo ambiental; en LC, MT y CV el primer pase del implemento de labranza consumió entre 1.5 y 3 veces más energía que el segundo y tercer pases, en suelos tenaces como los vertisoles del CI Palmira. Los altos valores de eficiencia de campo en LC contrastaron con el elevado consumo energético, en comparación con SD, y éste mostró diferencias notorias con respecto a los demás métodos de labranza-siembra en lo relacionado con la conservación de la cobertura vegetal del suelo. ABSTRACT Energy consumption, field efficiency and on ground vegetal cover in corn till-planting systems on Valle del Cauca, Colombia. Corn-cotton energy audit in four tillage-planting systems was carried out at the Colombian Corporation of Agricultural Research Center branch Palmira. The highest consumption of fossil energy corresponded to conventional tillage (LC, in which more than 70% of this consumption corresponded to primary and secondary tillage, followed by vibratory chisel (CV with 65% and mulch-tiller (MT with 54%, whereas no-till planting (SD observed the lowest energy consumption, because it suppressed itself primary and secondary tillage and only used fossil fuel to prepare the soca of the previous

Effects of tillage practice on soil structure, N2O emissions and economics in cereal production under current socio-economic conditions in central Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Science.gov (United States)

Žurovec, Ognjen; Sitaula, Bishal Kumar; Čustović, Hamid; Žurovec, Jasminka; Dörsch, Peter

2017-01-01

Conservation tillage is expected to have a positive effect on soil physical properties, soil Carbon (C) storage, while reducing fuel, labour and machinery costs. However, reduced tillage could increase soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and offset the expected gains from increased C sequestration. To date, conservation tillage is barely practiced or studied in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH). Here, we report a field study on the short-term effects of reduced (RT) and no tillage (NT) on N2O emission dynamics, yield-scaled N2O emissions, soil structure and the economics of cereal production, as compared with conventional tillage (CT). The field experiment was conducted in the Sarajevo region on a clayey loam under typical climatic conditions for humid, continental BH. N2O emissions were monitored in a Maize-Barley rotation over two cropping seasons. Soil structure was studied at the end of the second season. In the much wetter 2014, N2O emission were in the order of CT > RT > NT, while in the drier 2015, the order was RT > CT > NT. The emission factors were within or slightly above the uncertainty range of the IPCC Tier 1 factor, if taking account for the N input from the cover crop (alfalfa) preceding the first experimental year. Saturated soils in spring, formation of soil crusts and occasional droughts adversely affected yields, particularly in the second year (barley). In 2014, yield-scaled N2O emissions ranged from 83.2 to 161.7 g N Mg-1 grain (corn) but were much greater in the second year due to crop failure (barley). RT had the smallest yield-scaled N2O emission in both years. NT resulted in economically inacceptable returns, due to the increased costs of weed control and low yields in both years. The reduced number of operations in RT reduced production costs and generated positive net returns. Therefore, RT could potentially provide agronomic and environmental benefits in crop production in BH.

to Phosphorus Fertilization, Crop Sequence and Tillage Management

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Xiaopeng Gao

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Field experiments were conducted at two locations in Manitoba, Canada, to determine the effect of crop rotation, phosphorus (P fertilization and tillage on grain yield and grain concentrations of Cd and Zn in durum wheat (Triticum durum L.. Compared to conventional tillage (CT, reduced tillage (RT management decreased grain Cd and increased grain yield and grain Zn in half of the site-years. The type of preceding crops of spring wheat-flax or canola-flax had little influence. Rate and timing of P application had little effect on grain Cd, but increasing P rate tended to decrease grain Zn. No interactive effect was detected among tested factors. Grain Zn was not related to grain Cd, but positively to other nutrients such as Fe, Mn, P, Ca, K, and Mg. Both grain Zn and Fe correlated positively with grain protein content, suggesting protein may represent a sink for micronutrients. The study suggested that the tillage management may have beneficial effects on both grain yield and quality. Phosphorus fertilizer can remain available for subsequent crops and high annual inputs in the crop sequence may decrease crop grain Zn. Understanding the environment is important in determining the impact of agricultural management on agronomic and nutrient traits.

Effect of various tillage practices on soil properties and maize growth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leghari, N.

2016-01-01

Appropriate tillage practices are vital for good tilth that is pre-requisite for aggregate formation, soil aeration, better root development and plant growth. A field experiment of maize was carried out at the experimental site of Sindh Agriculture University Tandojam during two consecutive growing seasons 2009 and 2010. A randomized complete block design with three treatment conventional tillage (CT), reduced tillage (RT) and no tillage (NT) was used in the study. Significant differences between tillage treatments were observed in the soil properties, growth and root development of plants. The NT treatment retained higher soil water contents (15.8 and 16.0%) measured at 0-20 cm depth during 2009 and 2010, respectively. Likewise, the soil bulk density (1.4 and 1.4 cm-3) was higher at this depth consequently; it resulted in greater soil strength (81 N m-2 and 79 N m-2) during 2009 and 2010, respectively. The negative and significant correlations were recorded between root dry weight and soil strengths. On the other hand, positive and significant relationship of root dry weight with mean total dry matter production and LAI was observed. Moreover, the root development related observations were significantly enhanced under CT as compared to RT and NT treatments. The results indicate that conventional tillage improve maize growth and root development by improving soil properties. (author)

China's Cotton Policy and the Impact of China's WTO Accession and Bt Cotton Adoption on the Chinese and U.S. Cotton Sectors

OpenAIRE

Cheng Fang; Bruce A. Babcock

2003-01-01

In this paper we provide an analysis of China's cotton policy and develop a framework to quantify the impact of both China's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession and Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton adoption on Chinese and U.S. cotton sectors. We use a Chinese cotton sector model consisting of supply, demand, price linkages, and textiles output equations. A two-stage framework model provides gross cropping area and total area for cotton and major subsitute crops from nine cotton-produci...

Catch crop biomass production, nitrogen uptake and root development under different tillage systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Hansen, Elly Møller

2012-01-01

tinctoria L.), perennial ryegrass (RG) (Lolium perenne L.) and fodder radish (FR) (Raphanus sativus L.) under three tillage systems. For that, we used a tillage experiment established in 2002 on a Danish sandy loam. The tillage treatments were direct drilling (D), harrowing to 8–10 cm (H) and ploughing (P...

Tillage and NPK Effect on growth and yield of spring maize in islamabad, pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Memon, S.Q.; Mughal, A.Q.; Amjad, N.; Javed, H.I.

2013-01-01

Tillage is a very important crop production practice which affect crop performance. An experiment was conducted during the spring crop season 2009 to compare the effect of three different tillage regimes i.e. deep, conventional and zero and four fertilizer levels viz., control 100-50-50, 150-75-75 and 200-100-100 NPK kg ha. The randomized complete block design was used with three replications. There was significant differences in maize emergence percentage, plant height, grains cob, 1000-grain weight and grain yield due to tillage practices and various fertilizer levels, between tillage practices. However, the NPK at the rate 200-100-100 kg ha and deep tillage produced the highest emergence percentage, plant height, grains per cob, 1000-grain weight and grain yield followed by other fertilizer levels and conventional tillage. The zero tillage plots produced the low emergence percentage, plant height, grains cob, 1000-grain weight and grain yield. Therefore, considering the environ-mental conditions, the deep tillage with recommended dose of NPK performed best and provided more vegetative growth and grain yield in maize. However, poor-resource farmers can use the medium level of NPK at the rate 150-75-75 kg ha for getting an economical and successful maize crop. (author)

Conservation Tillage on the Loess Plateau, China: Food security, Yes; Carbon sequestration, No?

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, Nikolaus; Hu, Yaxian; Xiao, Liangang; Greenwood, Phil; Bloemertz, Lena

2015-04-01

of NT in increasing SOC stocks to reduce net CO2 emissions. 2) In each soil layer, the total SOC stocks also declined over time. Such a decreasing trend suggests that the SOC sink was approaching its maximum capacity. This implies that the overall potential of NT in improving SOC stocks is apt to be over-estimated, if annual increases derived from short-term observation are linearly extrapolated to a long-term estimation. 3) Yields of NT increased evidently by 11.07% compared to CT. In particular, during years with precipitation food production falling below minimum thresholds to meet subsistence requirements, thereby increasing resilience to famine. Overall, conservation tillage (no-till) has great potential in stabilizing crop yield and thus ensuring local subsistence requirements on the China Loess Plateau. However, the potential of NT to sequestrate SOC is limited than often reported and has maximum capacity, and thus cannot be linearly extrapolated to estimate its effects on mitigating climate change.

Impact of Bollgard cotton on Indian cotton production and Income of ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Impact of Bollgard cotton on Indian cotton production and Income of cotton farmers. Presentation made in the Seventy Second Annual Meeting Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya Indore 11th November 2006.

EFFICIENCY OF WHEAT, BARLEY AND CORN BRAN TREATED WITH GAMMA RAYS IMPROVING BIOCHEMICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL DISORDERS INDUCED BY FEEDING RATS OXIDIZED OIL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

SOLIMAN, S.M.; HAMZA, R.G.

2009-01-01

The present study aims to investigate the effect of adding 3 different dietary fibers (wheat, barley and corn bran) to normal balanced diet after exposure to gamma radiation at dose of 20 kGy before adding cotton seed oils and boiled oil. The experimental diet was fed for 4 weeks. This study was designed to throw more light on certain biochemical and histological changes in liver of male albino rats. Rats were classified into 8 groups; control group fed on diet fibers free, group 2 fed on diet supplemented with 15% fibers (wheat, barley and corn bran), group 3 fed on diet supplemented with irradiated fibers, group 4 fed on diet supplemented with 15% boiled oil, group 5 fed on diet supplemented with 15% fiber and 15% boiled oil, group 6 fed on diet supplemented with fibers and cotton seed oil 15%, group 7 fed on diet supplemented with irradiated fibers and boiled oil 15% and group 8 fed on diet supplemented with irradiated fibers and cotton seed oil 15%. Experimental investigations were carried out after 4 weeks. The results obtained revealed that extended administration of fibers and cotton seed oil has significantly minimized the amount of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in blood and significantly ameliorated the glutathion content. Superoxide dismutas and catalase enzymes were assayed in blood, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were detected. In addition, modulations of cholesterol and triglycerides levels were observed through all the experiments. In rats fed on boiled oil, the data showed histological changes in liver such as tissue degeneration, lymphocyte infiltration, hepatic cell necrosis and dilation of portal spaces and blood vessels.

Cover Crop-Based, Organic Rotational No-Till Corn and Soybean Production Systems in the Mid-Atlantic United States

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John M. Wallace

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Cover crop-based, organic rotational no-till (CCORNT corn and soybean production is becoming a viable strategy for reducing tillage in organic annual grain systems in the mid-Atlantic, United States. This strategy relies on mechanical termination of cover crops with a roller-crimper and no-till planting corn and soybean into cover crop mulches. Here, we report on recent research that focuses on integrated approaches for crop, nutrient and pest management in CCORNT systems that consider system and regional constraints for adoption in the mid-Atlantic. Our research suggests that no-till planting soybean into roller-crimped cereal rye can produce consistent yields. However, constraints to fertility management have produced less consistent no-till corn yields. Our research shows that grass-legume mixtures can improve N-release synchrony with corn demand and also improve weed suppression. Integration of high-residue inter-row cultivation improves weed control consistency and may reduce reliance on optimizing cover crop biomass accumulation for weed suppression. System-specific strategies are needed to address volunteer cover crops in later rotational phases, which result from incomplete cover crop termination with the roller crimper. The paucity of adequate machinery for optimizing establishment of cash crops into thick residue mulch remains a major constraint on CCORNT adoption. Similarly, breeding efforts are needed to improve cover crop germplasm and develop regionally-adapted varieties.

Effet des pratiques de conservation du sol sur la croissance et les ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Eight treatments were concerned in the trial as followed: Direct sowing, Minimum tillage, Tillage, Conventional tillage, Direct sowing + Mulch on surface, Minimum tillage + Mulch on surface, Tillage + Mulch on surface, Conventional tillage + Mulch on surface. Results indicated that tillage significantly affected the agronomic ...

Impact of efficient refuge policies for Bt cotton in India on world cotton trade

OpenAIRE

Singla, Rohit; Johnson, Phillip N.; Misra, Sukant K.

2010-01-01

India is a major cotton producing country in the world along with the U.S. and China. A change in the supply of and demand for cotton in the Indian market has the potential to have an impact on world cotton trade. This study evaluates the implications of efficient Bt cotton refuge policies in India on world and U.S. cotton markets. It can be hypothesized that increased refuge requirements for Bt cotton varieties in India could decrease the world supply of cotton because of the lower yield pot...

Influence of Tillage and Poultry Manure on the Physical Properties of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

growth (Lampurlanes et al.,2001), grain yield and the ... Deep tillage improved the root length, root ... Data indicated that the deep tillage practice significantly improved the maize grain physical ... applied at the time of sowing while remaining.

Nature Relation Between Climatic Variables and Cotton Production

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Zakaria M. Sawan

2014-08-01

Full Text Available This study investigated the effect of climatic variables on flower and boll production and retention in cotton (Gossypium barbadense. Also, this study investigated the relationship between climatic factors and production of flowers and bolls obtained during the development periods of the flowering and boll stage, and to determine the most representative period corresponding to the overall crop pattern. Evaporation, sunshine duration, relative humidity, surface soil temperature at 1800 h, and maximum air temperature, are the important climatic factors that significantly affect flower and boll production. The least important variables were found to be surface soil temperature at 0600 h and minimum temperature. There was a negative correlation between flower and boll production and either evaporation or sunshine duration, while that correlation with minimum relative humidity was positive. Higher minimum relative humidity, short period of sunshine duration, and low temperatures enhanced flower and boll formation.

Influência da cultura antecessora e da adubação nitrogenada na produtividade de milho em sistema plantio direto e solo preparado Influence of the previous winter crop and nitrogen fertilization to corn productivity in notillage and conventional tillage

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Waldo Alejandro Rubén Lara Cabezas

2004-08-01

respectivamente, 1.166 e 166kg ha-1 de grãos nas sucessões milheto-milho e nabo-milho, em SP.In the Cerrado region a proportion of the top dressed N for corn might be applied to the previous cover crop. This could accelerate the decomposition rate and increase overall N availability to corn. Therefore, the objectives of this experiment were: a to evaluate maize productivity after oil radish and millet grown in winter with and without nitrogen applied and b to determine the efficiency of recovery of N fertilizer by corn and quantify the losses by volatilization of ammonia of N fertilizers in no-tillage (NT and conventional tillage (CT. The experimental design was a randomized complete block in strips with four replications. At flowering, the dry matter production and N accumulation of the oil radish were, respectively, 2,274 and 53.0kg ha-1 under NT, and 2,546 and 61.6kg ha-1 under CT. For millet the results obtained were 5,202 and 107.8kg ha-1 under NT, and 5,101 and 104.1kg ha-1 under CT. Until the seeding of the maize under NT, after desiccation by knife rolling the winter crops, 77.3 and 130.7kg N ha-1 were released in the sequences of oil radish - maize and of millet - maize, respectively. Under CT the winter crops were incorporated into the soil before the seeding of the maize. In the growth cycle of corn the losses of N via ammonia volatilization were less than 2.0% of the N applied at pre-seeding (71.3kg N ha-1 in a mixture urea:ammonium sulphate of 4:1 and 14% of the N at the 6-leaf stage (35.7kg N ha-1 of ammonium sulphate, evaluated in NT and CT in the sequence oil radish - corn. Under NT the fertilizer-N-use-efficiency was 57.1 and 42.1% of the N applied in the sequence millet - corn and oil radish-maize, respectively. Under CT these values were 46.8 and 46.3%, respectively. The application of N fertilizer caused a mean yield increase of 2,396kg grain ha-1 in the sequence millet-corn under NT compared to the non-fertilized control. These increase under CT was 895kg

Fungal Communities in Rhizosphere Soil under Conservation Tillage Shift in Response to Plant Growth

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Ziting Wang

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Conservation tillage is an extensively used agricultural practice in northern China that alters soil texture and nutrient conditions, causing changes in the soil microbial community. However, how conservation tillage affects rhizosphere and bulk soil fungal communities during plant growth remains unclear. The present study investigated the effect of long-term (6 years conservation (chisel plow, zero and conventional (plow tillage during wheat growth on the rhizosphere fungal community, using high-throughput sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS gene and quantitative PCR. During tillering, fungal alpha diversity in both rhizosphere and bulk soil were significantly higher under zero tillage compared to other methods. Although tillage had no significant effect during the flowering stage, fungal alpha diversity at this stage was significantly different between rhizosphere and bulk soils, with bulk soil presenting the highest diversity. This was also reflected in the phylogenetic structure of the communities, as rhizosphere soil communities underwent a greater shift from tillering to flowering compared to bulk soil communities. In general, less variation in community structure was observed under zero tillage compared to plow and chisel plow treatments. Changes in the relative abundance of the fungal orders Capnodiales, Pleosporales, and Xylariales contributed the highest to the dissimilarities observed. Structural equation models revealed that the soil fungal communities under the three tillage regimes were likely influenced by the changes in soil properties associated with plant growth. This study suggested that: (1 differences in nutrient resources between rhizosphere and bulk soils can select for different types of fungi thereby increasing community variation during plant growth; (2 tillage can alter fungal communities' variability, with zero tillage promoting more stable communities. This work suggests that long-term changes in

CORRELATION BETWEEN CLAY CONTENT AND SEED DEPTH IN NO-TILLAGE CORN (Zea mays L. / CORRELAÇÃO ENTRE O CONTEÚDO DE ARGILA E A PROFUNDIDADE DE DEPOSIÇÃO DAS SEMENTES MILHO (Zea mays L. EM PLANTIO DIRETO

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PEDRO HENRIQUE WEIRICH NETO

2008-04-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACTThe region of Campos Gerais, in the State of Paraná, is leader in grain yields and state-of-the-art no-tillage farming. The widely adopted  no-tillage system tends to increment soil variability. There are several studies about spatial variability of soil characteristics affecting grain yield, but not enough attention has been given to the variability resulting of human actions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the correlation of soil clay content and the depth of placement of corn seeds on areas under no-till systems management. The four selected cornfields areas for the study are property of local farm cooperatives associates. The points for evaluation were defined considering the local mapping of soil texture. Clay content varied from 94 to 489 g kg-1 on Plot 1; from 222 to 414 g kg-1 on Plot 2; from 269 to 509 of rows to be considered for plant distribution and seed depth analyses. The coefficient of variation (CV of plant distribution was between 23 and 56%. For seed depth, the CV was between 18 and 34%. The regression analysis showed high coefficients of determination (r2 for plots 1 and 2 (r2=0,85 and 0,83. The clay content was generally higher on plots 3 and 4. In this case, the analysis of variance was not significant, and the coefficients of determination were low (r2=0,22 and 0,01. Results indicate that clay content values may be used to delimit g kg-1 on plot 3; and from 368 to 698 g kg-1 on plot 4. The type of planter determined the number management zones on the field, where the depth of seed placing in the planting process can be regulated in different ways.Keywords: Soil Texture, Planting Process, Management Zones

The effect of different tillage and cover crops on soil quality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abdollahi, Lotfollah; Munkholm, Lars Juhl

This paper examines the effect of different tillage treatments and cover crop on soil physical, chemical and biological properties of a sandy loam soil in a long-term field trial set up in 2007 at Foulum, Denmark. The experimental design is a split plot design with different tillage practices (di...... that P improved soil quality compared to H and D, especially when combined with cover crop. We also conclude that D may benefit from cover crop to yield better soil friability and hence soil quality.......This paper examines the effect of different tillage treatments and cover crop on soil physical, chemical and biological properties of a sandy loam soil in a long-term field trial set up in 2007 at Foulum, Denmark. The experimental design is a split plot design with different tillage practices...... (direct drilling (D), harrowing (H) to a depth of 8 cm and ploughing to a depth of 20 cm (P)) as main plot. The soil was cropped with cover crop (+CC) or left without cover crop (-CC) as split plot treatments in the main plots with different tillage treatments. We assessed topsoil structural quality...

EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SOIL TILLAGE SYSTEMS ON NODULATION AND YIELD OF SOYBEAN

OpenAIRE

D. Jug; Mihaela Blažinkov; S. Redžepović; Irena Jug; B. Stipešević

2005-01-01

The primary soil tillage for different crops in Croatia is generally based on mouldboard ploughing which is the most expensive for crops production. Negative effects due to frequent passes by equipment and machines (deterioration of soil structure, soil compaction, lower biogenity and soil tilth), together with negative economical and energetical costs, can be lowered and avoided by introduction of reduced soil tillage or direct drilling (No-tillage). Accordingly, the main goal of this resear...

Dictionary of Cotton

Science.gov (United States)

The Dictionary of Cotton has over 2,000 terms and definitions that were compiled by 33 researchers. It reflects the ongoing commitment of the International Cotton Advisory Committee, through its Technical Information Section, to the spread of knowledge about cotton to all those who have an interest ...

Do Tillage Methods Affect Germination and Species Similarity of Soil Weed Seeds Bank?

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Shahgholi Hassan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Cultural practices such as tillage used for crop production influence the composition of the weed seed bank in the soil. In order to investigate the effects of different tillage methods on seed bank properties, species diversity and similarity, two laboratory and greenhouse experiments were carried out as randomized complete block design with four replications in 2011. Treatments included: once tillage per year (T1, twice tillage per year (T2, more than twice tillage (T3 and no tillage (T4. Laboratory results showed that the T3 and T4 treatments had the highest and the lowest observed seeds numbers, respectively. Between the laboratory observed weed seeds, the maximum weed seed numbers were Echinochloa crus-galli and Amaranthus retroflexus in the T3 treatment, while Chenopodium album, Polygonum aviculare and Cuscuta campestris had the highest seed numbers in the T2 treatment. At the greenhouse study, Chenopodium album, Amaranthus retroflexus and Hordeum morinum in the T2 treatment were dominant species. The highest diversity was observed in the T2 treatment, and Chenopodium album and Echinochloa crus-galli were dominant species in the T2 and T3 treatments. Maximum species similarity index was achieved from the T1 and T3 treatments. Thereby this study concluded that increasing of tillage number could affect the similarity index of weed seeds and subsequently alters the weed community composition.

Tillage and manure effect on soil microbial biomass and respiration ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of both tillage and liquid pig manure application on soil microbial biomass, enzyme activities and microbial respiration in a meadow soil. The results obtained did not show any significant effect of tillage and manure on microbial biomass carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) ...

Tillage practices and identity formation in High Plains farming

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strand, Katherine; Arnould, Eric; Press, Melea

2014-01-01

farming, recognition and denunciation of other farmers’ practices, and recognition and justification of their own contribute to identity formation. This research contributes to the ongoing discussion of how identity is formed through day-to-day activities in the material world. The plow creates divisions...... landscape. Specifically, they compare conservation tillage wedded to ‘modern’ ideologies of scientific farming with conventional tillage newly linked to beliefs about both organic and traditional farming, and examine how farmers use these different forms of tillage to create their identities. Roadside...... in the High Plains community between organic farmers who continue to rely on this implement in their material engagement with the land and the chemical farmers who distance their practices from the plow as they distinguish themselves as stewards of the soil....

Efecto acumulativo de la siembra directa sobre algunas características del suelo en la región semiárida central de Argentina Long term effect of no-tillage on some soil properties in the central semiarid region of Argentina

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Adriana Abril

2005-12-01

recent adoption of no-tillage practices in the country. Moreover, most of the available research on no-tillage in Argentina refers to the humid Pampas region. In contrast, information on the semi-arid region is very scarce, despite the fact that an increased cover stubble is particularly useful in water-limited soils. In this paper we report a long-term evaluation (5 and 10 years periods of no-tillage practices on a chemical (SOM, total N and NO3-N and biological (microbial biomass and activity soil characteristics, and b quantity, identifiable fractions, and chemical quality of stubble material in soybean monoculture and soybean-corn rotation. Research was conducted at Manfredi INTA Experimental Station in semi-arid, central Argentina (31°49' S and 63°46' W. Soils under no-tillage system had higher SOM and total N content compared with control (conservation tillage with chisel plow in both, soybean monoculture and soybean-corn rotations. The observed difference increased with time (10 and 20% at 5 and 10 years, respectively. Nitrate content, and microbial activity and biomass showed high variability in the measurement periods, depending on climatic condition at the sampling date. Stubble cover was greater in the corn-soybean rotation with corn as preceding crop (2473.9 g m-2 than in soybean monoculture (1035.7 g m-2. The stubble non-identifiable fraction was very significant in all treatments (ranging between 2-10 t ha-1, which would favor new surface soil formation. The soybean-corn rotation with soybean as preceding crop showed the lowest values in all chemical parameters, particularly in soluble compounds (nitrate, ammonium and soluble carbon. Contrarily with what is usually assumed, our results suggest that nutrient release from long-term stubble may become a significant nutrient source for the crops. Therefore, this nutrient source should be considered when evaluating crop fertilization requirements.

Extrapolating effects of conservation tillage on yield, soil moisture and dry spell mitigation using simulation modelling

Science.gov (United States)

Mkoga, Z. J.; Tumbo, S. D.; Kihupi, N.; Semoka, J.

There is big effort to disseminate conservation tillage practices in Tanzania. Despite wide spread field demonstrations there has been some field experiments meant to assess and verify suitability of the tillage options in local areas. Much of the experiments are short lived and thus long term effects of the tillage options are unknown. Experiments to study long term effects of the tillage options are lacking because they are expensive and cannot be easily managed. Crop simulation models have the ability to use long term weather data and the local soil parameters to assess long term effects of the tillage practices. The Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) crop simulation model; was used to simulate long term production series of soil moisture and grain yield based on the soil and weather conditions in Mkoji sub-catchment of the great Ruaha river basin in Tanzania. A 24 year simulated maize yield series based on conventional tillage with ox-plough, without surface crop residues (CT) treatment was compared with similar yield series based on conservation tillage (ox-ripping, with surface crop residues (RR)). Results showed that predicted yield averages were significantly higher in conservation tillage than in conventional tillage ( P APSIM simulation model, showed that average soil moisture in the conservation tillage was significantly higher ( P < 0.05) (about 0.29 mm/mm) than in conventional tillage (0.22 mm/mm) treatment during the seasons which received rainfall between 468 and 770 mm. Similarly the conservation tillage treatment recorded significantly higher yields (4.4 t/ha) ( P < 0.01) than the conventional tillage (3.6 t/ha) treatment in the same range of seasonal rainfall. On the other hand there was no significant difference in soil moisture for the seasons which received rainfall above 770 mm. In these seasons grain yield in conservation tillage treatment was significantly lower (3.1 kg/ha) than in the conventional tillage treatment (4.8 kg

Long-term effects of conventional and reduced tillage systems on soil condition and yield of maize

Science.gov (United States)

Rátonyi, Tamás; Széles, Adrienn; Harsányi, Endre

2015-04-01

As a consequence of operations which neglect soil condition and consist of frequent soil disturbance, conventional tillage (primary tillage with autumn ploughing) results in the degradation and compaction of soil structure, as well as the reduction of organic matter. These unfavourable processes pose an increasing economic and environmental protection problem today. The unfavourable physical condition of soils on which conventional tillage was performed indicate the need for preserving methods and tools. The examinations were performed in the multifactorial long-term tillage experiment established at the Látókép experiment site of DE MÉK. The experiment site is located in the Hajdúság loess ridge (Hungary) and its soil is loess-based calcareous chernozem with deep humus layer. The physical soil type is mid-heavy adobe. The long-term experiment has a split-split plot design. The main plots are different tillage methods (autumn ploughing, spring shallow tillage) without replication. In this paper, the effect of conventional and reduced (shallow) tillage methods on soil conditions and maize yield was examined. A manual penetrometer was used to determine the physical condition and compactedness of the soil. The soil moisture content was determined with deep probe measurement (based on capacitive method). In addition to soil analyses, the yield per hectare of different plots was also observed. In reduced tillage, one compacted layer is shown in the soil resistance profile determined with a penetrometer, while there are two compacted layers in autumn ploughing. The highest resistance was measured in the case of primary tillage performed at the same depth for several years in the compacted (pan disk) layer developed under the developed layer in both treatments. The unfavourable impact of spring shallow primary tillage on physical soil conditions is shown by the fact that the compaction of the pan disk exceed the critical limit value of 3 MPa. Over the years, further

Translocation of Soil Particles during Secondary Soil Tillage along Contour Lines

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Novák Petr

2018-04-01

Full Text Available A high percentage of arable land and erosion risk on agricultural land are typical of current agriculture. While tillage erosion is a less frequently studied issue, it impacts vast areas of agricultural land. Not all relationships between cultivation equipment, the gradient of the plot and other factors have been known until now. Intensive soil tillage can be a crucial erosive factor mainly when the cultivation equipment moves in a fall line direction. Nevertheless, even when the equipment moves along contour lines, soil particles can be translocated perpendicular to the direction of the equipment movement (in a fall line direction. This phenomenon has not yet been adequately studied. For measurements, a field trial with secondary tillage of soil was laid out (a seedbed preparation implement was used. The objective of the trial was to evaluate the effect of the working tools of the cultivation equipment on the crosswise and lengthwise translocation of soil particles during soil tillage. Aluminium cubes, with a side length of 16 mm, were used as tracers. Before the operation, the tracers were inserted in a row perpendicular (at a right angle to a direction of the equipment passes. After the equipment passes, position of tracers was evaluated within a two-axis grid. The trial was performed at three gradients of the plot (2°, 6° and 11°. For each gradient, the 1-pass, 2-pass and 3-pass treatments were tested. The equipment always moved along the plot contour line. After the equipment passes in all treatments, all tracers were localized on an orthogonal grid. The results of the trial demonstrate the effect of the slope gradient on the crosswise translocation of particles during secondary tillage of soil in the slope direction. The tillage equipment translocated particles in the fall line direction even if it passed along the contour line. With the increasing intensity of passes, the effect of the equipment on crosswise translocation increases

The effect of tillage intensity on soil structure and winter wheat root/shoot growth

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Hansen, Elly Møller; Olesen, Jørgen E

2008-01-01

was followed during the growing seasons using spectral reflectance and mini-rhizotron measurements, respectively. A range of soil physical properties were measured. We found decreased early season shoot and root growth with decreasing tillage intensity. Differences diminished later in the growing season...... of this study was to investigate the effect of tillage intensity on crop growth dynamics and soil structure. A tillage experiment was established in autumn 2002 on two Danish sandy loams (Foulum and Flakkebjerg) in a cereal-based crop rotation. The tillage systems included in this study were direct drilling (D...... with decreasing tillage intensity for the first year winter wheat at Foulum. In general ploughing resulted in the highest grain yields. This study highlights the important interaction between soil structure and crop growth dynamics....

influence of tillage practices on physical properties of a sandy loam

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DR. AMINU

many regions of the world if the mechanics of tillage effects on soil physical properties is to be well understood. Thus, the ... tillage systems on water storage of a sandy loam soil after 22 years of ..... Soil infiltration ... and processes. Academy ...

Effect of tillage systems and permanent groundcover intercropped with orange trees on soil enzyme activities

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Elcio Liborio Balota

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different soil tillage systems and groundcover crops intercropped with orange trees on soil enzyme activities. The experiment was performed in an Ultisol soil in northwestern Paraná State. Two soil tillage systems were evaluated [conventional tillage (CT across the entire area and strip tillage (ST with a 2-m strip width] in combination with various groundcover vegetation management systems. Soil samples were collected after five years of experimental management at a depth of 0-15 cm under the tree canopy and in the inter-row space in the following treatments: (1 CT-Calopogonium mucunoides; (2 CT-Arachis pintoi; (3 CT-Bahiagrass; (4 CT-Brachiaria humidicola; and (5 ST-B. humidicola. The soil tillage systems and groundcover crops influenced the soil enzyme activities both under the tree canopy and in the inter-row space. The cultivation of B. humidicola provided higher amylase, arylsulfatase, acid phosphatase and alkaline phosphatase than other groundcover species. Strip tillage increased enzyme activities compared to the conventional tillage system.

Glyphosate resistant weeds - a threat to conservation agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Glyphosate-resistant weeds are now present throughout the Southeast. Hundreds of thousands of conservation tillage cotton acres, some currently under USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation program contracts, are at risk of being converted to higher-intensity tillage systems....

Evolution of physical properties of soils according to tillage systems on annual crops/ Evolução de propriedades físicas do solo em função dos sistemas de manejo em culturas anuais

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Rogério R. M. Ferreira

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Soil management must keep the soil physical properties next to the original conditions in natural systems to assure the sustainability of agricultural systems. This review synthesizes the effects of conventional tillage, minimum tillage and no-tillage systems of annual crops, on soil physical properties as bulk density, porosity, soil resistance to root penetration, infiltration speed, hydraulic conductivity,compressibility, organic matter level, soil aggregate size and stability. No-tillage presents advantages on organic matter level, size and stability of aggregates, compressibility and hydraulic conductivity but has limitations on bulk density and resistance to root penetration. Minimum tillage with chisel plow is specially efficient in relation to infiltration speed and hydraulic conductivity, and intermediate between conventional and no-tillage in other aspects. Conventional tillage with total pulverization of soil surface,mainly on tropical conditions, presents the less favorable scores on soil physical properties, close to minimum tillage and no-till only in few circumstances, and frequently the most different from the natural conditions. The conservation systems by their side, despite of similarities in some aspects with natural conditions, are not able to reproduce the conditions of natural forests, savannas or natural pastures, but are in the sustainability direction.Para assegurar a sustentabilidade do sistema produtivo, o manejo do solo deve manter as propriedades físicas do solo o mais próximo das condições originais em que este se encontrava na natureza. Esta revisão sintetiza os efeitos de três sistemas de manejo de solo (convencional, mínimo e direto em culturas anuais sobre as propriedades físicas do solo como densidade, porosidade, resistência à penetração, velocidade de infiltração, condutividade hidráulica, compressibilidade, nível de matéria orgânica, tamanho e estabilidade de agregados. O plantio direto

Effect of tillage and crop residues management on mungbean (vigna radiata (L.) wilczek) crop yield, nitrogen fixation and water use efficiency in rainfed areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammad, W.; Shehzadi, S.; Shah, S.M.; Shah, Z.

2010-01-01

reference crop, the biological nitrogen fixed by mungbean ranged from 37.00 to 82.59 kg ha/sup -1/ whereas with maize as a reference crop, it ranged from 34.74 to 70.78 kg ha/sup -1/ under different treatments. In comparison, non-fixing (reference) crops of sorghum and maize derived up to 16.6 and 15.5% of their nitrogen from the labelled fertilizer, respectively. These results suggested that crop productivity, BNF and WUE in the rainfed environment can be improved with minimum tillage and crop residues retention. (author)

Desempenho de uma semeadora-adubadora no estabelecimento e na produtividade da cultura do milho sob plantio direto Performance of a sowing-fertilizer machine for corn crop establishment and grain yield under no-tillage system

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José Geraldo da Silva

2000-03-01

Full Text Available Na semeadura mecanizada diversos fatores interferem no estabelecimento do estande de plantas e, com freqüência, na produtividade da cultura, destacando entre eles a velocidade de operação da máquina no campo e a profundidade de deposição do adubo no solo. Neste estudo avaliou-se o estabelecimento da cultura do milho, através de uma semeadora-adubadora provida de um dosador de sementes de disco horizontal perfurado e de quatro linhas de semeadura. A máquina foi operada em quatro velocidades de deslocamento (3, 6, 9 e 11,2 km/h e em duas profundidades de adubação (5 e 10 cm, num Latossolo Roxo eutrófico com plantio direto há 12 anos. O número de plantas de milho na linha de semeadura foi menor nas maiores velocidades de operação da máquina. As sementes de milho que passaram pelo dosador de disco horizontal, não foram sensivelmente danificadas nas velocidades de semeadura mais elevadas. A uniformidade dos espaçamentos entre as sementes de milho na linha de semeadura foi considerada excelente para velocidade de 3 km/h, regular para 6 e 9 km/h e insatisfatória para 11,2 km/h. As velocidades da semeadora-adubadora de até 6 km/h e a adubação realizada a 10 cm de profundidade propiciaram maiores estandes de plantas e número de espigas por metro e foram responsáveis pelos maiores rendimentos de grãos.In mechanized planting, several factors such as machine operation velocity in the field and depth of fertilizer deposition in the soil interfere in the plant stand establishment and crop yield. In this study, corn crop establishment was evaluated using a sowing-fertilizer machine, provided with a perforated horizontal disc device for seed dosage and containing four planting units. The machine was operated using four displacement velocities (3, 6, 9 and 11.2 km/h and two fertilization depths (5 and 10 cm, on an eutrophic Red Latosol, previously under no-tillage for 12 years. Corn seeding density in the sowing line was affected by the

Tillage effects on N2O emissions as influenced by a winter cover crop

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Søren O; Mutegi, James; Hansen, Elly Møller

2011-01-01

emissions may be more important than the effect on soil C. This study monitored emissions of N2O between September 2008 and May 2009 in three tillage treatments, i.e., conventional tillage (CT), reduced tillage (RT) and direct drilling (DD), all with (+CC) or without (−CC) fodder radish as a winter cover...... application by direct injection N2O emissions were stimulated in all tillage treatments, reaching 250–400 μg N m−2 h−1 except in the CT + CC treatment, where emissions peaked at 900 μg N m−2 h−1. Accumulated emissions ranged from 1.6 to 3.9 kg N2O ha−1. A strong positive interaction between cover crop......Conservation tillage practices are widely used to protect against soil erosion and soil C losses, whereas winter cover crops are used mainly to protect against N losses during autumn and winter. For the greenhouse gas balance of a cropping system the effect of reduced tillage and cover crops on N2O...

Effects of over-winter green cover on soil solution nitrate concentrations beneath tillage land.

Science.gov (United States)

Premrov, Alina; Coxon, Catherine E; Hackett, Richard; Kirwan, Laura; Richards, Karl G

2014-02-01

There is a growing need to reduce nitrogen losses from agricultural systems to increase food production while reducing negative environmental impacts. The efficacy of vegetation cover for reducing nitrate leaching in tillage systems during fallow periods has been widely investigated. Nitrate leaching reductions by natural regeneration (i.e. growth of weeds and crop volunteers) have been investigated to a lesser extent than reductions by planted cover crops. This study compares the efficacy of natural regeneration and a sown cover crop (mustard) relative to no vegetative cover under both a reduced tillage system and conventional plough-based system as potential mitigation measures for reducing over-winter soil solution nitrate concentrations. The study was conducted over three winter fallow seasons on well drained soil, highly susceptible to leaching, under temperate maritime climatic conditions. Mustard cover crop under both reduced tillage and conventional ploughing was observed to be an effective measure for significantly reducing nitrate concentrations. Natural regeneration under reduced tillage was found to significantly reduce the soil solution nitrate concentrations. This was not the case for the natural regeneration under conventional ploughing. The improved efficacy of natural regeneration under reduced tillage could be a consequence of potential stimulation of seedling germination by the autumn reduced tillage practices and improved over-winter plant growth. There was no significant effect of tillage practices on nitrate concentrations. This study shows that over winter covers of mustard and natural regeneration, under reduced tillage, are effective measures for reducing nitrate concentrations in free draining temperate soils. © 2013.

Increasing crop diversity mitigates weather variations and improves yield stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudin, Amélie C M; Tolhurst, Tor N; Ker, Alan P; Janovicek, Ken; Tortora, Cristina; Martin, Ralph C; Deen, William

2015-01-01

Cropping sequence diversification provides a systems approach to reduce yield variations and improve resilience to multiple environmental stresses. Yield advantages of more diverse crop rotations and their synergistic effects with reduced tillage are well documented, but few studies have quantified the impact of these management practices on yields and their stability when soil moisture is limiting or in excess. Using yield and weather data obtained from a 31-year long term rotation and tillage trial in Ontario, we tested whether crop rotation diversity is associated with greater yield stability when abnormal weather conditions occur. We used parametric and non-parametric approaches to quantify the impact of rotation diversity (monocrop, 2-crops, 3-crops without or with one or two legume cover crops) and tillage (conventional or reduced tillage) on yield probabilities and the benefits of crop diversity under different soil moisture and temperature scenarios. Although the magnitude of rotation benefits varied with crops, weather patterns and tillage, yield stability significantly increased when corn and soybean were integrated into more diverse rotations. Introducing small grains into short corn-soybean rotation was enough to provide substantial benefits on long-term soybean yields and their stability while the effects on corn were mostly associated with the temporal niche provided by small grains for underseeded red clover or alfalfa. Crop diversification strategies increased the probability of harnessing favorable growing conditions while decreasing the risk of crop failure. In hot and dry years, diversification of corn-soybean rotations and reduced tillage increased yield by 7% and 22% for corn and soybean respectively. Given the additional advantages associated with cropping system diversification, such a strategy provides a more comprehensive approach to lowering yield variability and improving the resilience of cropping systems to multiple environmental

Monitoring cotton root rot by synthetic Sentinel-2 NDVI time series using improved spatial and temporal data fusion.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Mingquan; Yang, Chenghai; Song, Xiaoyu; Hoffmann, Wesley Clint; Huang, Wenjiang; Niu, Zheng; Wang, Changyao; Li, Wang; Yu, Bo

2018-01-31

To better understand the progression of cotton root rot within the season, time series monitoring is required. In this study, an improved spatial and temporal data fusion approach (ISTDFA) was employed to combine 250-m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Different Vegetation Index (NDVI) and 10-m Sentinetl-2 NDVI data to generate a synthetic Sentinel-2 NDVI time series for monitoring this disease. Then, the phenology of healthy cotton and infected cotton was modeled using a logistic model. Finally, several phenology parameters, including the onset day of greenness minimum (OGM), growing season length (GLS), onset of greenness increase (OGI), max NDVI value, and integral area of the phenology curve, were calculated. The results showed that ISTDFA could be used to combine time series MODIS and Sentinel-2 NDVI data with a correlation coefficient of 0.893. The logistic model could describe the phenology curves with R-squared values from 0.791 to 0.969. Moreover, the phenology curve of infected cotton showed a significant difference from that of healthy cotton. The max NDVI value, OGM, GSL and the integral area of the phenology curve for infected cotton were reduced by 0.045, 30 days, 22 days, and 18.54%, respectively, compared with those for healthy cotton.

75 FR 34319 - User Fees for 2010 Crop Cotton Classification Services to Growers

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-17

... uncertainties related to crop size and cash-flow timing while meeting minimum reserve requirements set by the... cotton crop at that same level. This fee and the existing reserve are sufficient to cover the costs of... Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601-612), AMS has...

76 FR 25533 - User Fees for 2011 Crop Cotton Classification Services to Growers

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-05

... uncertainties related to crop size and cash-flow timing while meeting minimum reserve requirements set by the... cotton crop at that same level. This fee and the existing reserve are sufficient to cover the costs of... Flexibility Act Pursuant to requirements set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601-612...

ECONOMICS RESULTS OF WHEAT PRODUCTION BY DIFFERENT SOIL TILLAGE WAYS

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J. Kanisek

2001-06-01

Full Text Available Wheat consumption in the world increases and its importers are some European countries too. The present price of wheat grain will make selling at the market difficult for manufactures from the Republic of Croatia. Conditions and results of four year organizational - economical investigations of conventional and four ways of reduced soil tillage at wheat production are displayed in this paper. Total of 9.35 hours/ha of machinery work and 114.3 l/ha of fuel are consumed at conventional soil tillage. Total costs are 1660 DM/ha. Price of grain is 276.71 DM/t and profit amounts to 187.83 DM/ha. If the soil tillage is done by a disk harrow costs of the machinery work reduce to 471.36 DM/ha and profitability amounts to 16.5%. When soil tillage is done by multitiller with classical sowing, a yield of 5.65 t/ha st price of 273.37 DM/t and investment profitability 12.7% are obtained. Direct sowing by a Rotosem, without previous tillage, requires 11.66 hours/ha of human work and 7.18 hours/ha of machinery work. to meet the total costs 4.9 t/ha of grains need. In order to get equipment, 98 t of grains from land of 17.5 ha should be given annually during the period of 8 years. Plughing and sowing by Rotosem give 5.9 t/ha grains at price of 279.36 DM/t. Total energy cost at conventional production is 30085 and at reduced one it is 27972 MJ/ha.

Corn content of French fry oil from national chain vs. small business restaurants.

Science.gov (United States)

Jahren, A Hope; Schubert, Brian A

2010-02-02

Several issues, ranging from sustainability to health, may interest the consumers in the corn content of their food. However, because restaurants are excluded from the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, national chain restaurants provide nonspecific ingredient information and small businesses supply none. We measured the carbon isotope composition of fry oil in French fries purchased from 68 (67%) of the 101 national chain fast food restaurants on Oahu (i.e., McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, and Jack in the Box), and paired this with a similar number of small businesses (n = 66) to calculate minimum percent contribution of corn to total fry oil. We found that the majority (69%) of the national chain restaurants served fries containing corn oil, whereas this was true for only a minority (20%) of the small businesses. Corn oil is more expensive than soybean oil (for example) when purchased from a small business supplier, suggesting that large-scale corporate agreements are necessary to make corn oil frying cost-effective. When considering French fry oil along with corn-fed beef and chicken, as well as high-fructose corn syrup-sweetened soda, we see the pervasive influence of corn as an ingredient in national chain fast food.

Influence of Tillage and Mulch on Soil Physical Properties and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

User

tillage along with plastic mulch have positive impact on soil physical properties, root growth, water use efficiency ... positive effects on crop yield (Gla & Kulig,. 2008). ... potash fertilizers were applied at 120, 100 and 60 .... 0-10. 1.57B. 1.57B. 1.57B. 1.8B. 1.7B. 1.8B. Tillage × Soil depth. CTInitial. 0-5 ...... (Brassica napus). Eur.

Sanitary state and yielding of spring barley as dependent on soil tillage method

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Tomasz P. Kurowski

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The effects of traditional tillage cultivation (control treatment, no tillage (instead of tillage the soil was loosened with scruff, and direct sowing (with a special drill into unploughed soil on the health of spring barley cultivar. Klimek were compared in three-field crop rotation (field bean, winter wheat, spring barley in an experiment performed in the years 1997-1999 on the soil of a good wheat complex. The results of phytopathological observations carried out over the vegetation season are presented in the form of an injury index. The following diseases were recorded on spring barley: net blotch (Drechslera teres - net type and spot type, powdery mildew (Blumeria graminis, leaf blotch (Rhynchosporium secalis, eyespot (Tapesia yallundae and foot rot (fungal complex. Tillage system had no a significant influence on the occurrence of both types of net blotch. The intensity of powdery mildew and leaf blotch was the highest in the case of traditional tillage cultivation, and the lowest - in that of no tillage. Direct sowing was conductive to the development of eyespot, and no tillage - to foot rot. Fungi of the genus Fusarium, mainly F. culmorum, and the species Bipolaris sorokiniana, were isolated most frequently from infested stem bases. The weather conditions differed during spring barley grown in the three years analyzed. Mean air temperature in 1997 and 1998 was similar to the many-year average for the city of Olsztyn and its surroundings (13.8°C. In the vegetation season 1999 mean air temperature reached 14.6°C, and was considerably higher than the many-year average. Taking into account total precipitation and distribution in the three-year experimental cycle, 1997 and 1998 can be considered average, and 1999 - wet.The weather conditions had a significant effect on the intensity of all diseases observed on spring barley. The highest yield grain was obtained in the case of traditional tillage cultivation (on average 3.06 t·ha-1 for the

Energy balance, costs and CO2 analysis of tillage technologies in maize cultivation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Šarauskis, Egidijus; Buragienė, Sidona; Masilionytė, Laura; Romaneckas, Kęstutis; Avižienytė, Dovile; Sakalauskas, Antanas

2014-01-01

To achieve energy independence, Lithuania and other Baltic countries are searching for new ways to produce energy. Maize is a crop that is suitable for both food and forage, as well as for the production of bioenergy. The objective of this work was to assess the energy efficiency of maize cultivation technologies in different systems of reduced tillage. The experimental research and energy assessment was carried out for five different tillage systems: DP (deep ploughing), SP (), DC (deep cultivation), SC (shallow cultivation) and NT (no tillage). The assessment of the fuel inputs for these systems revealed that the greatest amount of diesel fuel (67.2 l ha −1 ) was used in the traditional DP system. The reduced tillage systems required 12–58% less fuel. Lower fuel consumption reduces the costs of technological operations and reduces CO 2 emissions, which are associated with the greenhouse effect. The agricultural machinery used in reduced tillage technologies emits 107–223 kg ha −1 of CO 2 gas into the environment, whereas DP emits 253 kg ha −1 of CO 2 . The energy analysis conducted in this study showed that the greatest total energy input (approximately 18.1 GJ ha −1 ) was associated with the conventional deep-ploughing tillage technology. The energy inputs associated with the reduced-tillage technologies, namely SP, DC and SC, ranged from 17.1 to 17.6 GJ ha −1 . The lowest energy input (16.2 GJ ha −1 ) was associated with the NT technology. Energy efficiency ratios for the various technologies were calculated as a function of the yield of maize grain and biomass. The best energy balance and the highest energy efficiency ratio (14.0) in maize cultivation was achieved with the NT technology. The energy efficiency ratios for DP, SP, DC and SC were 12.4, 13.4, 11.3 and 12.0, respectively. - Highlights: • Energetical and economic analysis of maize cultivation was done. • Reduced tillage technology reduces working time, fuel consumption

No till system of maize and crop-livestock integration

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Edmar Eduardo Bassan Mendes

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to evaluate the implementation of the Integrated Crop-Livestock (ICL in beef cattle farms where the corn was planted directly on the pasture, under no-till system, in the first year. The Crop-Livestock Integration (CLI models evaluated consisted of Brachiaria decumbens pastures intercropped with corn in the no tillage system. However, the evaluated CLI system differed from the usual system because it did not use the conventional tillage in the first year, while the conventional soil preparation and sowing of grass is used by most of the Brazilian farms. The results show that in the first year the period of time spent planting and side-dressing nitrogen   on corn was longer compared to the following years, mainly due to the lack of uniformity of the ground surface, once no conventional tillage was used to prepare the soil and these operations were performed with own implements for direct planting. Therefore, many seeds were placed either very deep or not buried, thus compromising the crop and becoming necessary to replant the corn with a manual planter. From the second year on, even though the conditions were not ideal, the ground surface became more accessible for the sowing and cultivation of corn, after the tillage of the first year. The time spent in most operations performed was longer than usual, especially planting and side-dressing nitrogen on the corn so that the discs did not chop off plants due to the irregularities of the ground surface. Productivity dropped due to the problems already discussed that contributed to a lower income. It is therefore concluded that, under these experimental conditions, the conventional tillage is imperative when implementing the CLI system, even considering the soil management improvements observed from the first to the second year.

Agrobacterium rhizogenes-induced cotton hairy root culture as an alternative tool for cotton functional genomics

Science.gov (United States)

Although well-accepted as the ultimate method for cotton functional genomics, Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated cotton transformation is not widely used for functional analyses of cotton genes and their promoters since regeneration of cotton in tissue culture is lengthy and labor intensive. In cer...

Effect of simulated tillage on microbial autotrophic CO2 fixation in paddy and upland soils

Science.gov (United States)

Ge, Tida; Wu, Xiaohong; Liu, Qiong; Zhu, Zhenke; Yuan, Hongzhao; Wang, Wei; Whiteley, A. S.; Wu, Jinshui

2016-01-01

Tillage is a common agricultural practice affecting soil structure and biogeochemistry. To evaluate how tillage affects soil microbial CO2 fixation, we incubated and continuously labelled samples from two paddy soils and two upland soils subjected to simulated conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT) treatments. Results showed that CO2 fixation (14C-SOC) in CT soils was significantly higher than in NT soils. We also observed a significant, soil type- and depth-dependent effect of tillage on the incorporation rates of labelled C to the labile carbon pool. Concentrations of labelled C in the carbon pool significantly decreased with soil depth, irrespective of tillage. Additionally, quantitative PCR assays revealed that for most soils, total bacteria and cbbL-carrying bacteria were less abundant in CT versus NT treatments, and tended to decrease in abundance with increasing depth. However, specific CO2 fixation activity was significantly higher in CT than in NT soils, suggesting that the abundance of cbbL-containing bacteria may not always reflect their functional activity. This study highlights the positive effect of tillage on soil microbial CO2 fixation, and the results can be readily applied to the development of sustainable agricultural management. PMID:26795428

Indian Bt cotton varieties do not affect the performance of cotton aphids.

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Nora C Lawo

Full Text Available Cotton varieties expressing Cry proteins derived from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt are grown worldwide for the management of pest Lepidoptera. To prevent non-target pest outbreaks and to retain the biological control function provided by predators and parasitoids, the potential risk that Bt crops may pose to non-target arthropods is addressed prior to their commercialization. Aphids play an important role in agricultural systems since they serve as prey or host to a number of predators and parasitoids and their honeydew is an important energy source for several arthropods. To explore possible indirect effects of Bt crops we here examined the impact of Bt cotton on aphids and their honeydew. In climate chambers we assessed the performance of cotton aphids, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae when grown on three Indian Bt (Cry1Ac cotton varieties (MECH 12, MECH 162, MECH 184 and their non-transformed near isolines. Furthermore, we examined whether aphids pick up the Bt protein and analyzed the sugar composition of aphid honeydew to evaluate its suitability for honeydew-feeders. Plant transformation did not have any influence on aphid performance. However, some variation was observed among the three cotton varieties which might partly be explained by the variation in trichome density. None of the aphid samples contained Bt protein. As a consequence, natural enemies that feed on aphids are not exposed to the Cry protein. A significant difference in the sugar composition of aphid honeydew was detected among cotton varieties as well as between transformed and non-transformed plants. However, it is questionable if this variation is of ecological relevance, especially as honeydew is not the only sugar source parasitoids feed on in cotton fields. Our study allows the conclusion that Bt cotton poses a negligible risk for aphid antagonists and that aphids should remain under natural control in Bt cotton fields.

The influence of conservation tillage methods on soil water regimes in semi-arid southern Zimbabwe

Science.gov (United States)

Mupangwa, W.; Twomlow, S.; Walker, S.

Planting basins and ripper tillage practices are major components of the recently introduced conservation agriculture package that is being extensively promoted for smallholder farming in Zimbabwe. Besides preparing land for crop planting, these two technologies also help in collecting and using rainwater more efficiently in semi-arid areas. The basin tillage is being targeted for households with limited or no access to draught animals while ripping is meant for smallholder farmers with some draught animal power. Trials were established at four farms in Gwanda and Insiza in southern Zimbabwe to determine soil water contributions and runoff water losses from plots under four different tillage treatments. The tillage treatments were hand-dug planting basins, ripping, conventional spring and double ploughing using animal-drawn implements. The initial intention was to measure soil water changes and runoff losses from cropped plots under the four tillage practices. However, due to total crop failure, only soil water and runoff were measured from bare plots between December 2006 and April 2007. Runoff losses were highest under conventional ploughing. Planting basins retained most of the rainwater that fell during each rainfall event. The amount of rainfall received at each farm significantly influenced the volume of runoff water measured. Runoff water volume increased with increase in the amount of rainfall received at each farm. Soil water content was consistently higher under basin tillage than the other three tillage treatments. Significant differences in soil water content were observed across the farms according to soil types from sand to loamy sand. The basin tillage method gives a better control of water losses from the farmers’ fields. The planting basin tillage method has a greater potential for providing soil water to crops than ripper, double and single conventional ploughing practices.

Root growth conditions in the topsoil as affected by tillage intensity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kadziene, Grazina; Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Mutegi, James

2011-01-01

in the topsoil. Samples were taken from a 7-year tillage experiment on a Danish sandy loam at Foulum, Denmark (56°30′ N, 9°35′ E) in 2008. The main crop was spring barley followed by either dyer's woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) or fodder radish (Raphanus sativus L.) cover crops as subtreatment. The tillage...

Manejo de nitrogênio no milho sob plantio direto com diferentes plantas de cobertura, em Latossolo Vermelho Nitrogen management in corn under no-tillage with different cover crops in a Rhodic Hapludox soil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edson Cabral da Silva

2006-03-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi definir a melhor dose e época de aplicação, e a eficiência de utilização do N, utilizando-se uréia marcada com 15N, pelo milho cultivado sob plantio direto, em sucessão à crotalária (Crotalaria juncea, ao milheto (Pennisetum americanum e à vegetação espontânea (pousio, em um Latossolo Vermelho no Cerrado. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos ao acaso, com 24 tratamentos e quatro repetições, em esquema fatorial incompleto, 3x3x2 + 6: três doses de N (80, 130 e 180 kg ha-1; três sistemas de cobertura do solo (crotalária, milheto e pousio; duas épocas de aplicação do N (estádio quatro ou oito folhas; e seis tratamentos adicionais (três sem aplicação de N e três que receberam 30 kg ha-1 de N na semeadura. O cultivo do milho em sucessão à crotalária proporciona maior quantidade na planta e aproveitamento pela planta do N proveniente do fertilizante e maior produtividade de grãos. A aplicação do N ao milho com quatro folhas proporciona maior produtividade de grãos, comparada à aplicação com oito folhas, quando em sucessão ao milheto.The objective of this work was to evaluate the best rate and time for N application, and N utilization using urea-15N, by corn crop grown under no-tillage system, in succession to sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea L., millet (Pennisetum americanum and to the spontaneous vegetation (fallow ground, in a Rhodic Hapludox soil in Cerrrado. The experimental design was randomized complete blocks, with 24 treatments and four replications, in an incomplete factorial 3x3x2 + 6: three N rates (80, 130 and 180 kg ha-1 N; three preceding cover crops (sun hemp, millet and fallow ground; two N application time (four leaves or eight leaves stage; and six additional treatments (three without N application and three that received 30 kg ha-1 N at seeding. The corn grown in succession to sun hemp provided higher amount of N derived from fertilizer, N utilization efficiency

Comparação econômica da produção de grãos secos e silagem de grãos úmidos de milho cultivado em sistema de plantio direto Economical comparison of dried corn production and high moisture corn silage cultivated in no-till system

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Samir Paulo Jasper

2009-10-01

Full Text Available No presente trabalho que foi realizado na Fazenda Experimental Lageado, da Universidade Estadual Paulista em Botucatu, SP, objetivou-se avaliar os custos envolvidos na produção de silagem de grãos úmidos de milho, tendo como referência o processamento seco deste cereal, ambos cultivados em sistema de plantio direto. Para a avaliação foram determinados os custos envolvidos nas operações de máquinas agrícolas, insumos e na etapa de pós-colheita. Os resultados observados permitiram concluir que o custo por hectare para produção de silagem de grãos úmidos foi de R$1.398,06, sendo 8,8% menor do que os custos para produção de milho seco (R$ 1.533,78.This work was carried out at FCA-Botucatu/UNESP - São Paulo State University, with the aim to evaluate the costs involved in high moisture corn silage production, using the corn drying process as witness, both cultivated in no-tillage system. The costs involved in the operations of agricultural machines, inputs and post harvest phase were obtained for evaluation. The results allowed concluding that the cost per hectare for high moisture corn silage (US$ 607.85 was 8.8% smaller than the costs for dried corn (US$ 666.86.

Grassland soil tillage by three implements in an Ultisol and its physical and hydropedological implications

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Manuel E. Camacho

2015-11-01

Full Text Available A field study was conducted to test the effects of soil tillage with 3 different implements on compaction, physical and hydropedological properties of an Ultisol under cattle production, located in San Mateo, Alajuela. An area of approximately 10 000 m2 was selected and divided into 16 plots (650 m2 each and was tilled with 3 different implements corresponding to the treatments, following an unrestricted random experimental design, with a plot as experimental unit. Soil without tillage (T, tillage by spader plow (PM, tillage by chisel plow (C or tillage by subsoiler (S were established as treatments. Forty days after tillage treatments, soil penetration resistance every 5 cm up to 50 cm deep was assessed, and gravimetric moisture content, bulk and particle density, water infiltration and hydraulic conductivity, all of them up to the first 10 cm deep, all of them were measured. Soil compaction, expressed as soil penetration resistance, was reduced by tillage treatments; the lowest values for soil compaction were found in the spader plow treatment (PM. This same treatment enhanced cumulated infiltration (38.70±3.60 mm at 150 min significantly, comparing with those obtained in T treatment (0.09±0.02 mm at 150 min. No significant differences were found among tillage treatments for bulk density, total porosity and airspace, but comparing with control treatment (T they were found. Subsoiler treatment (S favored the highest values for hydraulic conductivity, but no significant differences with the other treatments were found (p>0.05.

Infiltration of surface mined land reclaimed by deep tillage treatments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chong, S.K.; Cowsert, P.

1994-01-01

Surface mining of coal leads to the drastic disturbance of soils. Compaction of replaced subsoil and topsoil resulting from hauling, grading, and leveling procedures produces a poor rooting medium for crop growth. Soil compaction results in high bulk density, low macroporosity, poor water infiltration capacity, and reduced elongation of plant roots. In the United States, Public Law 95-87 mandates that the rooting medium of mined soils have specific textural characteristics and be graded and shaped to a topography similar to premining conditions. Also, crop productivity levels equivalent to those prior to mining must be achieved, especially for prime farmland. Alleviation of compaction has been the major focus of reclamation, and recently new techniques to augment the rooting zone with deep-ripping and loosening equipment have come to the forefront. Several surface mine operators in the Illinois coal basin are using deep tillage equipment that is capable of loosening soils to greater depths than is possible with conventional farm tillage equipment. Information on the beneficial effects of these loosening procedures on soil hydrological properties, such as infiltration, runoff potential, erosion, and water retention, is extremely important for future mined land management. However, such information is lacking. In view of the current yield demonstration regulation for prime farmland and other unmined soils, it is important that as much information as possible be obtained concerning the effect of deep tillage on soil hydrologic properties. The objectives of this study are: (1) to compare infiltration rates and related soil physical properties of mined soils reclaimed by various deep tillage treatments and (2) to study the temporal variability of infiltration and related physical properties of the reclaimed mined soil after deep tillage treatment

Fertilizer placement and tillage effects on phosphorus leaching in fine-textured soils

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Adoption of no-tillage in agricultural watersheds has resulted in substantial reductions in sediment and particulate phosphorus (P) delivery to surface waters. No-tillage, however, may result in increased losses of dissolved P in tile-drained landscapes due to the accumulation of P in surface soil l...

Dictionary of cotton: Picking & ginning

Science.gov (United States)

Cotton is an essential commodity for textiles and has long been an important item of trade in the world’s economy. Cotton is currently grown in over 100 countries by an estimated 100 producers. The basic unit of the cotton trade is the cotton bale which consists of approximately 500 pounds of raw c...

Weed seed germination in winter cereals under contrasting tillage systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scherner, Ananda

2015-01-01

to accumulate in the top soil layer and timing of herbicide applications sometimes seems to target the emergence pattern of these weeds poorly. In contrast to the management of most diseases and pests, weed management should be considered in a time frame. The abilities to produce above and below ground...... of weeds. An important component in IWM is to understand and ultimately predict weed emergence patterns in relation to the cropping system and the tillage method applied. A better understanding of the cumulative emergence patterns of weed species in winter crops under different tillage regimes will help......Grass weeds and Gallium aparine are major weed problems in North European arable cropping systems with high proportions of winter crops, especially winter wheat (Clarke et al., 2000; Melander et al., 2008). Problems are accentuated where inverting tillage is omitted, as weed seeds tend...

Use of multispectral Ikonos imagery for discriminating between conventional and conservation agricultural tillage practices

Science.gov (United States)

Vina, Andres; Peters, Albert J.; Ji, Lei

2003-01-01

There is a global concern about the increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. One method being discussed to encourage greenhouse gas mitigation efforts is based on a trading system whereby carbon emitters can buy effective mitigation efforts from farmers implementing conservation tillage practices. These practices sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and such a trading system would require a low-cost and accurate method of verification. Remote sensing technology can offer such a verification technique. This paper is focused on the use of standard image processing procedures applied to a multispectral Ikonos image, to determine whether it is possible to validate that farmers have complied with agreements to implement conservation tillage practices. A principal component analysis (PCA) was performed in order to isolate image variance in cropped fields. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) statistical procedures were used to evaluate the capability of each Ikonos band and each principal component to discriminate between conventional and conservation tillage practices. A logistic regression model was implemented on the principal component most effective in discriminating between conventional and conservation tillage, in order to produce a map of the probability of conventional tillage. The Ikonos imagery, in combination with ground-reference information, proved to be a useful tool for verification of conservation tillage practices.

Simulation of corn yields and parameters uncertainties analysis in Hebei and Sichuang, China

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, A.; Xue, Y.; Hartman, M. D.; Chandran, A.; Qiu, B.; Liu, Y.

2016-12-01

Corn is one of most important agricultural production in China. Research on the impacts of climate change and human activities on corn yields is important in understanding and mitigating the negative effects of environmental factors on corn yields and maintaining the stable corn production. Using climatic data, including daily temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation from 1948 to 2010, soil properties, observed corn yields, and farmland management information, corn yields in Sichuang and Hebei Provinces of China in the past 63 years were simulated using the Daycent model, and the results was evaluated using Root mean square errors, bias, simulation efficiency, and standard deviation. The primary climatic factors influencing corn yields were examined, the uncertainties of climatic factors was analyzed, and the uncertainties of human activity parameters were also studied by changing fertilization levels and cultivated ways. The results showed that: (1) Daycent model is capable to simulate corn yields in Sichuang and Hebei provinces of China. Observed and simulated corn yields have the similar increasing trend with time. (2) The minimum daily temperature is the primary factor influencing corn yields in Sichuang. In Hebei Province, daily temperature, precipitation and wind speed significantly affect corn yields.(3) When the global warming trend of original data was removed, simulated corn yields were lower than before, decreased by about 687 kg/hm2 from 1992 to 2010; When the fertilization levels, cultivated ways were increased and decreased by 50% and 75%, respectively in the Schedule file in Daycent model, the simulated corn yields increased by 1206 kg/hm2 and 776 kg/hm2, respectively, with the enhancement of fertilization level and the improvement of cultivated way. This study provides a scientific base for selecting a suitable fertilization level and cultivated way in corn fields in China.

Modeling Edge Effects of Tillage Erosion

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Tillage erosion has been recognized as an important factor in redistribution of soil over time and in the development of morphological changes within agricultural fields. Field borders, fences, and vegetated strips that interrupt soil fluxes lead to the creation topographic discontinuities or lynche...

Spatial targeting of conservation tillage to improve water quality and carbon retention benefits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, W.; Sheng, C.; Voroney, P.

2005-01-01

Conservation tillage reduces soil erosion and improves water quality in agricultural watersheds. However, the benefits of conservation tillage in carbon sequestration are the subject of controversy. Public funds are provided to farms to encourage the adoption of conservation tillage. Given the economic costs, the targeting of areas likely to achieve the greatest environmental benefits has become an important policy-making issue. A geographic information system (GIS) based modelling framework which integrated hydrologic, soil organic matter, and farm models to evaluate the spatial targeting of conservation tillage was presented. A case study applying the framework in the Fairchild Creek watershed in Ontario indicated that targeting conservation tillage based on sediment abatement goals can achieve comparable carbon retention benefits in terms of the percentage reduction of base carbon losses. Targeted subcatchments for conservation tillage varied across the watershed based on benefit to cost ratios. Conservation tillage patterns based on carbon retention goals showed similar results to sediment abatement goals but slight differences were observed because of different carbon content in the soils. The results indicated that sediment abatement may be used as an indicator in setting up program goals. The impacts of conservation programs can then be evaluated based on calibrated and validated hydrologic models in conjunction with monitoring data. Results also showed that setting carbon retention may lead to higher costs in order to achieve corresponding sediment abatement benefits. Carbon retention may not be suitable for setting as a stand-alone environmental goal for conservation programs because of the difficulties in verifying the impacts and the discrepancies between carbon and sediment benefits. It was concluded that the modelling results have important policy implications for the design of conservation stewardship programs that aim to achieve environmental

The halo effect: suppression of pink bollworm on non-Bt cotton by Bt cotton in China.

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Peng Wan

Full Text Available In some previously reported cases, transgenic crops producing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt have suppressed insect pests not only in fields planted with such crops, but also regionally on host plants that do not produce Bt toxins. Here we used 16 years of field data to determine if Bt cotton caused this "halo effect" against pink bollworm (Pectinophora gossypiella in six provinces of the Yangtze River Valley of China. In this region, the percentage of cotton hectares planted with Bt cotton increased from 9% in 2000 to 94% in 2009 and 2010. We found that Bt cotton significantly decreased the population density of pink bollworm on non-Bt cotton, with net decreases of 91% for eggs and 95% for larvae on non-Bt cotton after 11 years of Bt cotton use. Insecticide sprays targeting pink bollworm and cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera decreased by 69%. Previously reported evidence of the early stages of evolution of pink bollworm resistance to Bt cotton in China has raised concerns that if unchecked, such resistance could eventually diminish or eliminate the benefits of Bt cotton. The results reported here suggest that it might be possible to find a percentage of Bt cotton lower than the current level that causes sufficient regional pest suppression and reduces the risk of resistance.

Effects of 1992 farming systems on ground-water quality at the management systems evaluation area near Princeton, Minnesota

Science.gov (United States)

Delin, G.N.; Landon, M.K.; Lamb, J.A.; Dowdy, R.H.

1995-01-01

The Management Systems Evaluation Area (MSEA) program was a multiscale, interagency initiative to evaluate the effects of agricultural systems on water quality in the midwest corn belt. The primary objective of the Minnesota MSEA was to evaluate the effects of ridge-tillage practices in a corn and soybean farming system on ground-water quality. The 65-hectare Minnesota MSEA was located in the Anoka Sand Plain near the town of Princeton, Minnesota. Three fanning systems were evaluated: corn-soybean rotation with ridge-tillage (areas B and D), sweet corn-potato rotation (areas A and C), and field corn in consecutive years (continuous corn; area E). Water samples were collected four different times per year from a network of 22 multiport wells and 29 observation wells installed in the saturated zone beneath and adjacent to the cropped areas.

Effects of Tillage on Yield and Economic Returns of Maize and Cowpea in Semi-Arid Eastern Kenya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miriti, M.J; Kironchi, G; Gachene, K.K.C; Esilaba, O.A.; Mwangi, M.D; Nyamwaro, S.O; Heng, K.L

2014-01-01

Crop yields and financial returns are important criteria for adoption of conservation tillage by farmers. A study was conducted between 2007-2010 to compare the financial returns of subsoiling-ripping and tied-ridge tillage with the conventional ox-plough tillage in the production of maize (Zea mays L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) under semi-arid subsistence farming conditions in lower eastern Kenya. Four cropping systems namely maize sole crop, cowpea sole crop, maize/cowpea intercrop and maize sole crop with manure were evaluated in a split-plot treatments arrangement with tillage practices as the main plots and cropping systems as the sub-plots. The grain yields of maize and cowpea, prevailing market prices for cowpea and maize grains, labour, inputs applied and other relevant socio-economic data were collected every season, to enable estimation of economic returns and acceptability of the technologies. The results showed that average grain yield for maize sole crop, cowpea sole crop, maize/cowpea intercrop and maize sole crop with manure cropping systems under tied-ridge were 5, 9, 97 and 27% greater than the yields under oxplough tillage, respectively. Crop yields produced under subsoiling-ripping and ox-plough tillage were generally similar. However, land preparation and weeding labour expenses (KES 4240 / ha) for ox-plough tillage were 34% greater than those for subsoiling-ripping tillage but 40% lower than those for tied-ridge tillage. When averaged across seasons and tillage systems, the highest gross margins (KES 8567 / ha) were obtained in sole cowpea cropping system, followed by sole maize with manure (KES 4070 / ha), intercrop (KES 864 / ha) and least (loss of KES 1330 / ha) in sole maize without manure cropping system. (author)

Yields of cotton and other crops as affected by applications of sulfuric acid in irrigation water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, P.D.; Lyerly, P.J.

1954-01-01

Effects of sulfuric acid on crop yields and on some physical and chemical properties of a calcareous soil were investigated in a field experiment from 1947 through 1952. On cotton plots, the treatments consisted of applications of irrigation water containing no acid (pH 8.3), water acidified to pH 6, and water acidified to pH 2.3. Cotton was grown five seasons followed by sesbania the sixth season. A test on alfalfa was established using irrigation water not acidified and water acidifeid to pH 4. Alfalfa was grown for 3 years. The fourth year the alfalfa was plowed under and a crop of corn was raised. Cotton yields on the acid plots relative to the checks became progressively higher (with two exceptions) from one year to the next; however, in only one year (1950) were differences in yield statistically significant. With sesbania following cotton, highly significant yield increases resulted from the high acid treatment. Alfalfa yields on the acid plots became progressively greater relative to the non-acid plots, but yield differences were not significant. In cotton leaves, the acid treatments resulted in increased uptake of magnesium, sulfur, and phosphorus, but the increases were probably not significant. Uptake of sodium, potassium, calcium, manganese, and iron were not appreciably affected. In sesbania, the acid treatments did not significantly alter the uptake of any of the plant nutrients determined. There was some indication, however, that the uptake of sodium and iron was reduced by the acidification. The results of this study support the view that soil acidification on calcareous soils may improve the soil physical conditions and result in increased yields, particularly in some crops. The application of acid in the irrigation water did not prove to be economically feasible. 12 references, 1 figure, 7 tables.

Changes in the fertility of a leached chernozem under different primary tillage technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Korolev, V. A.; Gromovik, A. I.; Borontov, O. K.

2016-01-01

Changes in the fertility of a leached chernozem under different tillage technologies (moldboard, non-inversive, and combined tillage) were studied in a multifactor stationary field experiment established in 1985 in Voronezh oblast on a low-humus medium-deep light clayey leached chernozem. The nine-field rotation of cereals and sugar beet was practiced. It was found that the major parameters of soil fertility—the content and qualitative composition of humus and the physicochemical and physical properties of the chernozem—remained relatively stable independently from the applied primary tillage technologies. However, taking into account economic characteristics (crop yields, production costs, energy expenses, etc.), the combined tillage system proved to be most efficient. It can be recommended for cereals-sugar beet rotation systems in the central chernozemic region, as it ensures the highest efficiency of crop growing and preserves the fertility of leached chernozems.

Tillage and residue burning affects weed populations and seed banks.

Science.gov (United States)

Narwal, S; Sindel, B M; Jessop, R S

2006-01-01

An integrated weed management approach requires alternative management practices to herbicide use such as tillage, crop rotations and cultural controls to reduce soil weed seed banks. The objective of this study was to examine the value of different tillage practices and stubble burning to exhaust the seed bank of common weeds from the northern grain region of Australia. Five tillage and burning treatments were incorporated in a field experiment, at Armidale (30 degrees 30'S, 151 degrees 40'E), New South Wales, Australia in July 2004 in a randomized block design replicated four times. The trial was continued and treatments repeated in July 2005 with all the mature plants from the first year being allowed to shed seed in their respective treatment plots. The treatments were (i) no tillage (NT), (ii) chisel ploughing (CP), (iii) mould board ploughing (MBP), (iv) wheat straw burning with no tillage (SBNT) and (v) wheat straw burning with chisel ploughing (SBC). Soil samples were collected before applying treatments and before the weeds flowered to establish the seed bank status of the various weeds in the soil. Wheat was sown after the tillage treatments. Burning treatments were only initiated in the second year, one month prior to tillage treatments. The major weeds present in the seed bank before initiating the trial were Polygonum aviculare, Sonchus oleraceus and Avena fatua. Tillage promoted the germination of other weeds like Hibiscus trionum, Medicago sativa, Vicia sp. and Phalaris paradoxa later in the season in 2004 and Convolvulus erubescens emerged as a new weed in 2005. The MBP treatment in 2004 reduced the weed biomass to a significantly lower level of 55 g/m2 than the other treatments of CP (118 g/m2) and NT plots (196 g/m2) (P < 0.05). However, in 2005 SBC and MBP treatments were similar in reducing the weed biomass. In 2004, the grain yield trend of wheat was significantly different between CP and NT, and MBP and NT (P < 0.05) with maximum yield of 5898

EFFECT OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE ON YIELD AND PROTECTING ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES

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Teodor RUSU

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Conservative soil tillage (minimum tillage and no-tillage are considered among the most important components of conservation agriculture. Their research and extension was imposed especially in hilly areas with specific problems of desertification (erosion, drought as bioremedial measures. Our research follows the effects of the three tillage systems: conventional systems, minimum tillage and no-tillage on soil properties (bulk density, penetration resistance, temperature and moisture, soil respiration and on the production of wheat, maize and soybean, obtained on an Argic Faeoziom from the Somes Plateau. Average soil bulk density grows, compared to the conventional system (1.20-1.24 g/cm3 , in all variants with minimum tillage (1.22-1.32 g/cm3 ; the highest growth is recorded at no-tillage, being 1.35- 1.38 g/cm3 with statistically significant positive differences. Soil moisture increases in all variants with minimum and no-tillage with different percentages, ranging from 1-15% v/v, compared to the conventional system. This is also reflected in the values of resistance to penetration. Tillage appeared to affect the timing rather than the total amount of CO2 production: the daily average is lower at no-tillage (315-1914 mmoles m-2s -1, followed by minimum tillage (318- 2395 mmoles m-2s -1 and is higher in the conventional system (321-2480 mmoles m-2s -1. Productions obtained at minimum tillage and no-tillage did not have significant differences for the wheat culture but were higher for soybean. The differences in crop yields were recorded at maize and can be a direct consequence of loosening, mineralization and intensive mobilization of soil fertility.

The U2U Corn Growing Degree Day tool: Tracking corn growth across the US Corn Belt

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James R. Angel

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The Corn Growing Degree Day (Corn GDD tool is a web-based product that can provide decision support on a variety of issues throughout the entire growing season by integrating current conditions, historical climate data, and projections of Corn GDD through the end of the growing season based on both National Weather Service computer model forecasts and climatology. The Corn GDD tool can help agricultural producers make a variety of important decisions before and during the growing season. This support can include: assessing the risk of early and late frosts and freezes that can cause crop damage; comparing corn hybrid maturity requirements and Corn GDD projections to select seed varieties and plan activities such as spraying; guiding marketing decisions based on historical and projected Corn GDDs when considering forward crop pricing (i.e., futures market. The Corn GDD tool provides decision support for corn producers in the central U.S. corn-producing states. Survey results, web statistics, and user feedback indicate that this tool is being actively used by decision makers.

Detecting mismatches in the phenology of cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering in response to climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jian; Hao, HongFei

2018-05-01

Current evidence suggests that climate change has directly affected the phenology of many invertebrate species associated with agriculture. Such changes in phenology have the potential to cause temporal mismatches between predators and prey and may lead to a disruption in natural pest control ecosystem. Understanding the synchrony between pest insects and host plant responses to climate change is a key step to improve integrated pest management strategies. Cotton bollworm larvae damage cotton, and thus, data from Magaiti County, China, collected during the period of 1990-2015 were analyzed to assess the effects of climate change on cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering. The results showed that a warming climate advanced the phenology of cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering. However, the phenological rate of change was faster in cotton bollworm larvae than that in cotton flowering, and the larval period was prolonged, resulting in a great increase of the larval population. The abrupt phenological changes in cotton bollworm larvae occurred earlier than that in cotton, and the abrupt phenological changes in cotton flowering occurred earlier than that in larval abundance. However, the timing of abrupt changes in larval abundance all occurred later than that in temperature. Thus, the abrupt changes that occurred in larvae, cotton flowering and climate were asynchronous. The interval days between the cotton flowering date (CFD) and the half-amount larvae date (HLD) expanded by 3.41 and 4.41 days with a 1 °C increase of T mean in May and June, respectively. The asynchrony between cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering will likely broaden as the climate changes. The effective temperature in March and April and the end date of larvae (ED) were the primary factors affecting asynchrony.

Detecting mismatches in the phenology of cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering in response to climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jian; Hao, HongFei

2018-05-11

Current evidence suggests that climate change has directly affected the phenology of many invertebrate species associated with agriculture. Such changes in phenology have the potential to cause temporal mismatches between predators and prey and may lead to a disruption in natural pest control ecosystem. Understanding the synchrony between pest insects and host plant responses to climate change is a key step to improve integrated pest management strategies. Cotton bollworm larvae damage cotton, and thus, data from Magaiti County, China, collected during the period of 1990-2015 were analyzed to assess the effects of climate change on cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering. The results showed that a warming climate advanced the phenology of cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering. However, the phenological rate of change was faster in cotton bollworm larvae than that in cotton flowering, and the larval period was prolonged, resulting in a great increase of the larval population. The abrupt phenological changes in cotton bollworm larvae occurred earlier than that in cotton, and the abrupt phenological changes in cotton flowering occurred earlier than that in larval abundance. However, the timing of abrupt changes in larval abundance all occurred later than that in temperature. Thus, the abrupt changes that occurred in larvae, cotton flowering and climate were asynchronous. The interval days between the cotton flowering date (CFD) and the half-amount larvae date (HLD) expanded by 3.41 and 4.41 days with a 1 °C increase of T mean in May and June, respectively. The asynchrony between cotton bollworm larvae and cotton flowering will likely broaden as the climate changes. The effective temperature in March and April and the end date of larvae (ED) were the primary factors affecting asynchrony.

Cotton transformation via pollen tube pathway.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Min; Zhang, Baohong; Wang, Qinglian

2013-01-01

Although many gene transfer methods have been employed for successfully obtaining transgenic cotton, the major constraint in cotton improvement is the limitation of genotype because the majority of transgenic methods require plant regeneration from a single transformed cell which is limited by cotton tissue culture. Comparing with other plant species, it is difficult to induce plant regeneration from cotton; currently, only a limited number of cotton cultivars can be cultured for obtaining regenerated plants. Thus, development of a simple and genotype-independent genetic transformation method is particularly important for cotton community. In this chapter, we present a simple, cost-efficient, and genotype-independent cotton transformation method-pollen tube pathway-mediated transformation. This method uses pollen tube pathway to deliver transgene into cotton embryo sacs and then insert foreign genes into cotton genome. There are three major steps for pollen tube pathway-mediated genetic transformation, which include injection of -foreign genes into pollen tube, integration of foreign genes into plant genome, and selection of transgenic plants.

Effects of soil tillage on the energy budget of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casa, R.; Cascio, B. lo

1997-01-01

The different terms of the energy budget were measured by the Bowen ratio method on soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) grown on a conventional tillage and a direct drilling system. The differences found in the energy budgets varied according to the degree of fractional ground cover and of soil water availability. Soil heat flux was greater for the direct drilling treatment, although soil heating was slower as compared to the conventional tillage. Comparisons for well watered and dry conditions revealed that the conventional tillage system used as latent heat a fraction of net radiation greater than the direct drilling treatment only in well watered conditions. In dry conditions the differences in latent heat fluxes and canopy resistances between the two tillage systems were smaller [it

Response of wheat to tillage and nitrogen fertilization in rice-wheat system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qamar, R.; Ehsanullah, A.; Ahmad, R.; Iqbal, M.

2012-01-01

In a rice-wheat system, rice stubbles remaining in the field often delay early planting of winter wheat to utilize residual soil moisture and reduce operating costs. A randomized complete block design in a split plot arrangement was conducted with four seasonal tillage methods [conventional tillage, CT; deep tillage, DT; zero tillage with zone disk tiller, ZDT; and happy seeder, HS] as main plots and five N levels [0, 75, 100, 125, and 150 kg ha/sup -1/] as subplots during 2009 to 2010 and 2010 to 2011 wheat growing seasons. Results showed that DT significantly decreased soil bulk density, penetration resistance, and volumetric moisture content compared with CT, ZDT and HS. However, wheat growth and yield parameter such as fertile tillers, plant height, root length, spike length, grain yields, and water and nutrient-use efficiency was significantly higher in DT compared with other tillage treatments. Wheat growth and yield was more increased by N fertilization at 125 kg ha/sup -1/ than other N rates. However, when the wheat plant productivity index was plotted over N rates, the non-linear relationship showed that N fertilization at 80 kg N ha-1 accounted for 85% of the variability in the plant productivity under DT and HS while ZDT had the same productivity at 120 kg N ha/sup -1/. (author)

Experimental analysis of CO2 emissions from agricultural soils subjected to five different tillage systems in Lithuania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buragienė, Sidona; Šarauskis, Egidijus; Romaneckas, Kęstutis; Sasnauskienė, Jurgita; Masilionytė, Laura; Kriaučiūnienė, Zita

2015-01-01

Intensive agricultural production strongly influences the global processes that determine climate change. Thus, tillage can play a very important role in climate change. The intensity of soil carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, which contribute to the greenhouse effect, can vary depending on the following factors: the tillage system used, meteorological conditions (which vary in different regions of the world), soil properties, plant residue characteristics and other factors. The main purpose of this research was to analyse and assess the effects of autumn tillage systems with different intensities on CO 2 emissions from soils during different seasons and under the climatic conditions of Central Lithuania. The research was conducted at the Experimental Station of Aleksandras Stulginskis University from 2009 to2012; and in 2014. The soils at the experimental site were classified as Eutric Endogleyic Planosol (Drainic). The investigations were conducted using five tillage systems with different intensities, typical of the Baltic Region. Deep conventional ploughing was performed at a depth of 230–250 mm, shallow ploughing was conducted at a depth of 120–150 mm, deep loosening was conducted at depths of 250–270 mm, and shallow loosening was conducted at depths of 120–150 mm. The fifth system was a no-tillage system. Overall, autumn tillage resulted in greater CO 2 emissions from the soil over both short- and long-term periods under the climatic conditions of Central Lithuania, regardless of the tillage system applied. The highest soil CO 2 emissions were observed for the conventional deep ploughing tillage system, and the lowest emissions were observed for the no-tillage system. The meteorological conditions greatly influenced the CO 2 emissions from the soil during the spring. Soil CO 2 emissions were enhanced as precipitation and the air and soil temperatures increased. Long-term investigations regarding the dynamics of CO 2 emissions from soils during the

Soil workability as a basis for advice on tillage activities

OpenAIRE

Cadena Zapata, M.

1999-01-01

In the tropical area of Mexico, when and how to carry out tillage is a qualitative decision. There is no quantified information about the interaction between a chosen process of cultivation, soil type and weather, which dictate the tool and power requirements. Waste of energy and soil degradation by erosion and compaction, and lack of timeliness are recognized problems caused by inadequate tillage management in the tropical area of Mexico.

In this thesis, the workab...

Effects of Conventional and Conservation Tillage on Soil Hydraulic Properties of a Silty-loamy Soil

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wahl, Niels Arne; Bens, O.; Buczko, U.

2004-01-01

Infiltration into soils is strongly correlated with macroporosity. Under agricultural land use, the properties of the macropore network are governed by the applied management and tillage system. On an experimental site with a silt loam soil partly under conventional and conservation tillage, the ......, conservation tillage could possibly offer a means to reduce surface runoff and flood generation in agricultural landscapes dominated by silty-loamy soils. d 2...

Cowpea production as affected by dry spells in no-tillage and conventional crop systems

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Rômulo Magno Oliveira de Freitas

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of different periods of water shortage in no-tillage and conventional crop systems on cowpea yield components and grain yield in the Mossoró-RN region. For this, an experiment was conducted using two tillage systems (conventional and no-tillage subjected to periods of irrigation suspension (2; 6; 10; 14; 18 end 22 days, started at flowering (34 days after sowing. Plants were harvested 70 days after sowing, and the studied variables were: Pods length (CV, number of grains per pod (NGV, number of pods per plant (NPP, the hundred grains weight (PCG and grain yield (kg ha-1. The no-tillage system is more productive than the conventional under both irrigation and water stress treatments. The water stress length affected grain yield and all yield components studied in a negative way, except for the hundred grains weight. Among the systems studied, the no-tillage provides higher values for the yield components, except the hundred grains weight.

Methodology proposal for the development of Tillage Models - (Part II) Indexes of physical-mechanic characterization of the soil and development of a tillage model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lozano Osorno Fernando; Castillo Herran, Bernardo

1999-01-01

A proposal was presented for the elaboration of tillage models that allows making decisions on systems of soil preparation (including the option of zero tillage) starting with measurements of the condition of these. After following a plan of sampling of diverse physical-mechanics parameters of the soil and of a statistical process of correlation, they were chosen as representative variables: the apparent density, the cone index, the content of humidity and the cohesion (torsion box, proves in situ); not only such parameters are very related to each other, but rather they also make possible to estimate other variables of interest like the total porosity appropriately, the macro-porosity, the hydraulic conductivity and in general the soil resistance, which makes viable to choose methods of removal of the soil in function of the initial state of the same one. In the proven case it could verify the possibility to establish systems of tillage reduction

Effects of different tillage and straw return on soil organic carbon in a rice-wheat rotation system.

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Liqun Zhu

Full Text Available Soil management practices, such as tillage method or straw return, could alter soil organic carbon (C contents. However, the effects of tillage method or straw return on soil organic C (SOC have showed inconsistent results in different soil/climate/cropping systems. The Yangtze River Delta of China is the main production region of rice and wheat, and rice-wheat rotation is the most important cropping system in this region. However, few studies in this region have been conducted to assess the effects of different tillage methods combined with straw return on soil labile C fractions in the rice-wheat rotation system. In this study, a field experiment was used to evaluate the effects of different tillage methods, straw return and their interaction on soil total organic C (TOC and labile organic C fractions at three soil depths (0-7, 7-14 and 14-21 cm for a rice-wheat rotation in Yangzhong of the Yangtze River Delta of China. Soil TOC, easily oxidizable C (EOC, dissolved organic C (DOC and microbial biomass C (MBC contents were measured in this study. Soil TOC and labile organic C fractions contents were significantly affected by straw returns, and were higher under straw return treatments than non-straw return at three depths. At 0-7 cm depth, soil MBC was significantly higher under plowing tillage than rotary tillage, but EOC was just opposite. Rotary tillage had significantly higher soil TOC than plowing tillage at 7-14 cm depth. However, at 14-21 cm depth, TOC, DOC and MBC were significantly higher under plowing tillage than rotary tillage except for EOC. Consequently, under short-term condition, rice and wheat straw both return in rice-wheat rotation system could increase SOC content and improve soil quality in the Yangtze River Delta.

Dust-associated microbiomes from dryland wheat fields differ with tillage practice and biosolids application

Science.gov (United States)

Schlatter, Daniel C.; Schillinger, William F.; Bary, Andy I.; Sharratt, Brenton; Paulitz, Timothy C.

2018-07-01

Wind erosion is a significant threat to the productivity and sustainability of agricultural soils. In the dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-fallow region of Inland Pacific Northwest of the USA (PNW), farmers increasingly use conservation tillage practices to control wind erosion. In addition, some farmers in this dry region apply municipal biosolids to soils as fertilizer and a source of stable organic matter. The impacts of soil management practices on emissions of dust microbiota to the atmosphere are understudied. We used high-throughput DNA sequencing to examine the impacts of conservation tillage and biosolids amendments on the transport of dust-associated fungal and bacterial communities during simulated high-wind events over two years at Lind, WA. The fungal and bacterial communities contained in windblown dust differed significantly with tillage (conservation vs. conventional) and fertilizer (synthetic vs. biosolids) treatments. However, the richness and diversity of fungal and bacterial communities of dust did not vary significantly with tillage or fertilizer treatments. Taxa enriched in dust from fields under conservation tillage represented many plant-associated taxa that likely grow on residue left on the soil surface, whereas taxa that were more abundant with conventional tillage were those that likely grow on buried plant residue. Dust from biosolids-amended fields harbored greater abundances of taxa that likely feed on introduced carbon. Most human-associated taxa that may pose a health risk were not present in dust after biosolids amendment, although members of Clostridiaceae were enriched with this treatment. Results show that tillage and fertilizer management practices impact the composition of bioaerosols emitted during high-wind events and have potential implications for plant and human health.

Defining the effect of sweep tillage tool cutting edge geometry on tillage forces using 3D discrete element modelling

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Mustafa Ucgul

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The energy required for tillage processes accounts for a significant proportion of total energy used in crop production. In many tillage processes decreasing the draft and upward vertical forces is often desired for reduced fuel use and improved penetration, respectively. Recent studies have proved that the discrete element modelling (DEM can effectively be used to model the soil–tool interaction. In his study, Fielke (1994 [1] examined the effect of the various tool cutting edge geometries, namely; cutting edge height, length of underside rub, angle of underside clearance, on draft and vertical forces. In this paper the experimental parameters of Fielke (1994 [1] were simulated using 3D discrete element modelling techniques. In the simulations a hysteretic spring contact model integrated with a linear cohesion model that considers the plastic deformation behaviour of the soil hence provides better vertical force prediction was employed. DEM parameters were determined by comparing the experimental and simulation results of angle of repose and penetration tests. The results of the study showed that the simulation results of the soil-various tool cutting edge geometries agreed well with the experimental results of Fielke (1994 [1]. The modelling was then used to simulate a further range of cutting edge geometries to better define the effect of sweep tool cutting edge geometry parameters on tillage forces. The extra simulations were able to show that by using a sharper cutting edge with zero vertical cutting edge height the draft and upward vertical force were further reduced indicating there is benefit from having a really sharp cutting edge. The extra simulations also confirmed that the interpolated trends for angle of underside clearance as suggested by Fielke (1994 [1] where correct with a linear reduction in draft and upward vertical force for angle of underside clearance between the ranges of −25 and −5°, and between −5 and 0°. The

Re-plant problems in long-term no-tillage cropping systems : causal analysis and mitigation strategies

OpenAIRE

Afzal

2016-01-01

No-tillage is considered as a promising alternative for tillage-based conventional farming, by saving energy-input and time, reducing groundwater pollution and counteracting soil erosion and losses of the soil-organic matter. However, in the recent past, no-tillage farmers in Southwest Germany repeatedly reported problems particularly in winter wheat production, characterized by stunted plant growth in early spring, chlorosis, impaired fine root development and increased disease susceptibilit...

Reduced tillage and green manures for sustainable cropping systems - Overview of the TILMAN-ORG project

OpenAIRE

Mäder, Paul

2013-01-01

Reduced tillage and green manures are environmentally friendly practices that increase levels of soil organic matter and biological activity, improve soil stability, and reduce fuel consumption and may mitigate the climate impact of crop production. The avoidance of deep ploughing is successfully practiced as no-tillage agriculture in conventional farming systems. However, these no-tillage systems rely on herbicides for weed control and mineral fertilisers for plant nutrients. As these inputs...

Soil water retention as affected by tillage and residue management in semiarid Spain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bescansa, P.; Imaz, M.J.; Virto, I.; Enrique, A.; Hoogmoed, W.B.

2006-01-01

Conservation tillage preserves soil water and this has been the main reason for its rapid dissemination in rainfed agriculture in semiarid climates. We determined the effects of conservation versus conventional tillage on available soil water capacity (AWC) and related properties at the end of 5

Influence of corn oil recovery on life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of corn ethanol and corn oil biodiesel.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhichao; Dunn, Jennifer B; Han, Jeongwoo; Wang, Michael Q

2015-01-01

Corn oil recovery and conversion to biodiesel has been widely adopted at corn ethanol plants recently. The US EPA has projected 2.6 billion liters of biodiesel will be produced from corn oil in 2022. Corn oil biodiesel may qualify for federal renewable identification number (RIN) credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard, as well as for low greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity credits under California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard. Because multiple products [ethanol, biodiesel, and distiller's grain with solubles (DGS)] are produced from one feedstock (corn), however, a careful co-product treatment approach is required to accurately estimate GHG intensities of both ethanol and corn oil biodiesel and to avoid double counting of benefits associated with corn oil biodiesel production. This study develops four co-product treatment methods: (1) displacement, (2) marginal, (3) hybrid allocation, and (4) process-level energy allocation. Life-cycle GHG emissions for corn oil biodiesel were more sensitive to the choice of co-product allocation method because significantly less corn oil biodiesel is produced than corn ethanol at a dry mill. Corn ethanol life-cycle GHG emissions with the displacement, marginal, and hybrid allocation approaches are similar (61, 62, and 59 g CO2e/MJ, respectively). Although corn ethanol and DGS share upstream farming and conversion burdens in both the hybrid and process-level energy allocation methods, DGS bears a higher burden in the latter because it has lower energy content per selling price as compared to corn ethanol. As a result, with the process-level allocation approach, ethanol's life-cycle GHG emissions are lower at 46 g CO2e/MJ. Corn oil biodiesel life-cycle GHG emissions from the marginal, hybrid allocation, and process-level energy allocation methods were 14, 59, and 45 g CO2e/MJ, respectively. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to investigate the influence corn oil yield, soy biodiesel, and defatted DGS displacement credits

The Effects of Different Tillage Systems on Soil Hydrology and Erosion in Southeastern Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Bertolino, A. V. F. A.; Fernandes, N. F.; Souza, A. P.; Miranda, J. P.; Rocha, M. L.

2009-04-01

Conventional tillage usually imposes a variety of modifications on soil properties that can lead to important changes in the type and magnitude of the hydrological processes that take place at the upper portion of the soil profile. Plough pan formation, for example, is considered to be an important consequence of conventional tillage practices in southeastern Brazil, decreasing infiltration rates and contributing to soil erosion, especially in steep slopes. In order to characterize the changes in soil properties and soil hydrology due to the plough pan formation we carried out detailed investigations in two experimental plots in Paty do Alferes region, located in the hilly landscape of Serra do Mar in southeastern Brazil, close to Rio de Janeiro city. Farming activities are very important in this area, in particular the ones related to the tomato production. The local hilly topography with short and steep hillslopes, as well as an average annual rainfall of almost 2000 mm, favor surface runoff and the evolution of rill and gully erosion. The two runoff plots are 22m long by 4m wide and were installed side by side along a representative hillslope, both in terms of soil (Oxisol) and steepness. At the lower portion of each plot there is a collecting trough connected by a PVC pipe to a 500 and 1000 liters sediment storage boxes. Soil tillage treatments used in the two plots were: Conventional Tillage (CT), with one plowing using disc-type plow (about 18 cm depth) and one downhill tractor leveling, in addition to burning residues from previous planting; and Minimum Tillage (MT), which did not allow burning residues from previous planting and preserved a vegetative cover between plantation lines. Runoff and soil erosion measurements were carried out in both plots immediately after each rainfall event. In order to characterize soil water movements under the two tillage systems (CT and MT), 06 nests of tensiometers and 04 nests of Watermark sensors were installed in each

Use of inverse modeling to evaluate CENTURY-predictions for soil carbon sequestration in US rain-fed corn production systems.

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Hoyoung Kwon

Full Text Available We evaluated the accuracy and precision of the CENTURY soil organic matter model for predicting soil organic carbon (SOC sequestration under rainfed corn-based cropping systems in the US. This was achieved by inversely modeling long-term SOC data obtained from 10 experimental sites where corn, soybean, or wheat were grown with a range of tillage, fertilization, and organic matter additions. Inverse modeling was accomplished using a surrogate model for CENTURY's SOC dynamics sub-model wherein mass balance and decomposition kinetics equations from CENTURY are coded and solved by using a nonlinear regression routine of a standard statistical software package. With this approach we generated statistics of CENTURY parameters that are associated with the effects of N fertilization and organic amendment on SOC decay, which are not as well quantified as those of tillage, and initial status of SOC. The results showed that the fit between simulated and observed SOC prior to inverse modeling (R2 = 0.41 can be improved to R2 = 0.84 mainly by increasing the rate of SOC decay up to 1.5 fold for the year in which N fertilizer application rates are over 200 kg N ha-1. We also observed positive relationships between C inputs and the rate of SOC decay, indicating that the structure of CENTURY, and therefore model accuracy, could be improved by representing SOC decay as Michaelis-Menten kinetics rather than first-order kinetics. Finally, calibration of initial status of SOC against observed levels allowed us to account for site history, confirming that values should be adjusted to account for soil condition during model initialization. Future research should apply this inverse modeling approach to explore how C input rates and N abundance interact to alter SOC decay rates using C inputs made in various forms over a wider range of rates.

Corn stover harvest strategy effects on grain yield and soil quality indicators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Douglas, K.; Stuart, B.; Adam, W.

2013-01-01

Developing strategies to collect and use cellulo sic biomass for bio energy production is important because those materials are not used as human food sources. This study compared corn (Zea mays L.) stover harvest strategies on a 50 ha Clarion- Nicol let-Webster soil Association site near Emmetsburg, Iowa, USA. Surface soil samples (0 to 15 cm) were analyzed after each harvest to monitor soil organic carbon (Soc), ph, phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) changes. Grain yields in 2008, before the stover harvest treatments were imposed, averaged 11.4 Mg ha-1. In 2009, 2010, and 2011 grain yields averaged 10.1, 9.7, and 9.5 Mg ha-1, respectively. Although grain yields after stover harvest strategies imposed were lower than in 2008, there were no significant differences among the treatments. Four-year average stover collection rates ranged 1.0 to 5.2 Mg ha-1 which was 12 to 60% of the above-ground biomass. Soc showed a slight decrease during the study, but the change was not related to any specific stover harvest treatment. Instead, we attribute the Soc decline to the tillage intensity and lower than expected crop yields. Overall, these results are consistent with other Midwestern USA studies that indicate corn stover should not be harvested if average grain yields are less than 11 Mg ha-1

Identification of a New Cotton Disease Caused by an Atypical Cotton Leafroll Dwarf Virus in Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Agrofoglio, Yamila C; Delfosse, Verónica C; Casse, María F; Hopp, Horacio E; Kresic, Iván Bonacic; Distéfano, Ana J

2017-03-01

An outbreak of a new disease occurred in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fields in northwest Argentina starting in the 2009-10 growing season and is still spreading steadily. The characteristic symptoms of the disease included slight leaf rolling and a bushy phenotype in the upper part of the plant. In this study, we determined the complete nucleotide sequences of two independent virus genomes isolated from cotton blue disease (CBD)-resistant and -susceptible cotton varieties. This virus genome comprised 5,866 nucleotides with an organization similar to that of the genus Polerovirus and was closely related to cotton leafroll dwarf virus, with protein identity ranging from 88 to 98%. The virus was subsequently transmitted to a CBD-resistant cotton variety using Aphis gossypii and symptoms were successfully reproduced. To study the persistence of the virus, we analyzed symptomatic plants from CBD-resistant varieties from different cotton-growing fields between 2013 and 2015 and showed the presence of the same virus strain. In addition, a constructed full-length infectious cDNA clone from the virus caused disease symptoms in systemic leaves of CBD-resistant cotton plants. Altogether, the new leafroll disease in CBD-resistant cotton plants is caused by an atypical cotton leafroll dwarf virus.

Sustainable semiarid dryland production in relation to tillage effects on Hydrology: 1983-2013

Science.gov (United States)

Semiarid dryland crop yields with no-till, NT, residue management are often greater than stubble-mulch tillage, SM, as a result of improved soil conditions or water conservation, but knowledge of long-term tillage effects on the comprehensive field hydrology and sustained crop production is needed. ...

Characterization of cover crops by NMR spectroscopy: impacts on soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus under tillage regimes

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Arminda Moreira de Carvalho

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to investigate the chemical composition of cover crops by solid-state CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy and its effects on carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in a Typic Acrustox. Cover crops (Crotalaria juncea, Canavalia brasiliensis, Cajanus cajan, Mucuna pruriens and Raphanus sativus and natural fallow were studied in rotation with maize under conventional and no-tillage regimes. Tissues of Crotalaria juncea, Canavalia brasiliensis, Mucuna pruriens and Raphanus sativus were analyzed using CPMAS 13C NMR spectroscopy. Soil samples were collected at the end of the growing season of the cover crops (September 2002 and during the grain filling period in corn from 0-5 and 5-10 cm layers. Cajanus cajan presented the lowest content of polysaccharides and along with Mucuna pruriens presented the highest percentage of aromatic carbon compounds, reflecting the slow decomposition of highly lignified material. Carbon stocks were higher in the superficial soil layer and under no-tillage due to the accumulation and slower decomposition of plant tissues under these conditions. Increases in the C/N ratio of the soil with Mucuna pruriens and the C/P ratio with Cajanus cajan in the dry season were also related to slower rates of decomposition, caused by the large concentration of aromatic compounds in the tissues of these species. The higher C/P ratios found at 0-5 cm layer are due to higher values of P (Mehlich-1 at 5-10 cm (25 mg kg-1 layer and the higher concentration of carbon in the superficial soil layer as a result of the accumulation of plant residues.

MAIZE YIELD AND ITS STABILITY AS AFFECTED BY TILLAGE AND CROP RESIDUE MANAGEMENT IN THE EASTERN ROMANIAN DANUBE PLAIN

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Alexandru COCIU

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Rainfed crop management systems need to be optimized to provide more resilient options in order to cope with projected climatic scenarios which are forecasting a decrease in mean precipitation and more frequent extreme drought periods in the Eastern Romanian Danube Plain. This research, carried out in the period of 2011-2014, had as main purpose the determination of influence of tillage practices and residue management on rainfall use efficiency, maize yield and its stability, in order to evaluate the advantages of conservation agriculture (CA in the time of stabilization of direct seeding effects, in comparison with traditional chisel tillage. The maize grain yields are presented for each crop management practices, as follows: (1 chisel tillage, retained crop residues being chopped and incorporated (ciz; (2 zero tillage, retained crop residue chopped and kept on the field in short flat condition (rvt; (3 zero tillage, crop residues kept on the field in short root-anchored condition (1/2rva, and (4 zero tillage, crop residues kept on the field in tall root-anchored condition (1/1rva. In 2012, a year with prolonged drought during vegetative growth, yield differences between zero tillage with short root-anchored residue retention (1/2rva and chisel tillage with residue incorporation (ciz were positive, up to 840 kg ha-1. In average over 2011-2014, conservation agriculture (CA practices had a yield advantage over traditional chisel tillage practice. Zero tillage with residue retention used rainfall more efficiently so suggesting that it is a more resilient agronomic system than traditional (conventional practices involving chisel tillage with residue incorporation.

A case to study population dynamics of bemisia tabaci and thrips tabaci on bt and non-bt cotton genotypes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akram, M.; Hussain, M.; Ahmed, S.; Hafeez, F.; Farooq, M.; Arshad, M.

2013-01-01

Studies were conducted to investigate the performance of eight bt and five non-bt cotton genotypes against whitefly and thrips and impact of abiotic factors on the population fluctuation of these sucking pests, at cotton research station, multan, during 2010 and 2011. The results exhibited that bt genotypes found more susceptible host for the whitefly and thirps than non-bt genotypes, during the course of years of study. Among bt genotypes, maximum and minimum temperature showed significant and positive effect on whitefly population whereas relative humidity exerted negative effect during 2010. During 2011, the effect of all the factors was non significant. On cumulative basis, there was positive correlation between population of whitefly and minimum temperature. But in case of non-bt, it has negative with maximum temperature whereas relative humidity had a positive effect on whitefly population. similar trend was observed for thrips population on bt varieties during both years but on non-bt varieties only minimum temperature exerted strong positive impact on thrips population. Hierarchical regression models for whitefly and thrips revealed that minimum temperature was the most important factor (Bt and non-Bt varieties). Maximum temperature was the major contributing factor for whitefly fluctuation on bt varieties during 2010. (author)

Yield and tillering response of super hybrid rice Liangyoupeijiu to tillage and establishment methods

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M.A. Badshah

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Tillering is an important agronomic trait for rice grain production. To evaluate yield and tillering response, Liangyoupeijiu (super hybrid rice was grown in Hunan, China during 2011–2012 under different methods of tillage (conventional and no-tillage system and crop establishment methods (transplanting at a spacing of 20 cm × 20 cm with one seedling per hill and direct seeding at a seeding rate of 22.5 kg ha− 1. Our results revealed that, at maximum tillering (Max. and at maturity (MA stages, direct seeding (DS resulted in 22% more tillers than transplanting (TP irrespective of tillage system. Tiller mortality reached a peak between panicle initiation (PI and booting (BT stages, and was 16% higher under conventional tillage (CT than under no-tillage (NT. Transplanting required 29% more time for the completion of tillering and less for DS. Tillering rate was 43% higher in DS than TP under either CT or NT. There was a positive correlation between panicle number per m2 and maximum tiller number per m2, but not panicle-bearing tiller rate. The panicle bearing tiller rate was higher under DS than TP and higher under NT than CT. Tiller dry weight gradually increased up to heading (HD stage, and was 14% higher under TP than DS. Leaf area (cm2 tiller− 1 gradually increased from Max. to HD stage and then decreased by 34% in conventional tillage transplanting (CTTP and 45% in no-tillage transplanting (NTTP from 12DAH–24DAH (days after heading, but was similar (35% under DS under either CT or NT. Grain yield was higher under CTTP owing to the larger sink size (heavier panicle, more spikelets in per cm length of panicle than under DS.

Superoleophobic cotton textiles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Leng, B.; Shao, Z.; With, de G.; Ming, W.

2009-01-01

Common cotton textiles are hydrophilic and oleophilic in nature. Superhydrophobic cotton textiles have the potential to be used as self-cleaning fabrics, but they typically are not super oil-repellent. Poor oil repellency may easily compromise the self-cleaning property of these fabrics. Here, we

Yield and water use efficiencies of maize and cowpea as affected by tillage and cropping systems in semi-arid Eastern Kenya

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miriti, M.J; Kironchi, G; Gachene, K.K.C; Esilaba, O.A.; Mwangi, M.D; Heng, K.L

2012-01-01

Soil water conservation through tillage is widely accepted as one of the ways of improving crop yields in rainfed agriculture. Field experiments were conducted between 2007 and 2009 to evaluate the effects of conservation tillage on the yields and crop water use efficiency of maize (Zea mays L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) in eastern Kenya. Experimental treatments were a combination of three tillage practices and four cropping systems. Tillage practices were tied-ridges, subsoiling-ripping and ox-ploughing. The cropping systems were single crop maize, single crop cowpea, intercropped maize.cowpea and single crop maize with manure. The treatments were arranged in split plots with tillage practices as the main plots and cropping systems as the sub-plots in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The results showed that tied-ridge tillage had the greatest plant available water content while subsoiling-ripping tillage had the least in all seasons. Averaged across seasons and cropping season, tillage did not have a significant effects on maize grain yield but it did have a significant effect on crop grain and dry matter water use efficiency (WUE). Nevertheless, maize grain yields and WUE values were generally greater under tied-ridge tillage than under subsoiling-ripping and ox-plough tillages. The yields and WUE of cowpea under subsoiling-ripping tillage were less than those of ox-plough tillage. When averaged across the seasons and tillage systems, the cropping system with the manure treatment increased (P.0.05) maize grain yield, grain WUE and dry matter WUE by 36%, 30%, 26% respectively, compared to treatments without manure. Maize and cowpea when intercropped under ox-plough and ripping tillage systems did not have any yield advantage over the single crop

7 CFR 1205.319 - Cotton-producing region.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Cotton-producing region. 1205.319 Section 1205.319... Cotton Research and Promotion Order Definitions § 1205.319 Cotton-producing region. Cotton-producing region means each of the following groups of cotton-producing States: (a) Southeast Region: Alabama...

Geophysical characterization of soil moisture spatial patterns in a tillage experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, G.; Vanderlinden, K.; Giráldez, J. V.; Muriel, J. L.

2009-04-01

Knowledge on the spatial soil moisture pattern can improve the characterisation of the hydrological response of either field-plots or small watersheds. Near-surface geophysical methods, such as electromagnetic induction (EMI), provide a means to map such patterns using non-invasive and non-destructive measurements of the soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa. In this study ECa was measured using an EMI sensor and used to characterize spatially the hydrologic response of a cropped field to an intense shower. The study site is part of a long-term tillage experiment in Southern Spain in which Conventional Tillage (CT), Direct Drilling (DD) and Minimum Tillage (MT) are being evaluated since 1982. Soil ECa was measured before and after a rain event of 115 mm, near the soil surface and at deeper depth (ECas and ECad, respectively) using the EM38-DD EMI sensor. Simultaneously, elevation data were collected at each sampling point to generate a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Soil moisture during the first survey was close to permanent wilting point and near field capacity during the second survey. For the first survey, both ECas and ECad, were higher in the CT and MT than in the DD plots. After the rain event, rill erosion appeared only in CT and MT plots were soil was uncovered, matching the drainage lines obtained from the DEM. Apparent electrical conductivity increased all over the field plot with higher increments in the DD plots. These plots showed the highest ECas and ECad values, in contrast to the spatial pattern found during the first sampling. Difference maps obtained from the two ECas and ECad samplings showed a clear difference between DD plots and CT and MT plots due to their distinct hydrologic response. Water infiltration was higher in the soil of the DD plots than in the MT and CT plots, as reflected by their ECad increment. Higher ECa increments were observed in the depressions of the terrain, where water and sediments accumulated. On the contrary, the

Examining cotton in rotation with rice and cotton in rotation with other crops using natural experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Ling; Zhu, Zesheng

2017-08-01

This paper is to show the ability of remote sensing image analysis combined with statistical analysis to characterize the environmental risk assessment of cotton in rotation with rice and cotton in rotation with other crops in two ways: (1) description of rotation period of cotton in rotation with rice and cotton in rotation with other crops by the observational study or natural experiment; (2) analysis of rotation period calculation of cotton in rotation with rice and cotton in rotation with other crops. Natural experimental results show that this new method is very promising for determining crop rotation period for estimating regional averages of environmental risk. When it is applied to determining crop rotation period, two requested remote sensing images of regional crop are required at least.

Effect of subsoil tillage depth on nutrient accumulation, root distribution, and grain yield in spring maize

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Hongguang Cai

2014-10-01

Full Text Available A four-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of subsoiling depth on root morphology, nitrogen (N, phosphorus (P, and potassium (K uptake, and grain yield of spring maize. The results indicated that subsoil tillage promoted root development, increased nutrient accumulation, and increased yield. Compared with conventional soil management (CK, root length, root surface area, and root dry weight at 0–80 cm soil depth under subsoil tillage to 30 cm (T1 and subsoil tillage to 50 cm (T2 were significantly increased, especially the proportions of roots in deeper soil. Root length, surface area, and dry weight differed significantly among three treatments in the order of T2 > T1 > CK at the 12-leaf and early filling stages. The range of variation of root diameter in different soil layers in T2 treatment was the smallest, suggesting that roots were more likely to grow downwards with deeper subsoil tillage in soil. The accumulation of N, P, and K in subsoil tillage treatment was significantly increased, but the proportions of kernel and straw were different. In a comparison of T1 with T2, the grain accumulated more N and P, while K accumulation in kernel and straw varied in different years. Grain yield and biomass were increased by 12.8% and 14.6% on average in subsoil tillage treatments compared to conventional soil treatment. Although no significant differences between different subsoil tillage depths were observed for nutrient accumulation and grain yield, lodging resistance of plants was significantly improved in subsoil tillage to 50 cm, a characteristic that favors a high and stable yield under extreme environments.

Transgenic cotton expressing Cry10Aa toxin confers high resistance to the cotton boll weevil.

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro, Thuanne Pires; Arraes, Fabricio Barbosa Monteiro; Lourenço-Tessutti, Isabela Tristan; Silva, Marilia Santos; Lisei-de-Sá, Maria Eugênia; Lucena, Wagner Alexandre; Macedo, Leonardo Lima Pepino; Lima, Janaina Nascimento; Santos Amorim, Regina Maria; Artico, Sinara; Alves-Ferreira, Márcio; Mattar Silva, Maria Cristina; Grossi-de-Sa, Maria Fatima

2017-08-01

Genetically modified (GM) cotton plants that effectively control cotton boll weevil (CBW), which is the most destructive cotton insect pest in South America, are reported here for the first time. This work presents the successful development of a new GM cotton with high resistance to CBW conferred by Cry10Aa toxin, a protein encoded by entomopathogenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene. The plant transformation vector harbouring cry10Aa gene driven by the cotton ubiquitination-related promoter uceA1.7 was introduced into a Brazilian cotton cultivar by biolistic transformation. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays revealed high transcription levels of cry10Aa in both T 0 GM cotton leaf and flower bud tissues. Southern blot and qPCR-based 2 -ΔΔCt analyses revealed that T 0 GM plants had either one or two transgene copies. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of Cry10Aa protein expression showed variable protein expression levels in both flower buds and leaves tissues of T 0 GM cotton plants, ranging from approximately 3.0 to 14.0 μg g -1 fresh tissue. CBW susceptibility bioassays, performed by feeding adults and larvae with T 0 GM cotton leaves and flower buds, respectively, demonstrated a significant entomotoxic effect and a high level of CBW mortality (up to 100%). Molecular analysis revealed that transgene stability and entomotoxic effect to CBW were maintained in T 1 generation as the Cry10Aa toxin expression levels remained high in both tissues, ranging from 4.05 to 19.57 μg g -1 fresh tissue, and the CBW mortality rate remained around 100%. In conclusion, these Cry10Aa GM cotton plants represent a great advance in the control of the devastating CBW insect pest and can substantially impact cotton agribusiness. © 2017 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Repeated soil application of organic waste amendments reduces draught force and fuel consumption for soil tillage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peltrea, Clément; Nyord, Tavs; Bruun, Sander

2015-01-01

Abstract Soil application of organic waste products (OWP) can maintain or increase soil organic carbon (SOC) content, which in turn could lead to increased porosity and potentially to reduced energy use for soil tillage. Only a few studies have addressed the effect of SOC content on draught force...... for soil tillage, and this still needs to be addressed for fields that receive diverse types of organic waste of urban, agricultural and agro-industrial origin. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of changes in SOC induced by repeated soil application of OWP on draught force for soil...... tillage and tractor fuel consumption. Draught force was measured for tillage with conventional spring tillage tines, as well as bulk density, soil texture and SOC content in the CRUCIAL field experiment, Denmark in which diverse types of OWP had been applied annually for 11 years. The OWP included...

Comparison of runoff and soil loss in different tillage systems in the Mollisol region of Northeast China

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Longitudinal ridge tillage is the conventional tillage method in the cold, Mollisol region of Northeast China in which furrows are oriented up and down the slope. Soil erosion is a serious problem in this region in part due to the use of this tillage system with long slope lengths. It is unclear wha...

The Role of Government Policies in the Adoption of Conservation Tillage in China: A Theoretical Model

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Ding, Ya

2018-01-01

In recent years, many areas of China have been facing increasing problems of soil erosion and land degradation. Conservation tillage, with both economic and ecological benefits, provides a good avenue for Chinese farmers to conserve land as well as secure food production. However, the adoption rate of conservation tillage systems is very low in China. In this paper, the author constructs a theoretical model to explain a farmer’s adoption decision of conservation tillage. The goal is to investigate potential reasons behind the low adoption rate and explores alternative policy tools that can help improve a farmer’s incentive to adopt conservation tillage in China.

Early warning of cotton bollworm resistance associated with intensive planting of Bt cotton in China.

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Haonan Zhang

Full Text Available Transgenic crops producing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt toxins kill some key insect pests, but evolution of resistance by pests can reduce their efficacy. The predominant strategy for delaying pest resistance to Bt crops requires refuges of non-Bt host plants to promote survival of susceptible pests. To delay pest resistance to transgenic cotton producing Bt toxin Cry1Ac, farmers in the United States and Australia planted refuges of non-Bt cotton, while farmers in China have relied on "natural" refuges of non-Bt host plants other than cotton. Here we report data from a 2010 survey showing field-evolved resistance to Cry1Ac of the major target pest, cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera, in northern China. Laboratory bioassay results show that susceptibility to Cry1Ac was significantly lower in 13 field populations from northern China, where Bt cotton has been planted intensively, than in two populations from sites in northwestern China where exposure to Bt cotton has been limited. Susceptibility to Bt toxin Cry2Ab did not differ between northern and northwestern China, demonstrating that resistance to Cry1Ac did not cause cross-resistance to Cry2Ab, and implying that resistance to Cry1Ac in northern China is a specific adaptation caused by exposure to this toxin in Bt cotton. Despite the resistance detected in laboratory bioassays, control failures of Bt cotton have not been reported in China. This early warning may spur proactive countermeasures, including a switch to transgenic cotton producing two or more toxins distinct from Cry1A toxins.

Efeito de práticas culturais sobre o rendimento e outras características agronômicas de trigo Effect of cultural practices on yield andagronomic characteristics of wheat

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Henrique Pereira dos Santos

2006-01-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os efeitos de práticas culturais sobre o rendimento de grãos e algumas características agronômicas de plantas de trigo. Foram comparados quatro sistemas de manejo de solo, a saber: 1 plantio direto; 2 cultivo mínimo; 3 preparo convencional de solo com arado de discos mais grade de discos e 4 preparo convencional de solo com arado de aivecas mais grade de discos, e três sistemas de rotação de culturas: sistema I (trigo/soja, sistema II (trigo/soja e ervilhaca/milho ou sorgo e sistema III (trigo/soja, aveia branca/soja e ervilhaca/milho ou sorgo. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e três repetições. A parcela principal foi constituída pelos sistemas de manejo de solo, e as subparcelas, pelos sistemas de rotação de culturas. O rendimento de grãos e a altura de plantas de trigo cultivadas sob plantio direto e sob cultivo mínimo foram superiores ao trigo cultivado sob preparo convencional de solo com arado de discos e arado de aivecas. A maior massa de mil grãos de trigo ocorreu no plantio direto. A rotação de culturas foi eficiente na redução de doenças do sistema radicular, resultando em aumento do rendimento de grãos de trigo. O menor rendimento de grãos, massa de grãos, massa de mil grãos e peso do hectolitro ocorreu quando trigo foi cultivado em monocultura (trigo/soja.The effects of soil management systems and winter crop rotation on wheat yield and root diseases were assessed. Four soil management systems: 1 no-tillage; 2 minimum tillage;3 conventional tillage using a disk plow plus disk harrow and 4 conventional tillage using a moldboard plow plus disk harrow, and three crop rotation systems [system I (wheat/soybean, system II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn or sorghum, and system III (wheat/soybean, white oats/soybean, and common vetch/corn or sorghum] were compared. A randomized block experimental design, whereas split-plots and

7 CFR 718.2 - Definitions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... sterile high-sugar corn that follows the standard planting and harvesting practices for corn for the area... purposes, brown lint cotton is considered upland cotton. Wheat means wheat for feed or dual purpose variety...

The Impacts of U.S. Cotton Programs on the West and Central African Countries Cotton Export Earnings

OpenAIRE

Fadiga, Mohamadou L.; Mohanty, Samarendu; Pan, Suwen

2005-01-01

This study uses a stochastic simulation approach based on a partial equilibrium structural econometric model of the world fiber market to examine the effects of a removal of U.S. cotton programs on the world market. The effects on world cotton prices and African export earnings were analyzed. The results suggest that on average an elimination of U.S. cotton programs would lead to a marginal increase in the world cotton prices thus resulting in minimal gain for cotton exporting countries in Af...

Response of a two-year sugar beet-sweet sorghum rotation to an agronomic management approach diversified by soil tillage and nitrogen fertilisation

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A. Domenico Palumbo

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Conservative agriculture and nitrogen fertilisation have been evaluated for the purpose of assessing their impact on the sustainability of a cropping system based on a two-year rotation with two crops considered for the bio-ethanol supply chain: sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris and sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench. The experimental activity started in 2009 in Foggia (Apulia, southern Italy. We discuss the results obtained in the 2010-2011 period. Soil minimum tillage (MT vs no tillage (NT combined with two doses of nitrogen fertilisation (75 and 150 kg ha–1 of mineral nitrogen as ammonium nitrate were compared. The experimental system, which is still operational (soil tillage plus nitrogen fertilisation, was arranged with a split-plot design with three replicates. Treatments were applied on the same plots every year with both crops present at the same time. At the first harvest in 2010, no difference was observed. As to the second year, the comparison between NT vs MT treatments showed that sugar beet had lower total yield (35 vs 42 t ha–1, dry biomass (10 vs 14 t ha–1, and sucrose yield (6.7 vs 8.2 t ha–1. Total soluble solids, on average 19%, were not influenced by the experimental treatments. Nitrogen (N control was less productive than the fertilised treatments (average between N75 and N150 in terms of total fresh root yield (32 vs 42 t ha–1, dry biomass (10 vs 14 t ha–1, and sucrose yield (6.0 vs 8.1 t ha–1. As with sugar beet, during the second year, also sweet sorghum sown in NT vs MT plots had a reduced yield, although the difference was more marked for fresh biomass (–35% than for dry biomass (–20%. No interaction in terms of soil tillage nitrogen fertilisation occurred. In summary, in the first two-year period (2010-2011 of the experimental trial, no tillage soil management showed decreased yields of both crops. Sugar beet displayed a higher sensitivity to the lack of nitrogen supply than sweet

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures.

Science.gov (United States)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-04-15

The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

TILLAGE AND DYNAMICS OF INORGANIC NITROGEN IN ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

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J SMATANA

2002-05-01

Full Text Available During the period of 1991-1993 in the field experiment, the effect of different soil management (tillage 0,24 m and tillage 0,12-0,15 m in ecological and integration management system on changes of inorganic nitrogen (Nan = N-NH4 + + N-NO3 - content in the soil layer from 0 up to 0,6 m of the soil depth (0,00-0,30 m and 0,30- 0,60 m were studied. Trials were held in a warm climatic zone of the South – Western Slovakia on the brown soil. Different soil management systems (tillage 0,24 m and tillage 0,12-0,15 m considerably did not affected ammonification and nitrification processes in the soil. The sustainability of minimalization via shallow ploughing is not excluded, on the contrary this minimalization may have high a positive influence on economic saving the energy, labour costs, etc. The quantitative and qualitative changes of studied form of N were significantly effected by weather and soil depth. Soil content of N-NH4 + and N-NO3 - was in negative correlation with soil depth.

Locally Grown: Examining Attitudes and Perceptions About Organic Cotton Production and Manufacturing Between Mississippi Cotton Growers and Consumers

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Charles Freeman

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is to examine attitudes and perceptions about organic cotton of Mississippi cotton growers and producers in comparison to fashion-conscious consumers, including advantages/disadvantages of growing and production processes, quality control, consumer preferences, and competitive price structures/profit margins. A sample size of 16 local Mississippi growers and/or producers and 44 undergraduate students at a mid-major Southeastern university were chosen to participate in the study. Instruments were developed based on current research and the definition of organic cotton production defined by the United States Department of Agriculture. Results indicate 75% of growers and producers do not perceive a quality difference between organic and conventionally grown cotton, while 72.7% of the consumers report organically grown cotton is capable of producing a higher quality product compared to conventionally grown cotton. Even with an increase in organic cotton prices (25- 40% higher premium, only 25% of growers and producers would be willing to convert, while a majority (52.3% of consumers would not be willing to spend more than 25% extra for an organically grown cotton product. Consumers indicate the negative effects of conventionally grown cotton, yet many report little knowledge about organic cotton production, while growers/producers immediately dismiss organically grown cotton as a retail marketing strategy.

Soil carbon and nitrogen mineralization under different tillage systems and Permanent Groundcover cultivation between Orange trees

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Elcio Liborio Balota

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to evaluate the alterations in carbon and nitrogen mineralization due to different soil tillage systems and groundcover species for intercropped orange trees. The experiment was established in an Ultisol soil (Typic Paleudults originated from Caiuá sandstone in northwestern of the state of Paraná, Brazil, in an area previously cultivated with pasture (Brachiaria humidicola. Two soil tillage systems were evaluated: conventional tillage (CT in the entire area and strip tillage (ST with a 2-m width, each with different groundcover vegetation management systems. The citrus cultivar utilized was the 'Pera' orange (Citrus sinensis grafted onto a 'Rangpur' lime rootstock. The soil samples were collected at a 0-15-cm depth after five years of experiment development. Samples were collected from under the tree canopy and from the inter-row space after the following treatments: (1 CT and annual cover crop with the leguminous Calopogonium mucunoides; (2 CT and perennial cover crop with the leguminous peanut Arachis pintoi; (3 CT and evergreen cover crop with Bahiagrass Paspalum notatum; (4 CT and cover crop with spontaneous B. humidicola grass vegetation; and (5 ST and maintenance of the remaining grass (pasture of B. humidicola. The soil tillage systems and different groundcover vegetation influenced the C and N mineralization, both under the tree canopy and in the inter-row space. The cultivation of B. humidicola under strip tillage provided higher potential mineralization than the other treatments in the inter-row space. Strip tillage increased the C and N mineralization compared to conventional tillage. The grass cultivation increased the C and N mineralization when compared to the others treatments cultivated in the inter-row space.

Effects of different tillage and transplanting methods on rice rooting ability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ren Wanjun; Yang Wenyu; Fan Gaoqiong; Wu Jinxiu; Wang Lihong

2007-01-01

Effects of different tillage and transplanting methods on rice rooting ability were studied with the methods of water culture and 3 H labeling. The results showed that the dynamic curve of rooting ability had single peak during growth period, and the peak of root length per plant, root number and root dry weight appeared at booting. With conventional tillage and transplanting method, the rice plant had the strongest rooting ability, under non-tillage treatment (BCSNT), the rooting ability was the lowest during elongating to heading. After 10d of heading, the dry weight and 3 H specific activity of BCSNT was higher than other treatments, at the same time, the percentage of 3 H assimilate at new root was the highest. Dry weight was positively correlated with percentage of 3 H assimilate of new root, while negatively with percentage of 3 H assimilate of panicle. (authors)

The Effect of Conservation Tillage and Cover Crop Residue on Beneficial Arthropods and Weed Seed Predation in Acorn Squash.

Science.gov (United States)

Quinn, N F; Brainard, D C; Szendrei, Z

2016-12-01

Conservation tillage combined with cover crops or mulching may enhance natural enemy activity in agroecosystems by reducing soil disturbance and increasing habitat structural complexity. In particular, weed seed predation can increase with vegetation cover and reduced tillage, indicating that mulches may improve the quality of the habitat for weed seed foraging. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of tillage and mulching for conservation biological control in cucurbit fields. The effects of mulch and reduced tillage on arthropods and rates of weed seed loss from arenas were examined in field trials on sandy soils in 2014 and 2015. Experimental factors included tillage and cover crop, each with two levels: strip-tillage or full-tillage, and cover crop mulch (rye residue) or no cover crop mulch (unmulched). Arthropod abundance on the crop foliage was not affected by tillage or cover crops. Contrary to expectations, epigeal natural enemies of insects and rates of weed seed removal either did not respond to treatments or were greater in full-tilled plots and plots without mulch. Our study demonstrates the potential importance of weed seed predators in reducing weed seedbanks in vegetable agroecosystems, and suggests that early-season tillage may not be detrimental to epigeal predator assemblages. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Experimental analysis of CO{sub 2} emissions from agricultural soils subjected to five different tillage systems in Lithuania

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buragienė, Sidona [Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Safety, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu str. 15A, LT-53361 Akademija, Kaunas distr. (Lithuania); Šarauskis, Egidijus, E-mail: egidijus.sarauskis@asu.lt [Institute of Agricultural Engineering and Safety, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu str. 15A, LT-53361 Akademija, Kaunas distr. (Lithuania); Romaneckas, Kęstutis, E-mail: kestas.romaneckas@asu.lt [Institute of Agroecosystems and Soil Science, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu str. 11, Akademija LT-53361, Kaunas dist. (Lithuania); Sasnauskienė, Jurgita, E-mail: jurgita.sasnauskiene@asu.lt [Institute of Environment and Ecology, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu str. 11, Akademija LT-53361, Kaunas dist. (Lithuania); Masilionytė, Laura, E-mail: laura.masilionyte@gmail.com [Joniskelis Experimental Station, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Joniskelis, LT-39301 Pasvalys distr. (Lithuania); Kriaučiūnienė, Zita, E-mail: zita.kriauciuniene@asu.lt [Experimental Station, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Rapsu str. 7, LT-53363 Noreikiskes, Kaunas distr. (Lithuania)

2015-05-01

Intensive agricultural production strongly influences the global processes that determine climate change. Thus, tillage can play a very important role in climate change. The intensity of soil carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) emissions, which contribute to the greenhouse effect, can vary depending on the following factors: the tillage system used, meteorological conditions (which vary in different regions of the world), soil properties, plant residue characteristics and other factors. The main purpose of this research was to analyse and assess the effects of autumn tillage systems with different intensities on CO{sub 2} emissions from soils during different seasons and under the climatic conditions of Central Lithuania. The research was conducted at the Experimental Station of Aleksandras Stulginskis University from 2009 to2012; and in 2014. The soils at the experimental site were classified as Eutric Endogleyic Planosol (Drainic). The investigations were conducted using five tillage systems with different intensities, typical of the Baltic Region. Deep conventional ploughing was performed at a depth of 230–250 mm, shallow ploughing was conducted at a depth of 120–150 mm, deep loosening was conducted at depths of 250–270 mm, and shallow loosening was conducted at depths of 120–150 mm. The fifth system was a no-tillage system. Overall, autumn tillage resulted in greater CO{sub 2} emissions from the soil over both short- and long-term periods under the climatic conditions of Central Lithuania, regardless of the tillage system applied. The highest soil CO{sub 2} emissions were observed for the conventional deep ploughing tillage system, and the lowest emissions were observed for the no-tillage system. The meteorological conditions greatly influenced the CO{sub 2} emissions from the soil during the spring. Soil CO{sub 2} emissions were enhanced as precipitation and the air and soil temperatures increased. Long-term investigations regarding the dynamics of CO{sub 2

Changing Land Use from Cotton to Bioenergy Crops in the Southern Great Plains: Implications on Carbon and Water Vapor Fluxes

Science.gov (United States)

Rajan, N.; Sharma, S.

2016-12-01

We are facing an unprecedented challenge in securing America's energy future. To address this challenge, increased biofuel crop production is needed. Although first-generation biofuels like corn ethanol are available, second-generation biofuels are gaining importance because they don't directly compete with food production. Second-generation biofuels are made from the by-products of intensive agriculture or from less-intensive agriculture on more marginal lands. The Southwestern U.S. Cotton Belt can play a significant role in this effort through a change from more conventional crops (like continuous cotton) to second-generation biofuel feedstocks (biomass sorghum and perennial grasses). While we believe there would be environmental benefits associated with this change in land use, their exact nature and magnitude have not been investigated for this region. The overall goal of the proposed study was to investigate the water and carbon (C) fluxes associated with the change in agricultural land use to biofuels-dominated cropping systems in the semi-arid Southwestern U.S. Cotton Belt region. Eddy covariance flux towers were established at selected producer fields (cotton, perennial grasses and biomass sorghum) in the Southern Great Plains region. The fluxes of carbon dioxide, water vapor and sensible heat between the surface and the atmosphere will be measured throughout the year. The results have demonstrated that the dynamics of C and water vapor fluxes for these agroecosystems were strongly affected by environmental variables, management factors, and crop phenology. Detailed results will be presented at the meeting.

Effect of tillage system on yield and weed populations of soybean ( Glycin Max L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Seyed Z; Firouzi, Saeed; Aminpanah, Hashem; Sadeghnejhad, Hamid R

2016-03-01

Field experiment was conducted at Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center of Golestan Province, Iran, to determine the effects of tillage system and weed management regime on yield and weed populations in soybean ( Glycin max L.). The experimental design was a split plot where the whole plot portion was a randomized complete block with three replicates. Main plots were tillage system: 1- No-till row crop seeding, 2- No-till seed drilling, 3- Tillage with disc harrow and drill planting, 4- Tillage with chisel packer and drill planting. The subplots were weed management regimes: 1-Weed control with herbicide application, 2- Hand weeding, 3- Herbicide application plus hand weeding, and 4- Non-weeding. Results indicated that the main effects of tillage system and weed management regime were significant for seed yield, pod number per plant, seed number per pod, weed density and biomass, while their interaction were significant only for weed density, weed biomass, and seed number per pod. The highest grain yields (3838 kg ha-1) were recorded for No-till row crop seeding. The highest seed yield (3877 kg ha-1) also was recorded for weed control with herbicide and hand weeding treatment, followed by hand weeding (3379 kg ha-1).

Superamphiphobic cotton fabrics with enhanced stability

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Bi, E-mail: xubi@dhu.edu.cn [National Engineering Research Center for Dyeing and Finishing of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Key Laboratory of Science & Technology of Eco-Textile, Ministry of Education, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Ding, Yinyan; Qu, Shaobo [College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China); Cai, Zaisheng, E-mail: zshcai@dhu.edu [College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai 201620 (China)

2015-11-30

Highlights: • Superamphiphobic cotton fabrics were prepared. • Water and hexadecane contact angels reach to 164.4° and 156.3°, respectively. • Nanoporous organically modified silica alcogel particles were synthesized. • The superamphiphobic cotton fabrics exhibit enhanced stability against abrasion, laundering and acid. - Abstract: Superamphiphobic cotton fabrics were prepared by alternately depositing organically modified silica alcogel (ormosil) particles onto chitosan precoated cotton fabrics and subsequent 1H, 1H, 2H, 2H-perfluorooctyltrimethoxysilane (PFOTMS) modification. Transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy images reveal that the ormosil particles display a fluffy, sponge-like nanoporous structure, and the entire cotton fiber surface is covered with highly porous networks. PFOTMS acts as not only a modifier to lower the surface energy of the cotton fabric but also a binder to enhance the coating stability against abrasion and washing. The treated cotton fabrics show highly liquid repellency with the water, cooking oil and hexadecane contact angels reaching to 164.4°, 160.1° and 156.3°, respectively. Meanwhile, the treated cotton fabrics exhibit good abrasion resistance and high laundering durability, which can withstand 10,000 cycles of abrasion and 30 cycles of machine wash without apparently changing the superamphiphobicity. The superamphiphobic cotton fabric also shows high acid stability, and can withstand 98% H{sub 2}SO{sub 4}. Moreover, the superamphiphobic coating has almost no influence on the other physical properties of the cotton fabrics including tensile strength, whiteness and air permeability. This durable non-wetting surface may provide a wide range of new applications in the future.

Assessment of tillage systems in organic farming: influence of soil structure on microbial biomass. First results

OpenAIRE

Vian, Jean François; Peigné, Joséphine; Chaussod, Rémi; Roger-Estrade, Jean

2007-01-01

Soil tillage modifies environmental conditions of soil microorganisms and their ability to release nitrogen. We compare the influence of reduced tillage (RT) and mouldboard ploughing (MP) on the soil microbial functioning in organic farming. In order to connect soil structure generated by these tillage systems on the soil microbial biomass we adopt a particular sampling scheme based on the morphological characterisation of the soil structure by the description of the soil profile. This method...

Pesticide Interactions with N source and Tillage: Effects on soil biota and ecosystem services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, John; Petersen, Søren O; Elsgaard, Lars

. This study was planned to evaluate interactions between pesticide use and other soil management factors. The study was carried out within a long-term tillage experiment using two tillage practices (no-till (NT) and mouldboard ploughing (MP), two contrasting N sources (manure and mineral fertiliser), and two...

The Effects of Different Tillage Methods on Available Soil Potassium Measured by Various Extractors in a Soil with High Specific Surface Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Hosseini

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The effects of any tillage method on soil properties, depends on location (soil, water and air and the number of (years their implementation. Soil compaction reduces yield through increased soil mechanical resistance against root growth and lower water and nutrient use efficiency (Gamda et al. 18 & Ishagh et al 23. Soil surface and sub surface compaction both reduce yield due to limited root growth and plant potassium uptake (Doulan et al. 14. Sabt et al. (50 reported that in the study area, which the lands are mostly illite clay (high specific surface area with sufficient nitrogen, soil potassium is the most important limiting factor for the growth of wheat.Considering the point that loess soils in Golestan Province have a high specific surface area,they can provide potassium for plants to produce crop, but for a higher production, potassium fertilizers should be used. Previous studies indicated that production of wheat is limited due to potassium deficiency (4, 49, 54 and 57. In these soils with a high specific surface area, the speed of movement of potassium from the soil solution is low, and doing solimits wheat yield.In loess soils containing high illite and high specific surface area (eg, soilsin the series of Rahmat Abad of Gorgan, ammonium acetate measured potassium on exchange and solution surfaces, which is highly correlated with grain yield (54 . There is a high correlation between grain yield with overload of potassium and Na TPB extraction (57. The aim of this study was to absorb potassium (limiting factor for plant growth with different tillage systemsat different depths. International recommendations towards reducing the depth and intensity of tillage (from minimum tillage to no-tillage in order to reduce erosion and oxidation of organic substances plays an important role in determining the amount of greenhouse gases. If potassium absorption does not reduceafter reducing tillage intensity,low or no-tillage methods

Evaluation of Conservation Tillage Techniques for Maize Production ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

conservation tillage techniques and evaluate the impacts of the system on ... biological soil manipulation to optimize conditions for seed germination, emergence and ..... planting and weeding operations as total expense and sales from maize ...

Conservation tillage, optimal water and organic nutrient supply enhance soil microbial activities during wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) cultivation

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Pankaj; Singh, Geeta; Singh, Rana P.

2011-01-01

The field experiments were conducted on sandy loam soil at New Delhi, during 2007 and 2008 to investigate the effect of conservation tillage, irrigation regimes (sub-optimal, optimal and supra-optimal water regimes), and integrated nutrient management (INM) practices on soil biological parameters in wheat cultivation. The conservation tillage soils has shown significant (pbiofertilizer+25% Green Manure) has been used in combination with the conservation tillage and the optimum water supply. Study demonstrated that microbial activity could be regulated by tillage, water and nitrogen management in the soil in a sustainable manner. PMID:24031665

Planning soil tillage using quality function deployment (QFD

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Milan Marcos

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The Brazilian forest sector represents about 4% of gross domestic product (GDP which is correspondent to US$ 21.0 billion. The natural forest area is approximately 4.8 million hectares and for the near future there will be a need to increase the planted area. To avoid or minimize the impact of mechanized practices on forest soils, the reduced tillage has been developed. The aim of this work is to define the technical priorities of the reduced tillage for eucalyptus seedlings, using quality function deployment (QDF. The design requirements classified as the most important to attend seedling demands were the furrow width and depth, and clod sizes. QFD has the potential to be applied to agro-forestry systems to translate plant demands into technical requirements.

Response of water use efficiency and carbon emission to no-tillage and winter wheat genotypes in the North China Plain.

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Ren, Yujie; Gao, Chao; Han, Huifang; Li, Quanqi

2018-04-20

No-tillage management practices reduce net CO 2 losses from farmland and keep soil from degrading, but also decrease winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency (WUE) in the North China Plain (NCP). Suitable management practices, namely, the choice of genotypes, could enhance crop yield and WUE; however, how the WUE and CO 2 exchange responds to no-tillage practices and winter wheat genotypes remains unclear. In the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 winter wheat growing seasons in the NCP, a field experiment was carried out, and tested two tillage methods (no-tillage with mulching and conventional tillage) and two winter wheat genotypes ('Tainong 18' and 'Jimai 22'). The goal of the study was to identify the relationship between winter wheat grain yield, water consumption, and carbon emissions in no-tillage practices. The results showed that, compared to conventional tillage, no-tillage significantly reduced the net CO 2 -C cumulative emissions and water consumption; however, the grain yield was significantly reduced by 6.8% and 12.0% in the first and second growing seasons, respectively. Compared with Jimai 22, Tainong 18 had a compensatory effect on the yield reduction caused by no-tillage. As a result, the yield carbon utilization efficiency (R) and WUE were the highest in no-tillage with Tainong 18 (NT18), and the carbon emission per unit water consumption was the lowest in NT18. The results support the idea that a combination of no-tillage with genotype can improve the regulation of soil carbon emissions and water consumption of winter wheat, thus, providing theoretical support for sustainable crop production and soil development in the NCP. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Verde plant bug (Hemiptera: Miridae) feeding injury to cotton bolls characterized by boll age, size, and damage ratings.

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Armstrong, J Scott; Brewer, Michael J; Parker, Roy D; Adamczyk, J J

2013-02-01

The verde plant bug, Creontiades signatus (Distant), has been present in south Texas for several years but has more recently been documented as an economic threat to cultivated cotton, (Gossypium hirsutum L. Our studies over 2 yr (2009 and 2010) and two locations (Weslaco and Corpus Christi, TX) investigated feeding-injury of the verde plant bug to a range of cotton boll age classes defined by boll diameter and accumulated degree-days (anthesis to the time of infesting) for first-position cotton bolls infested with the plant bugs. The most detrimental damage to younger cotton holls from verde plant bug feeding was boll abscission. Cotton bolls verde plant bug injured bolls compared with the controls up to 162 ACDD or a mean boll diameter 2.0 cm. Cotton seed weights were significantly reduced up to 179 ACDD or a boll diameter of 2.0 cm at Weslaco in 2009, and up to 317 ACDD or boll diameter 2.6 cm for Weslaco in 2010 when compared with the noninfested controls. Lint weight per cotton boll for infested and noninfested bolls was significantly reduced up to 262 ACDD or boll diameter 2.5 for Corpus Christi in 2010 and up to 288 ACCD or boll diameter 2.6 cm for Weslaco, TX, in 2010. Damage ratings (dependant variable) regressed against infested and noninfested seed-cotton weights showed that in every instance, the infested cotton bolls had a strong and significant relationship with damage ratings for all age classes of bolls. Damage ratings for the infested cotton bolls that did not abscise by harvest showed visual signs of verde plant bug feeding injury and the subsequent development ofboll rot; however, these two forms of injury causing lint and seed mass loss are hard to differentiate from open or boll-locked cotton bolls. Based on the results of both lint and seed loss over 2 yr and four studies cotton bolls should be protected up to approximately 300 ACDD or a boll diameter of 2.5 cm. This equilibrates to bolls that are 12-14 d of age dependent upon daily maximum

U.S. Cotton Prices and the World Cotton Market: Forecasting and Structural Change

OpenAIRE

Isengildina-Massa, Olga; MacDonald, Stephen

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to analyze structural changes that took place in the cotton industry in recent years and develop a statistical model that reflects the current drivers of U.S. cotton prices. Legislative changes authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to resume publishing cotton price forecasts for the first time in 79 years. In addition, systematic problems have become apparent in the forecasting models used by USDA and elsewhere, highlighting the need for an updated review...

Updates to the Corn Ethanol Pathway and Development of an Integrated Corn and Corn Stover Ethanol Pathway in the GREET™ Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Zhichao [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Dunn, Jennifer B. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division; Wang, Michael Q. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Energy Systems Division

2014-09-01

Corn ethanol, a first-generation biofuel, is the predominant biofuel in the United States. In 2013, the total U.S. ethanol fuel production was 13.3 billion gallons, over 95% of which was produced from corn (RFA, 2014). The 2013 total renewable fuel mandate was 16.6 billion gallons according to the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) (U.S. Congress, 2007). Furthermore, until 2020, corn ethanol will make up a large portion of the renewable fuel volume mandated by Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). For the GREET1_2014 release, the corn ethanol pathway was subject to updates reflecting changes in corn agriculture and at corn ethanol plants. In the latter case, we especially focused on the incorporation of corn oil as a corn ethanol plant co-product. Section 2 covers these updates. In addition, GREET now includes options to integrate corn grain and corn stover ethanol production on the field and at the biorefinery. These changes are the focus of Section 3.

Effects of no tillage on the abundance and diversity of soil and olive tree canopy arthropods.

OpenAIRE

Lousão, C.; Bento, Albino; Campos, M.; Ruano, F.; Pereira, J.A.

2007-01-01

Soil tillage is a traditional practice in the olive groves of Trás-os-Montes region (Northeast of Portugal) where the soil is maintained without any vegetal cover. However, this agronomic practice may have dangerous environmental effects of several orders. In this way, with the present work we aimed to contribute for the knowledge about the effect of two soil management practices in the olive grove (traditional tillage in comparison to no tillage) on the arthropods abundance an...

[Effects of conservation tillage on soil CO2 and N2O emission during the following winter-wheat season].

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Ying; Hu, Zheng-Hu; Wu, Yang-Zhou; Sun, Yin-Yin; Sheng, Lu; Chen, Shu-Tao; Xiao, Qi-Tao

2014-07-01

In order to study the effect of conservation tillage on soil CO2 and N2O emissions in the following crop-growing season, field experiments were conducted in the winter wheat-growing season. Four treatments were conventional tillage (T), no-tillage with no straw cover (NT), no-tillage with straw cover (NTS), and conventional tillage with straw incorporation (TS), respectively. The CO2 and N2O fluxes were measured using a static chamber-gas chromatograph technique. The results showed that in the following winter wheat-growing season, conservation tillage did not change the seasonal pattern of CO2 and N2O emission fluxes from soil, and had no significant effect on crop biomass. Conservation tillage significantly reduced the accumulative amount of CO2 and N2O. Compared with the T treatment, the accumulative amount of CO2 under TS, NT, and NTS treatments were reduced by 5.95% (P = 0.132), 12.94% (P = 0.007), and 13.91% (P = 0.004), respectively, and the accumulative amount of N2O were significantly reduced by 31.23% (P = 0.000), 61.29% (P = 0.000), and 33.08% (P = 0.000), respectively. Our findings suggest that conservation tillage significantly reduced CO2 and N2O emission from soil in the following winter wheat-growing season.

Corn

OpenAIRE

Sherwood, Brianne; Hawks, Amanda

2011-01-01

We have so much corn right now it's coming out of our ears (great pun, right?). And it's SO incredibly cheap! This is probably because the US produces 42% of the world's corn! Most of it is used for animal feed, but other uses include exporting to other countries, human food, seed, and industrial uses such as ethanol production. Because there is so much corn available here in the U.S. You can find it in a lot more foods than you think. It's in peanut butter, snack foods, soft drinks, multivit...

Perdas de solo e nutrientes num latossolo vermelho-amarelo ácrico típico, com diferentes sistemas de preparo e sob chuva natural Soil and nutrient losses under different tillage systems in a clayey oxisol under natural rainfall

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Marcelo Henrique Siqueira Leite

2009-06-01

harrow and one passage of leveling harrow and contour seeding (CNiv; tillage with two passages of leveling harrow and contour seeding (NA and no tillage and contour seeding (CMN. The soil losses were determined by the direct method during the cotton crop cycle, from December 2005 to June 2006. Along each runoff sampling, soil samples were withdrawn to quantify the losses of N, P, K and organic carbon (C-org in the sediments. Decreasing soil tillage lessened the losses of sediments, nutrients and organic carbon, indicating that the CMN treatment was the most efficient. The trends for N, P, K and C-org losses in the sediments were similar to the soil losses. N, P and K varied according to the fertilizers used. The constituent with the highest concentration in the sediment was C in organic compounds. The basic infiltration rate differed among the treatments in the following order: CMA CNiv NA < CMN, indicating that tillage systems that reduced soil revolving and increased organic C, increased the basic infiltration rate and decreased soil erosion.

Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.).

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Rathore, Keerti S; Campbell, LeAnne M; Sherwood, Shanna; Nunes, Eugenia

2015-01-01

Cotton continues to be a crop of great economic importance in many developing and some developed countries. Cotton plants expressing the Bt gene to deter some of the major pests have been enthusiastically and widely accepted by the farmers in three of the major producing countries, i.e., China, India, and the USA. Considering the constraints related to its production and the wide variety of products derived from the cotton plant, it offers several target traits that can be improved through genetic engineering. Thus, there is a great need to accelerate the application of biotechnological tools for cotton improvement. This requires a simple, yet robust gene delivery/transformant recovery system. Recently, a protocol, involving large-scale, mechanical isolation of embryonic axes from germinating cottonseeds followed by direct transformation of the meristematic cells has been developed by an industrial laboratory. However, complexity of the mechanical device and the patent restrictions are likely to keep this method out of reach of most academic laboratories. In this chapter, we describe the method developed in our laboratory that has undergone further refinements and involves Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cotton cells, selection of stable transgenic callus lines, and recovery of plants via somatic embryogenesis.

The water footprint of cotton consumption: An assessment of the impact of worldwide consumption of cotton products on the water resources in the cotton producing countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chapagain, Ashok; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert; Savenije, H.H.G.; Gautam, R.

2006-01-01

The consumption of a cotton product is connected to a chain of impacts on the water resources in the countries where cotton is grown and processed. The aim of this paper is to assess the ‘water footprint’ of worldwide cotton consumption, identifying both the location and the character of the

Sediment yield control in vineyards covered with cereal. Effect of tillage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruiz-Colmenero, M.; Bienes, R.; Marques, M. J.

2009-01-01

A study has been carried out about the use of plant cover treatment to avoid land degradation in a hillside rainfed vineyard in Madrid under Mediterranean semiarid climate. Three treatments were tested: traditional tillage (lab) soil covered by Brachypodium distrachyon (bra) with self-sowing, soil covered by Scale cereale (sec) mown in Spring. Three erosion plots per treatment were placed in the middle of the strips and 2 simulated rainfalls were carried out at each plot in autumn, before and after the tillage. (Author) 7 refs.

Separation and recycling of cotton from cotton/PET blends by depolymerization of PET catalyzed by bases and ionic liquids

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwhuis, G.H. (Gerrit); Brinks, G.J. (Ger); Groeneveld, R.A.J. (Richard); Oelerich, J. (Jens)

2014-01-01

The recycling of post consumer cotton textile waste is highly requested, due to the high environmental impact of cotton production. Often cotton is mixed in blends with polyethylene terephthalate (PET). For the generation of high value products from recycled cotton, it essential that PET is

Water Use Efficiency under Different Tillage and Irrigation Systems for Tomato Farming in Southeastern Brazil

Science.gov (United States)

Bhering, S. B.; Fernandes, N. F.; Macedo, J. R.

2009-04-01

highly degrade the environment, applied without practices of soil and water conservation. Such production systems are associated with a variety of environmental problems, such as soil erosion, the extensive pumping of groundwater, the partial obstruction of surface drainage to form artificial lakes, the contamination of groundwater, among others. The environmental impacts generated by all these problems assume a greater importance due to the complete absence of monitoring the continuous lowering of the water table and the changes in water quality. We consider that the main management strategies for developing sustainable production systems for the tomato farming in this area should be based on monitoring water use efficiency, increasing water availability in the root zone and also preventing runoff, leaching and evaporation of water from the soil. Therefore, techniques were applied as green manures with legumes without incorporation of the biomass, non-mechanized and curve-level soil preparation, planting in level, soil cover with crop residues, fertirrigation with solid fertilization of low value, the conduct of tomato especially supported by plastic string attached to a trellis, drip irrigation, and monitoring soil water potential (SWP) with Watermak sensors. At the end of the tomato cycle, water use efficiency and the productivity were compared at 8 micro-plots installed in the 3 studied production systems: conventional tillage (CT-H), minimum tillage (MT-H), both with "wetting irrigation with garden hose", and no-tillage with drip irrigation (NT-D). For each production system, soil physical properties were characterized and soil water potential (SWP) and soil temperature were continuously monitored at different depths (20, 40, 60 and 80 cm), as well as the total water volume used in each irrigation. In parallel, we also compared the development of the root system and the final productivity for each one of the three production systems. The results obtained in this

Identification of top-down forces regulating cotton aphid population growth in transgenic Bt cotton in central China.

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Peng Han

Full Text Available The cotton aphid Aphis gossypii Glover is the main aphid pest in cotton fields in the Yangtze River Valley Cotton-planting Zone (YRZ in central China. Various natural enemies may attack the cotton aphid in Bt cotton fields but no studies have identified potential specific top-down forces that could help manage this pest in the YRZ in China. In order to identify possibilities for managing the cotton aphid, we monitored cotton aphid population dynamics and identified the effect of natural enemies on cotton aphid population growth using various exclusion cages in transgenic Cry1Ac (Bt+CpTI (Cowpea trypsin inhibitor cotton field in 2011. The aphid population growth in the open field (control was significantly lower than those protected or restricted from exposure to natural enemies in the various exclusion cage types tested. The ladybird predator Propylaea japonica Thunberg represented 65% of Coccinellidae predators, and other predators consisted mainly of syrphids (2.1% and spiders (1.5%. The aphid parasitoids Aphidiines represented 76.7% of the total count of the natural enemy guild (mainly Lysiphlebia japonica Ashmead and Binodoxys indicus Subba Rao & Sharma. Our results showed that P. japonica can effectively delay the establishment and subsequent population growth of aphids during the cotton growing season. Aphidiines could also reduce aphid density although their impact may be shadowed by the presence of coccinellids in the open field (likely both owing to resource competition and intraguild predation. The implications of these results are discussed in a framework of the compatibility of transgenic crops and top-down forces exerted by natural enemy guild.

Effect of Soil Tillage Practices on Dynamic of Bacterial Communities in Soil

OpenAIRE

Mirna Mrkonjić Fuka; Mihaela Blažinkov; Viviane Radl; Danijel Jug; Nataša Hulak; Sulejman Redžepović; Michael Schloter

2016-01-01

Several studies have indicated that intensive tillage has notable effect on properties of the soil microbiota that may influence numerous important soils functions, e.g. mobilization of nutrients or change of the overall emission rates of greenhouse gases. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate dynamic of microbial communities in soil planted with soybean under different tillage systems. Moreover, abundance of populations harboring the nitrous- oxide reductase gene (nosZ) a...

The "Cotton Problem"

OpenAIRE

Baffes, John

2005-01-01

Cotton is an important cash crop in many developing economies, supporting the livelihoods of millions of poor households. In some countries it contributes as much as 40 percent of merchandise exports and more than 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The global cotton market, however, has been subject to numerous policy interventions, to the detriment of nonsubsidized producers. This ...

[Effect of tillage patterns on the structure of weed communities in oat fields in the cold and arid region of North China].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Li; Zhang, Li; Wu, Dong-Xia; Zhang, Jun-Jun

2014-06-01

In order to clarify the effects of tillage patterns on farmland weed community structure and crop production characteristics, based on 10 years location experiment with no-tillage, subsoiling and conventional tillage in the cold and arid region of North China, and supplementary experiment of plowing after 10 years no-tillage and subsoiling, oat was planted in 2 soils under different tillage patterns, and field weed total density, dominant weed types, weed diversity index, field weed biomass and oats yield were measured. The results showed that the regional weed community was dominated by foxtail weed (Setaira viridis); the weed density under long-term no-tillage was 2.20-5.14 times of tillage at different growing stages of oat, but there were no significant differences between conditional tillage and plowing after long-term no-tillage and subsoiling. Field weed Shannon diversity indices were 0.429 and 0.531, respectively, for sandy chestnut soil and loamy meadow soil under no-tillage conditions, and field weed biomass values were 1.35 and 2.26 times of plowing treatment, while the oat biomass values were only 2807.4 kg x hm(-2) and 4053.9 kg x hm(-2), decreased by 22.3% and 46.2%, respectively. The results showed that the weed community characteristics were affected by both tillage patterns and soil types. Long-term no-tillage farmland in the cold and arid region of North China could promote the natural evolution of plant communities by keeping more perennial weeds, and the plowing pattern lowered the annual weed density, eliminated perennial weeds with shallow roots, and stimulated perennial weeds with deep roots.

Tensile Properties of Single Jersey and 1×1 Rib Knitted Fabrics Made from 100% Cotton and Cotton/Lycra Yarns

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Dereje Berihun Sitotaw

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The tensile properties such as tensile strength which is measured as breaking force in Newton (N and elongation percent (% at break of single jersey and 1×1 rib (knitted with full needles knitted fabrics made from 100% cotton and cotton/Lycra yarns (5% Lycra yarn content in 95% combed cotton yarn are investigated in this research. The sample fabrics are conditioned for 24 hours at 20±1°C temperature and 65±2% relative humidity before testing. Ten specimens (five for lengthwise and five for widthwise have been taken from each of the two knitted structures, those made from 100% cotton and cotton/Lycra (at 95/5 percent ratio blend yarns. According to the discussion and as found from the investigations, the tensile properties of single jersey and 1×1 rib knitted fabrics made from 100% cotton and cotton/Lycra yarns are significantly different from each other and both of the knitted fabrics have high elongation percent at break with cotton/Lycra blend yarns as compared to 100% cotton yarn. Knitted fabrics made from cotton/Lycra blended yarn have low breaking force and high elongation percent at break relative to knitted fabrics made from 100% cotton yarns.

Nitrous oxide emissions and controls as influenced by tillage and crop residue management strategy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mutegi, James; Munkholm, Lars Juhl; Petersen, Bjørn Molt

2010-01-01

(RT) or conventional tillage (CT). Each of these tillage treatments further varied in respect to whether the resulting plot crop residues were retained (+Res) or removed (-Res). Sampling took place from autumn 2007 to the end of spring 2008. Overall N2O emissions were 27 and 26% lower in DD and RT...

Differential responses of nitrate reducer community size, structure, and activity to tillage systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Chèneby, D; Brauman, A; Rabary, B; Philippot, L

2009-05-01

The main objective of this study was to determine how the size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community were affected by adoption of a conservative tillage system as an alternative to conventional tillage. The experimental field, established in Madagascar in 1991, consists of plots subjected to conventional tillage or direct-seeding mulch-based cropping systems (DM), both amended with three different fertilization regimes. Comparisons of size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community in samples collected from the top layer in 2005 and 2006 revealed that all characteristics of this functional community were affected by the tillage system, with increased nitrate reduction activity and numbers of nitrate reducers under DM. Nitrate reduction activity was also stimulated by combined organic and mineral fertilization but not by organic fertilization alone. In contrast, both negative and positive effects of combined organic and mineral fertilization on the size of the nitrate reducer community were observed. The size of the nitrate reducer community was a significant predictor of the nitrate reduction rates except in one treatment, which highlighted the inherent complexities in understanding the relationships the between size, diversity, and structure of functional microbial communities along environmental gradients.

Process development of short-chain polyols synthesis from corn stover by combination of enzymatic hydrolysis and catalytic hydrogenolysis

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Zhen-Hong Fang

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Currently short-chain polyols such as ethanediol, propanediol, and butanediol are produced either from the petroleum feedstock or from the starch-based food crop feedstock. In this study, a combinational process of enzymatic hydrolysis with catalytic hydrogenolysis for short-chain polyols production using corn stover as feedstock was developed. The enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated corn stover was optimized to produce stover sugars at the minimum cost. Then the stover sugars were purified and hydrogenolyzed into polyols products catalyzed by Raney nickel catalyst. The results show that the yield of short-chain polyols from the stover sugars was comparable to that of the corn-based glucose. The present study provided an important prototype for polyols production from lignocellulose to replace the petroleum- or corn-based polyols for future industrial applications.

Impact of Corn Earworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on Field Corn (Poales: Poaceae) Yield and Grain Quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Bibb, Jenny L; Cook, Donald; Catchot, Angus; Musser, Fred; Stewart, Scott D; Leonard, Billy Rogers; Buntin, G David; Kerns, David; Allen, Tom W; Gore, Jeffrey

2018-05-28

Corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), commonly infests field corn, Zea mays (L.). The combination of corn plant biology, corn earworm behavior in corn ecosystems, and field corn value renders corn earworm management with foliar insecticides noneconomical. Corn technologies containing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) were introduced that exhibit substantial efficacy against corn earworm and may reduce mycotoxin contamination in grain. The first generation Bt traits in field corn demonstrated limited activity on corn earworm feeding on grain. The pyramided corn technologies have greater cumulative protein concentrations and higher expression throughout the plant, so these corn traits should provide effective management of this pest. Additionally, reduced kernel injury may affect physical grain quality. Experiments were conducted during 2011-2012 to investigate corn earworm impact on field corn yield and grain quality. Treatments included field corn hybrids expressing the Herculex, YieldGard, and Genuity VT Triple Pro technologies. Supplemental insecticide treatments were applied every 1-2 d from silk emergence until silk senescence to create a range of injured kernels for each technology. No significant relationship between the number of corn earworm damaged kernels and yield was observed for any technology/hybrid. In these studies, corn earworm larvae did not cause enough damage to impact yield. Additionally, no consistent relationship between corn earworm damage and aflatoxin contamination was observed. Based on these data, the economic value of pyramided Bt corn traits to corn producers, in the southern United States, appears to be from management of other lepidopteran insect pests including European and southwestern corn borer.

Development and field evaluation of an intercropping machine for corn and bean

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A Mondani

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction Maximum efficiency of natural resources, reduced risk of production, improved fertility of soil, and increased production per area enjoyment have made intercropping a preferential practice compared with cropping. One of the fundamental problems in this kind of cropping is non-existence of suitable machines. In this research, a new intercropping machine has been designed and built for intercropping of corn and bean with precise ratios and different planting patterns. Materials and Methods The experiments were conducted at the Badjgah Research Station, Shiraz University, located in NW Shiraz, Iran. The soil texture was clay loam (16% sand, 48% silt, and 35% clay. The plot size was 9 m wide and 12 m long. The total number of the plots were 9. The basic components of intercropping machine were an adjustable frame to adjust row spacing for each unit planter about 550 mm horizontally independently (the row spacing between corn and bean planting lines was considered 375 mm, a hinged frame for adjustment of seeding depth and possible poor emergence of plants due to very deep or shallow planting, metering case frames for installing the vacuum metering disk units around which the seed drums have a row of 36 holes of 4.5 and 5.5 mm diameter for corn and bean, respectively, seed delivery tubes, a suction fan, shovel openers used for bedder planting for corn and lister planting for bean, a knife covering attachment, seed-firming wheels, interchangeable gears which are mechanical chain drives for 43 varying seeding rates driven by carrying wheel drives, two metal seed hoppers whose lower side walls’ slope can be adjust at a maximum level of 45 . A front wheel assist, Massey Ferguson tractor (MF-399 (ITM, Tabriz, Iran with a maximum engine power of 81 kW was used for field test of intercropping machine. Moldboard plow was used for primary tillage and the depth of plowing was 25 cm. Next, by an offset disk harrow, the field was disked twice for

Using Water and Agrochemicals in the Soil, Crop and Vadose Environment (WAVE Model to Interpret Nitrogen Balance and Soil Water Reserve Under Different Tillage Managements

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Zare Narjes

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Applying models to interpret soil, water and plant relationships under different conditions enable us to study different management scenarios and then to determine the optimum option. The aim of this study was using Water and Agrochemicals in the soil, crop and Vadose Environment (WAVE model to predict water content, nitrogen balance and its components over a corn crop season under both conventional tillage (CT and direct seeding into mulch (DSM. In this study a corn crop was cultivated at the Irstea experimental station in Montpellier, France under both CT and DSM. Model input data were weather data, nitrogen content in both the soil and mulch at the beginning of the season, the amounts and the dates of irrigation and nitrogen application. The results show an appropriate agreement between measured and model simulations (nRMSE < 10%. Using model outputs, nitrogen balance and its components were compared with measured data in both systems. The amount of N leaching in validation period were 10 and 8 kgha–1 in CT and DSM plots, respectively; therefore, these results showed better performance of DSM in comparison with CT. Simulated nitrogen leaching from CT and DSM can help us to assess groundwater pollution risk caused by these two systems.

Effect of tillage on earthworms over short- and medium-term in conventional and organic farming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crittenden, S.; Eswaramurthy, T.; Goede, de R.G.M.; Brussaard, L.; Pulleman, M.M.

2014-01-01

Earthworms play an important role in many soil functions and are affected by soil tillage in agricultural soils. However, effects of tillage on earthworms are often studied without considering species and their interactions with soil properties. Furthermore, many field studies are based on one-time

[Dynamics of aquic brown soil enzyme activities under no-tillage].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiumei; Li, Qi; Liang, Wenju; Jiang, Yong; Wen, Dazhong

2006-12-01

This paper studied the effects of no-tillage on the dynamics of invertase, urease and acid phosphatase activities in an aquic brown soil during maize growing season. The results showed that in 0 - 10 cm soil layer, the invertase activity at jointing, trumpet-shaped and ripening stages, urease activity at jointing and booting stages, and acid phosphatase activity at booting and ripening stages were significantly higher under no-tillage (NT) than under conventional tillage (CT). In 10 - 20 cm soil layer, the invertase activity at seedling, jointing and trumpet-shaped stages was significantly different between NT and CT, and the urease activity during whole growing season except at booting stage was significantly higher under NT than under CT. In 20 - 30 cm soil layer, the invertase activity during maize growing season was significantly lower under NT than under CT, and urease activity at seedling stage and acid phosphate activity at ripening stage were significantly different between these two treatments. Under NT, there was a decreasing trend of soil enzyme activities with increasing soil depth; while under CT, soil invertase and acid phosphatase activities increased, but urease activity decreased with increasing soil depth.

Long term effects of different tillage systems influencing yield and energy efficiency in maize (Zea mays L.)

OpenAIRE

Momirović, Nebojša; Dolijanović, Željko; Oljača, Mićo V.; Videnović, Živorad

2011-01-01

Adoption and improvement of different tillage systems toward agricultural sustainability has a great social, economical and environmental impact. The base of sustainability is a system productivity as ratio of output to input in a given system, measured in the same units, commonly as energy requirements. The objective of this study was to evaluate the aspect of energy requirements in the different soil tillage systems regarding total energy consumption under conventional tillage. The appropri...

A simplified modelling approach for quantifying tillage effects on soil carbon stocks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chatskikh, Dmitri; Hansen, Søren; Olesen, Jørgen E.

2009-01-01

Soil tillage has been shown to affect long-term changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) content in a number of field experiments. This paper presents a simplified approach for including effects of tillage in models of soil C turnover in the tilled-soil layer. We used an existing soil organic matter...... (SOM) model (CN-SIM) with standard SOC data for a homogeneous tilled layer from four long-term field experiments with conventionally tilled (CT) and no-till (NT) treatments. The SOM model was tested on data from long-term (>10 years) field trials differing in climatic conditions, soil properties......, residue management and crop rotations in Australia, Brazil, the USA and Switzerland. The C input for the treatments was estimated using data on crop rotation and residue management. The SOM model was applied for both CT and NT trials without recalibration, but incorporated a 'tillage factor' (TF) to scale...

Fabrication of Durably Superhydrophobic Cotton Fabrics by Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatment with a Siloxane Precursor

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Jing Yang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The surface treatment of fabrics in an atmospheric environment may pave the way for commercially viable plasma modifications of fibrous matters. In this paper, we demonstrate a durably superhydrophobic cotton cellulose fabric prepared in a single-step graft polymerization of hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO by N2 and O2 atmospheric pressure plasma. We systematically investigated effects on contact angle (CA and surface morphology of the cotton fabric under three operational parameters: precursor value; ionization gas flow rate; and plasma cycle time. Surface morphology, element composition, chemical structure and hydrophobic properties of the treated fabric were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM, EDS, FTIR and CA on the fabrics. The results indicated that a layer of thin film and nano-particles were evenly deposited on the cotton fibers, and graft polymerization occurred between cellulose and HMDSO. The fabric treated by O2 plasma exhibited a higher CA of 162° than that treated by N2 plasma which was about 149°. Furthermore, the CA of treated fabrics decreased only 0°~10° after storing at the ambient conditions for four months, and treated fabrics could also endure the standard textile laundering procedure in AATCC 61-2006 with minimum change. Therefore, this single-step plasma treatment method is shown to be a novel and environment-friendly way to make durable and superhydrophobic cotton fabrics.

Nitrate Leaching From Grain Maize After Different Tillage Methods and Long/Short Term Cover Cropping

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Elly Møller

trial initiated in 1968 on a coarse sandy soil. The previous trial included spring sown crops undersown (with or without) perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) as cover crop, two N-rates (90 and 120 kg N ha-1) and different tillage methods (shallow tillage and ploughing autumn or spring). With maize......) previous history of long-term cover cropping, ii) soil tillage methods, iii) N rates and iv) present short-term use of cover cropping in maize. Preliminary results from 2009 – 2011 suggest that leaching after a history of cover cropping tended to be higher than after no history of cover cropping......, but the effect was insignificant. The effect of tillage and previous N rates were also insignificant but the present use of cover crops had a small but significant decreasing effect on leaching compared to no cover cropping. The cover crop was well established in both years but grew less vigorously during autumn...

Morphology and stability of aggregates of an Oxisol according to tillage system and gypsum application

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Fábio Régis de Souza

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Morphological characterization and aggregate stability is an important factor in evaluating management systems. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the stability and morphology of the aggregates of a dystrophic Oxisol managed with no-tillage and conventional tillage with and without the residual action of gypsum. The experimental design was randomized blocks arranged in split-split plot, where the treatments were two soil management systems (plots with 0 and 2000 kg ha-1 of gypsum (subplots and five depths (0-0.05, 0.05-0.10, 0.10-0.15, 0.15-0.20 and 0.20-0.30 m as the subsubplots, with four replications. The aggregate morphology was determined through images and later evaluated by the Quantporo software. Stability was determined by the wet method. The results showed that the no-tillage system, with or without gypsum residual effect, provided the aggregates with the largest geometric diameters. The combination of no-tillage system and the gypsum residual effect provided rougher aggregates.

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi, E-mail: emmanueladdai41@yahoo.com; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-04-15

Highlights: • Ignition sensitivity of a highly flammable dust decreases upon addition of inert dust. • Minimum ignition temperature of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • Minimum ignition energy of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. - Abstract: The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%.

Experimental investigations of the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of inert and combustible dust cloud mixtures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Addai, Emmanuel Kwasi; Gabel, Dieter; Krause, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Ignition sensitivity of a highly flammable dust decreases upon addition of inert dust. • Minimum ignition temperature of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • Minimum ignition energy of a highly flammable dust increases when inert concentration increase. • The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%. - Abstract: The risks associated with dust explosions still exist in industries that either process or handle combustible dust. This explosion risk could be prevented or mitigated by applying the principle of inherent safety (moderation). This is achieved by adding an inert material to a highly combustible material in order to decrease the ignition sensitivity of the combustible dust. The presented paper deals with the experimental investigation of the influence of adding an inert dust on the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature of the combustible/inert dust mixtures. The experimental investigation was done in two laboratory scale equipment: the Hartmann apparatus and the Godbert-Greenwald furnace for the minimum ignition energy and the minimum ignition temperature test respectively. This was achieved by mixing various amounts of three inert materials (magnesium oxide, ammonium sulphate and sand) and six combustible dusts (brown coal, lycopodium, toner, niacin, corn starch and high density polyethylene). Generally, increasing the inert materials concentration increases the minimum ignition energy as well as the minimum ignition temperatures until a threshold is reached where no ignition was obtained. The permissible range for the inert mixture to minimize the ignition risk lies between 60 to 80%.

Evaluación de la compactación de suelos en siembra directa en la Llanura Chacopampeana de la provincia de Tucumán, R. Argentina Evaluation of soil compaction under no tillage systems in the Chacopampeana Plain in Tucumán, Argentina

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G. Agustín Sanzano

2012-06-01

para decidir el uso de descompactadores de suelo.No-tilled soils can cause topsoil compaction as a result of the lack of soil removal and of machinery traffic. Using subsoilers can reduce this effect. This study was carried out in grain fields located at four sites in the Chacopampeana Plain, province of Tucumán, Argentina. Five no-tillage soil management situations were evaluated in terms of soil compaction degree and other related soil physical properties. These situations were: 'new soils', under no tillage management for less than five years (N; more than 10 years under no tillage management, continuously planted with soybean (SS; more than 10 years under no tillage management and soybean/corn rotation (SM; more than 10 years under no tillage management, with deep vertical tillage prior to sowing, and continuously planted with soybean (SS + LVP; and soils of more than 10 years under no tillage management, soybean/corn rotation, and deep vertical tillage before sowing (SM + LVP. Parameters evaluated before sowing were: bulk density (Dap, maximum bulk density (Dap max, relative apparent density, penetration resistance (RP, crop residue, infiltration rate (I, and organic matter (OM. In topsoil, OM was significantly higher in N than in SS and SS + LVP, while SM and SM + LVP showed intermediate values. LVP showed significantly lower crop residues than those without LPV. In turn, SM had higher crop residues than SS. Upper 20 cm Dap was higher in all situations without LVP, except in N. In most situations, relative apparent density did not exceed 90%, considered critical for normal soybean root growth. RP was significantly lower in SS + LPV and SM + LVP than in SS and SM, respectively. Infiltration rates (I were significantly higher in LPV than in those situations without tillage. However, N had the highest I, probably due to soil porous system conservation. It is advisable to quantify all these parameters before deciding to use deep tillage equipments.

Energy inputs and outputs and sustainability of corn silage production; Balanco energetico e sutentabilidade na producao de silagem de milho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Campos, Alessandro Torres; Daga, Jacir [Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE), Marechal Candido Rondon, PR (Brazil). Grupo de Pesquisas em Ambiencia do Oeste do Parana], e-mail: atcampos3@yahoo.com.br; Zanini, Agostinho; Prestes, Tania Maria Vicentini; Dalmolin, Maria Fatima da Silva [Centro Federal de Educacao Tecnologica do Parana (CEFET-PR), Medianeira, PR (Brazil); Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE), Marechal Candido Rondon, PR (Brazil). Centro de Ciencias Agrarias; Campos, Aloisio Torres de [EMBRAPA Gado de Leite, Juiz de Fora, MG (Brazil); Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE), Marechal Candido Rondon, PR (Brazil). Grupo de Pesquisas em Ambiencia do Oeste do Parana

2004-07-01

The agricultural ecosystem as way of converting solar energy in products, needs several energy sources, among that sources stand out fertilizers, agricultural defensives and others. These inputs are derived from fossils. In the present paper, it was studied the energy flows involved in corn silage production in a no tillage crop system, in Sao Miguel of Iguacu-Parana State/Brazil. In the direct energy flow, the fuels and lubricants were the largest consumers, representing 45.90% of the total, the agricultural defensives were responsible for the consumption of 24.12% of the total, while the fertilizers for 10.53% of the total consumption. By computing the fossil origin components, fuels, lubricants, defensive and fertilizers, the participation of the total consumption of energy was of 84.07%. (author)

Short-term turnover of soil organic matter after tillage proven by Pyrolysis-field ionization MS

Science.gov (United States)

Fiedler, Sebastian; Jurasinski, Gerald; Leinweber, Peter; Glatzel, Stephan

2015-04-01

Knowledge about the composition and the turnover dynamics of soil organic matter (SOM) is crucial to the fertility of agricultural soils. Even short-term changes of SOM are of fundamental importance. Tillage changes the decomposition and the mineralisation of SOM. By disrupting macroaggregates, tillage induces an increased turnover and hampers the aggregation of SOM. As a consequence, mineralisation of SOM is stimulated which may imply an additional efflux of CO2 and N2O from soil. Pyrolysis-field ionization mass spectrometry (Py-FIMS) has been developed as a key method for SOM research. This powerful analytical tool allows a rapid, global and objective determination of the majority of chemical compound classes and is an appropriate method for the analysis of even small differences of biogeochemical matters. Hence, Py-FIMS may allow for a precise detection of the turnover of SOM and the involved compounds that are affected by tillage in the short-term. Py-FIMS measurements along with the determination of the CO2 and N2O effluxes from soil after tillage at the same site may give new insights into the compounds of SOM which are mineralised and consequently contribute to fundamental processes such as respiration, nitrification and denitrification. We applied Py-FIMS to soil samples from a stagnic Luvisol taken before and after tillage from a harvested maize field in Northern Germany. The samples were taken from two treatments amended with mineral fertiliser (MF) and biogas residues (BR), respectively, and also from an unfertilised control (UC). Tillage was conducted by disc harrowing, followed by mouldboard ploughing up to 30 cm. Simultaneously the soil efflux of CO2 and N2O was measured with a dynamic chamber technique. Before tillage, the mass spectra showed distinct differences in the relative ion intensities: the BR treatment showed much more volatilised matter during pyrolysis indicating an increased amount of SOM. Furthermore, in this treatment, the proportions

The water footprint of cotton consumption

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chapagain, Ashok; Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert; Savenije, H.H.G.; Gautam, R.

2005-01-01

The consumption of a cotton product is connected to a chain of impacts on the water resources in the countries where cotton is grown and processed. The aim of this report is to assess the ‘water footprint’ of worldwide cotton consumption, identifying both the location and the character of the

Response of successive three generations of cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), fed on cotton bolls, under elevated CO2

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2007-01-01

The growth, development and consumption of successive three generations of cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), fed on cotton bolls grown under elevated CO2 (double-ambient vs. ambient) in open-top chambers were examined. Significant decreases in protein, total amino acid, water and nitrogen content and increases in free fatty acid were observed in cotton bolls. Changes in quality of cotton bolls affected the growth, development and food utilization of H. armigera. Significantly longer larval development duration in three successive generations and lower pupal weight of the second and third generations were observed in cotton bollworm fed on cotton bolls grown under elevated CO2. Significantly lower fecundity was also found in successive three generations of H. armigera fed on cotton bolls grown under elevated CO2. The consumption per larva occurred significant increase in successive three generations and frass per larva were also significantly increased during the second and third generations under elevated CO2. Significantly lower relative growth rate, efficiency of conversion of ingested food and significant higher relative consumption rate in successive three generations were observed in cotton bollworm fed on cotton bolls grown under elevated CO2. Significantly lower potential female fecundity, larval numbers and population consumption were found in the second and third generations of cotton bollworm fed on cotton bolls grown under elevated CO2. The integrative effect of higher larval mortality rate and lower adult fecundity resulted in significant decreases in potential population consumption in the latter two generations. The results show that elevated CO2 adversely affects cotton bolls quality, which indicates the potential population dynamics and potential population consumption of cotton bollworm will alleviate the harm to the plants in the future rising CO2 atmosphere.

Swine farm wastewater and mineral fertilization in corn cultivation

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Pâmela A. M. Pereira

2016-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT In the long run, swine wastewater can provide benefits to the soil-plant relationship, when its use is planned and the potential environmental impacts are monitored. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of continuous application of swine wastewater, associated with mineral fertilization, after six years of management in no-tillage and crop rotation (14 production cycles, on the chemical conditions of the soil and the corn crop. The doses of wastewater were 0, 100, 200, 300 m3 ha-1 during the cycle. The effects of the association between mineral fertilization at sowing and swine wastewater were evaluated simultaneously. Swine wastewater at the dose of 100 m3 ha-1 promoted availability and absorption of P, K+, Mg2+ and Zn2+ without causing toxicity to plants or damage to the soil, constituting a viable, low-cost alternative of water reuse and fertilization for farmers. The nutrients N, P, K+ and B must be complemented with mineral fertilization. Special attention should be directed to the accumulation of Zn2+ in the soil along the time of swine wastewater application.

Research within the coordinated programme on isotopic-tracer-aided studies of chemical residues in cotton seed, oil, feed and related products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qureshi, M.J.

1981-06-01

14 C-methyl and 14 C-ring-labelled carbaryl (1-naphthyl-N-methyl carbamate) were used to study the fate and magnitude of the insecticide in the plant and cotton seed products. Under conditions of actual agricultural practice, 0.08-0.09, 0.23-0.30 and 0.05 mg/kg of 14 C-residues were found in the seed, crude oil and cake respectively. In oil, the residue was resolved into 4 compounds, 2 identified as carbaryl and 1-naphthol. Residues from the soil did not exceed 0.3 mg/kg after the first week and declined to 0.1 mg/kg after 5 weeks. Parallel experiments were conducted under field conditions using 14 C-phenyl leptophos (4-bromo-2,5-dichlorophenyl methyl phenyl phosphorothioate). Leptophos residues were determined in the cotton seed products during 1975, 1976 and 1977, with mean values for leptophos residues in the cotton seed, crude oil and cake of 0.26, 1.10 and 0.07 mg/kg, respectively. Experiments with non-labelled monocrotophos [3-(dimethoxy phosphinyloxy)-N-methyl cis-crotonamide] gave residues of 0.30, 1.56 and 0.02 mg/kg in the seed, crude oil and cake, respectively. Carbaryl residues in two local maize varieties were determined by a colorimetric method. Cooking in aqueous, oil or aqueous-oil media led to 63-83% loss of carbaryl residues, after 30 minutes. Storage of corn oil for one year had essentially no effect on the concentration of carbaryl residues under laboratory conditions (presumably similar to regular storage conditions). An overall effect of simulated commercial processing procedures (saponification, deodorization and winterization) gave a loss of 70% of the original carbaryl in the oil. Commercial cooking procedures for national popular dishes resulted in near-complete elimination of carbaryl residues (up to 98%). Frying onions and potatoes in carbaryl-spiked corn oil for 3 min. up to 210 0 C resulted in 55-60% loss of the residue

Soil nitrogen dynamics and leaching under conservation tillage in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Georgia, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Conservation tillage (CsT) involves management that reduces soil erosion by maintaining crop residue cover on farm fields. Typically, both infiltration and soil organic matter increase over time with CsT practices. We compared the impact of a commonly used CsT practice, strip tillage (ST), to conven...

Corn silage from corn treated with foliar fungicide and performance of Holstein cows.

Science.gov (United States)

Haerr, K J; Lopes, N M; Pereira, M N; Fellows, G M; Cardoso, F C

2015-12-01

Foliar fungicide application to corn plants is used in corn aimed for corn silage in the dairy industry, but questions regarding frequency of application and its effect on corn silage quality and feed conversion when fed to dairy cows remain prevalent. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various foliar fungicide applications to corn on dry matter intake (DMI), milk production, and milk composition when fed to dairy cows. Sixty-four Holstein cows with parity 2.5±1.5, 653±80kg of body weight, and 161±51d in milk were blocked and randomly assigned to 1 of 4 corn silage treatments (total mixed ration with 35% of the dry matter as corn silage). Treatments were as follows: control (CON), corn silage with no applications of foliar fungicide; treatment 1 (1X), corn silage from corn that received 1 application of pyraclostrobin (PYR) foliar fungicide (Headline; BASF Corp.) at corn vegetative stage 5; treatment 2 (2X), corn silage from corn that received the same application as 1X plus another application of a mixture of PYR and metconazole (Headline AMP; BASF Corp.) at corn reproductive stage 1 ("silking"); and treatment 3 (3X), corn silage from corn that received the same applications as 2X as well as a third application of PYR and metconazole at reproductive stage 3 ("milky kernel"). Corn was harvested at about 32% dry matter and 3/4 milk line stage of kernel development and ensiled for 200d. Treatments were fed to cows for 5wk, with the last week being used for statistical inferences. Week -1 was used as a covariate in the statistical analysis. Dry matter intake tended to be lower for cows fed corn silage treated with fungicide than CON (23.8, 23.0, 19.5, and 21.3kg for CON, 1X, 2X, and 3X, respectively). A linear treatment effect for DMI was observed, with DMI decreasing as foliar fungicide applications increased. Treatments CON, 1X, 2X, and 3X did not differ for milk yield (34.5, 34.5, 34.2, and 34.4kg/d, respectively); however, a trend for

Effects of tillage on the activity density and biological diversity of carabid beetles in spring and winter crops.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatten, Timothy D; Bosque-Pérez, Nilsa A; Labonte, James R; Guy, Stephen O; Eigenbrode, Sanford D

2007-04-01

The effects of tillage regimen (conventional [CT] and no-tillage [NT]) on the activity density and diversity of carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was studied by pitfall trapping within a rain-fed cropping system in northwestern Idaho, 2000-2002. The cropping rotation consisted of a spring cereal (barley, Hordeum vulgare L., in 2000 and 2001; and wheat, Triticum aestivum L., in 2002), spring dry pea (Pisum sativum L.) 2000-2002, and wheat (T. aestivum), spring in 2000 and 2001, and winter in 2002. A total of 14,480 beetles comprised of 30 species was captured, with five numerically dominant species [Poecilus scitulus L., Poecilus lucublandus Say, Microlestes linearis L., Pterostichus melanarius Ill., and Calosoma cancellatum (Eschscholtz)], accounting for 98% of all captures. All species including the dominants responded idiosyncratically to tillage regimen. Adjusting for trapping biases did not significantly change seasonal activity density of Poecilus spp. or Pt. melanarius to tillage. More beetles were captured in CT than in NT crops because of the dominance of P. scitulus in CT, whereas species richness and biological diversity were generally higher in NT crops. Observed patterns suggest that direct effects of tillage affected some species, whereas indirect effects related to habitat characteristics affected others. CT may provide habitat preferable to xerophilic spring breeders. A relationship was found between beetle species size and tillage regimen in pea and to a lesser extent across all spring crops, with large species (>14 mm) conserved more commonly in NT, small species (tillage systems.

Tillage and residue management effect on soil properties, crop performance and energy relations in greengram (Vigna radiata L. under maize-based cropping systems

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J.R. Meena

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Effect of tillage and crop residue management on soil properties, crop performance, energy relations and economics in greengram (Vigna radiata L. was evaluated under four maize-based cropping systems in an Inceptisol of Delhi, India. Soil bulk density, hydraulic conductivity and aggregation at 0–15 cm layer were significantly affected both by tillage and cropping systems, while zero tillage significantly increased the soil organic carbon content. Yields of greengram were significantly higher in maize–chickpea and maize–mustard systems, more so with residue addition. When no residue was added, conventional tillage required 20% higher energy inputs than the zero tillage, while the residue addition increased the energy output in both tillage practices. Maize–wheat–greengram cropping system involved the maximum energy requirement and the cost of production. However, the largest net return was obtained from the maize–chickpea–greengram system under the conventional tillage with residue incorporation. Although zero tillage resulted in better aggregation, C content and N availability in soil, and reduced the energy inputs, cultivation of summer greengram appeared to be profitable under conventional tillage system with residue incorporation.

Adubação nitrogenada, densidade e espaçamento de híbridos de milho em sistema de plantio direto na região sudeste do Tocantins Nitrogen fertilization, sowing rate and row spacing in corn crop under no-tillage system in southeastern Tocantins State, Brazil

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Renzo Garcia Von Pinho

2008-01-01

objective of this trial was to study the influence of four nitrogen application timing, associated with three sowing rates and two row spacings, under no-tillage system, using two corn hybrids in southeastern Tocantins State. On the site, two experiments in no-tillage system were established, the first one being set up with the spacing of 0.45 m and the second spacing of 0.90 m. In each experiment, two corn hybrids (P 30K75 and TORK, three sowing rates (55 thousand, 70 thousand and 85 thousand plants ha-1 and four nitrogen application timing: 40 kg ha-1 of N applied at sowing time without nitrogen topdressing; 40 kg ha-1 of N at sowing + 120 kg ha-1 of N topdressed just after sowing; 40 kg ha-1 of N at sowing + 60 kg ha-1 of N topdressed at the stage of 4 to 5 leaves + 60 kg ha-1 of N topdressed at the stage of 7 to 8 leaves, 40 kg ha-1 of N at sowing + 120 kg ha-1 of N topdressed at the stage of 6 to 7 leaves. Fractioning nitrogen application increased corn grain yield. As plant density increased, plant height and grain yield increased. Plant spacing of 0.45 m promoted higher grain yield regardless plant density and hybrid used. The P30K75 hybrid obtained higher grain yield than TORK hybrid.

Evaluation of cotton stalks destroyers

OpenAIRE

Bianchini, Aloisio; Borges, Pedro H. de M.

2013-01-01

The destruction of the cotton crop residues (cotton stalks) is a mandatory procedure in Brazil for prophylactic issues, but is a subject unexplored by the research and there are few studies that deal with this issue. However, this is not encouraged in recent decades, studies aimed at developing and evaluating equipment for this purpose. The present study had the objective to evaluate six methods for mechanical destruction of cotton crop residues. Each method was defined based on the principle...

Cotton : Market setting, trade policies, and issues

OpenAIRE

Baffes, John

2004-01-01

The value of world cotton production in 2000-01 has been estimated at about $20 billion, down from $35 billion in 1996-97 when cotton prices were 50 percent higher. Although cotton's share in world merchandise trade is insignificant (about 0.12 percent), it is very important to a number of developing countries. Cotton accounts for approximately 40 percent of total merchandise export earnin...

Disponibilidade de nutrientes e teor de matéria orgânica em função de sistemas de cultivo e de manejo de solo Nutrient availability and organic matter content as affected by cropping systems and soil management

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Henrique Pereira dos Santos

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Sistemas de cultivo e de manejo de solo podem alterar as propriedades químicas do solo. Após oito anos (1985 a 1993, a fertilidade do solo foi avaliada, num Latossolo Vermelho Distrófico típico, em Passo Fundo, RS, em quatro sistemas de manejo do solo: 1 semeadura direta (SD; 2 cultivo mínimo (CM; 3 preparo convencional do solo com arado e grade de discos (PCD; e 4 preparo convencional do solo com arado de aivecas e grade de discos (PCA, e em três sistemas de cultivo: sistema I (trigo/soja, sistema II (trigo/soja e ervilhaca/milho e sistema III (trigo/soja, ervilhaca/milho e aveia branca/soja. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos completos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas, e três repetições. A parcela principal (4 x 90m foi constituída pelos sistemas de manejo do solo e a subparcelas (4 x 10m, pelos sistemas de cultivo. Os valores de pH, Al, Ca + Mg trocáveis, matéria orgânica (MO, P extraível e K disponível diferiram entre os sistemas de manejo e de cultivo do solo. Os teores de MO, P e K, na camada 0-5cm, foram mais elevados nos sistemas conservacionistas (CM e SD em relação àqueles observados nos preparos convencionais do solo (PCD e PCA. Os valores de MO, P e K foram mais elevados na camada 0-5 cm, quando comparada com a observada de 15 a 20cm de profundidade, em todos os sistemas de manejo e cultivo do solo.Cropping systems and soil managment can change soil chemical properties. Soil fertility characteriscs were assessed after eight years (1985 to 1993 on a typical dystrophic red latosol located in Passo Fundo, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Four soil management systems - 1 no-tillage, 2 minimum tillage, 3 conventional tillage using a disk plow plus disk harrow, and 4 conventional tillage using a moldboard plow plus disk harrow - and three cropping systems [I (wheat/soybean, II (wheat/soybean and common vetch/corn, and III (wheat/soybean, common vetch/corn and white oat/soybean] were evaluated. A randomized

The overwhelming role of soil N2O emissions in net greenhouse gas balance of the U.S. Corn Belt: Modeling estimate of nitrogen fertilizer impacts

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, C.; Yu, Z.; Cao, P.; Tian, H.

2017-12-01

The Corn Belt of the Midwestern U.S. is one of the most productive systems in the world during the growing season, with gross primary production exceeding even that of the Amazon forests. Fueled by increased commodity prices in the late 2000s, the area in corn and soybean in the U.S. has reached record highs with most of the newly added cropland converted from grasslands, wetland, and Conservation Reserve Program land. Intensive management practices, such as fertilizer use, irrigation, tillage, residue removal etc., have been implemented following cropland expansion to maximize crop yield from converted marginal land or from more monoculture production. The Corn Belt has been recognized as one of the major contributors to carbon sinks in the U.S., partially because crop harvest and residue removal reduced soil respiration. In the meanwhile, 75% of the total N2O emission in the U.S. comes from agriculture, among which the Corn Belt is the major source due to nitrogen management, and has large potential of climate mitigation. However, it remains far from certain how intensive cropland expansion and management practices in this region have affected soil carbon accumulation and non-CO2 GHG emissions. In this study, by using a process-based land ecosystem model, Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM), we investigated the impacts of nitrogen fertilizer use on soil carbon accumulation and direct N2O emissions across the U.S. Corn Belt. Surprisingly, we found N fertilizer-induced SOC storage continued shrinking after the 1980s while N2O emissions remains relatively constant. The N fertilizer use led to a net greenhouse gas release since 2000 in both the western and eastern Corn Belt, contributing to climate warming. This study implies an increasing importance of nitrogen management for both agricultural production and climate mitigation.

Effects of No-tillage Combined with Reused Plastic Film Mulching on Maize Yield and Irrigation Water Productivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SU Yong-zhong

2016-09-01

Full Text Available A field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of reused plastic film mulching and no-tillage on maize yield and irriga-tion water productivity(IWP in the marginal oasis in the middle of Hexi Corridor region of northwestern China. The aim is to provide an alternative tillage and cultivation pattern for reducing plastic film pollution, saving cost and increasing income, and improving resource use efficiency. The field experiment was carried out in three soils with different textures and fertility levels. Three treatments for each soil were set up:(1 conventional tillage,winter irrigation, and new plastic mulching cultivation(NM;(2 no tillage, less winter irrigation and reused plastic mulching cultivation (RM;(3 no tillage, less winter irrigation and reused plastic mulching combined with straw mulching (RMS. The results showed that the average daily soil temperature in the two reused plastic mulching treatment(RM and RMS during maize sowing and elongation stage was lower 0.6~1.0℃(5 cm depth and 0.5~0.8℃(15 cm depth than that in the NM. This result suggested that no tillage and reused plastic mulching cultivation still had the effect of increasing soil temperature. Maize grain yield in the RM was reduced by 4.4%~10.6% compared with the conventional cultivation(NM, while the net income increased due to saving in plastic film and tillage ex-penses. There was no significant difference in maize grain yield between the RMS and NM treatment, but the net income in the RMS was in-creased by 12.5%~17.1% than that in the NM. Compared with the NM, the two reused plastic film mulching treatments (RM and RMS decreased the volume of winter irrigation, but maize IWP increased. Soil texture and fertility level affected significantly maize nitrogen uptake and IWP. In the arid oases with the shortage of water resources, cultivation practices of conservation tillage with recycle of plastic film is an ideal option for saving cost and increasing income

Cotton leaf curl Burewala virus with intact or mutant transcriptional activator proteins: complexity of cotton leaf curl disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Jitendra; Gunapati, Samatha; Alok, Anshu; Lalit, Adarsh; Gadre, Rekha; Sharma, Naresh C; Roy, Joy K; Singh, Sudhir P

2015-05-01

Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is a serious disease of cotton on the Indian subcontinent. In the present study, three cotton leaf curl viruses, cotton leaf curl Burewala virus (CLCuBuV), cotton leaf curl Kokhran virus (CLCuKoV) and cotton leaf curl Multan virus (CLCuMV), and their associated satellites, cotton leaf curl Multan betasatellite (CLCuMB) and cotton leaf curl Multan alphasatellite (CLCuMA), were detected. CLCuBuV with either intact (CLCuBuV-1) or mutant (CLCuBuV-2) transcriptional activator protein (TrAP) were detected in different plants. Agroinoculation with CLCuBuV-1 or CLCuBuV-2 together with CLCuMB and CLCuMA, resulted in typical leaf curling and stunting of tobacco plants. Inoculation with CLCuKoV or an isolate of CLCuMV (CLCuMV-2), together with CLCuMB and CLCuMA, induced severe leaf curling, while the other isolate of CLCuMV (CLCuMV-1), which was recombinant in origin, showed mild leaf curling in tobacco. To investigate the effect of intact or mutant TrAP and also the recombination events, CLCuBuV-1, CLCuBuV-2, CLCuMV-1 or CLCuMV-2 together with the satellites (CLCuMA and CLCuMB) were transferred to cotton via whitefly-mediated transmission. Cotton plants containing CLCuBuV-1, CLCuBuV-2 or CLCuMV-2 together with satellites showed curling and stunting, whereas the plants having CLCuMV-1 and the satellites showed only mild and indistinguishable symptoms. CLCuBuV-1 (intact TrAP) showed severe symptoms in comparison to CLCuBuV-2 (mutant TrAP). The present study reveals that two types of CLCuBuV, one with an intact TrAP and the other with a mutant TrAP, exist in natural infection of cotton in India. Additionally, CLCuMuV-1, which has a recombinant origin, induces mild symptoms in comparison to the other CLCuMV isolates.

The spatial variability in studies of soil physical condition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madero M, Edgar; Herrera G Oscar A; Castano C, Alirio

2000-01-01

The testing procedure was carried out in 1996-2 at the experimental station of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Palmira using vertical tillage (by chiseling) in coherent vertisol (typic Haplustert isohiperthermic fine loamy 1%). eight physical properties in depth of 15-25 cm were studied. the sampling methodology for soil physical properties and corn yield accounted the regionalized variable, and the analysis of results was carried out accounting a map of each variable. the results proved that geostatystics is versatile and give accuracy results. it showed in most of the area that vertical tillage was more favorable than conventional tillage to improve coherence (more soil penetrability without degradation) in seedbed zone. it was not found influence over corn yield. soil organic matter; clay and silt had influence over the soil response to mechanical strengths

Effects of tillage during the nonwaterlogged period on nitrous oxide and nitric oxide emissions in typical Chinese rice-wheat rotation ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Zhisheng; Zhou, Zaixing; Zheng, Xunhua; Xie, Baohua; Liu, Chunyan; Butterbach-Bahl, Klaus; Zhu, Jianguo

2010-03-01

Tillage practices result in major changes to soil environmental conditions and to the distribution of crop residues and nutrients in the soil profile, which may consequently affect the biogenic production and emission of N trace gases. To investigate the effects of tillage during the nonwaterlogged period on nitric oxide (NO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in rice-wheat rotation systems, we performed field experiments at three sites (Suzhou, Wuxi, and Jiangdu) in the Yangtze River Delta using static chamber techniques. The results showed that the effect of tillage on the emissions of both gases differed among the three field sites due to differences in agricultural management and soil texture. At the site with a light soil texture (Jiangdu: sandy loam), no tillage resulted in reduced NO emissions (0.5 kg N ha-1) as compared to conventionally tilled fields (0.9 kg N ha-1; p tillage plots showed significantly higher emissions (p tillage resulted in lower NO and higher N2O emissions from either N fertilized or unfertilized fields even though these results were not statistically significant. In the silty clay loam soils (Suzhou), which showed the highest soil organic carbon contents and the highest rates of N trace gas emissions in all three of the investigated sites, reduced tillage resulted in much higher NO emissions, whereas N2O emissions were not obviously influenced by tillage practices (reduced tillage versus tillage: NO, 9.5 versus 5.4 kg N ha-1; N2O, 10.6 versus 9.0 kg N ha-1). Similar effects of tillage were observed for the direct emission factors of the applied N during the wheat season. The observed emission factors for the different sites ranged from 0.3% to 2.4% for N2O (mean: 1.0%) and from 0.1% to 4.0% (mean: 0.9%) for NO, respectively. The observed site-to-site differences in emission factors are most likely the results of variations in soil properties (such as texture and pH) and agricultural practices (such as tillage and crop residue management