• Authors:
    • Wang, X. B.
    • Cai, D. X.
  • Source: Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering
  • Volume: 21
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Field experiments on surface soil mulch with emulsified bituminous materials and fertilizer management based on conservation tillage practices for spring maize were conducted in dry farmland of Shouyang in Shanxi Province (China), to determine the impacts of tillage, surface mulch with emulsified bituminous materials and fertilizer rate on soil temperature, soil water, and crop seedling emergence and yields, and to evaluate the integrated management of conservation tillage, emulsified bituminous mulch and fertilizer application in dry farming for promoting agricultural production. Compared with the conventional tillage methods, using emulsified bituminous mulch under no-tillage soils caused the increases of 0.5-2degreesC for surface temperature during the seedling stage, above 18% for the number of maize seedling emergence, approximately 5% for maize yields, 21 mm for the 0-200 cm soil moisture contents, and 12 mm for water use during the growing season. The study provides information for improving tillage-mulching-fertilizer application management of dry farming.
  • Authors:
    • Xue, Y. F.
    • Yang, Z. J.
    • He, F.
    • Wang, Z. H.
    • Wu, J. C.
  • Source: Acta Agriculturae Boreali-Sinica
  • Volume: 20
  • Issue: 6
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: The results of studies in dryland in the west of Henan Province showed that different technological measures played an important role in growth and development, yield, soil moisture and precipitation utilization of maize. The yield of maize in all 13 treatments in the experiment was improved by 1.92-20.51%. The best ones were the treatments of straw mulching combined with nutrient water-retaining agent, which increased the yield by 15.38-20.51%. The second ones were the treatments of nutrient water-retaining agent, which increased the yield by 11.53-14.10%. The efficiency of precipitation utilization in 13 treatments improved yield by 0.45-3.60 kg/mm/ha, respectively. The best ones were also the treatments of straw mulching combined with nutrient water-retaining agent, which increased the yield by 2.70-3.60 kg/mm/ha. The results of all treatments showed that the comprehensive technology is an effective way to improve precipitation utilization. The effect of nutrient water-retaining agent treatments was the best ones among all the treatments of water-saving agents.
  • Authors:
    • Li, Y. S.
    • Shao, M. A.
    • Zhong, L. P.
  • Source: Agricultural Sciences in China
  • Volume: 4
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Based on the experimental data of crop yield, soil water and fertility of a dryland farming ecosystem in northwest China, a systematic analysis is carried out using spring maize and winter wheat to study the dynamics of dryland farming ecosystem productivity and its limiting factors. This paper also discusses which of the two limiting factors, i.e., soil water or fertility, is the primary factor and their dynamics. The result shows that fertility is the primary limiting factor when the productivity is rather low. As chemical fertilizer input increases and the productivity promotes, water gradually becomes the primary limiting factor. Chemical fertilizers and plastic film mulching are the two major driving forces that determine the crop productivity and its stability in these areas.
  • Authors:
    • Cakmak, I.
  • Source: Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: These proceedings contain 8 papers on: the impact of genomics and genetics on wheat quality improvement; the role of conventional plant breeding and biotechnology in future wheat production; biotechnology applications for wheat improvement at CIMMYT; genetics and breeding for durable resistance to leaf stripe rusts ( Pyrenophora graminea) in wheat; controlling foliar blight ( Cochliobolus sativus) of wheat in South Asia: a holistic approach; international cooperation for winter wheat improvement in Central Asia: results and perspectives; the role of wheat in diversified cropping systems in dryland agriculture of Central Asia; and breeding of winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum) for different adaptation types in multifunctional agricultural production.
  • Authors:
    • Sullivan, D. G.
    • Balkcom, K. S.
    • Lamb, M. C.
    • Rowland, D. L.
    • Faircloth, W. H.
    • Nuti, R. C.
  • Source: Proceedings of the 27th Southern Conservation Tillage Systems Conference, Florence, South Carolina, USA, 27-29 June, 2005
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: The interaction between reduced irrigation capacity and tillage, including the possible conservation of water with reduced tillage systems, is of vital interest to growers. A field study was initiated in the fall of 2001 to determine crop response under a simulated reduction in irrigation. Three tillage systems were replicated three times each under one of four irrigation levels (100% of a recommended amount, 66%, 33%, and 0% or dryland). Tillage systems were conventional tillage, wide-strip tillage and narrow-strip tillage. The test area was planted in triplicate, in a peanut-cotton-corn rotation, with each crop being present each year. A wheat (cv. AGS 1000) cover crop was drill-seeded each fall on conservation tillage plots. Cover crop termination was performed approximately three weeks prior to planting of each crop species. Tillage was significant for peanut yield and net return at the 0% irrigation level only. No trend in yield was evident, however, net return was consistently high with narrow-strip tillage in all years. Irrigation, at any level greater than 0%, masked tillage effects in both yield and net return. These data confirm the suitability of peanut to conservation tillage practices, including both wide- and narrow-strip tillage.
  • Authors:
    • Barbu, S. A.
    • Gaina, V.
  • Source: Probleme de agrofitotehnie teoretica si aplicata
  • Volume: 27
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: Aside from the chemical fertilizers applied into soil, foliar fertilizer application with complex solutions containing essential macro- and microelements which contribute to the plant nutrition balance has an important role in increasing crop yield. The paper presents the results obtained in maize and sunflower studies conducted at the ARDI Fundulea (Romania) under dryland conditions during 2001-03, years with special climatic conditions. Some new products, which contribute by supplementing the nutrient needs during vegetation and lead to increases in maize and sunflower yields as well as soil chemical pollution diminution, are tested. The analysis of results, depending on the special climatic conditions of the experimental years, has allowed the elaboration of some important conclusions for agricultural practice. Under the circumstances where no chemical fertilizer has been applied, the foliar fertilizer treatment could represent an important nutrient source for different crops. Both in maize and sunflower, the foliar fertilizers constitute a possibility to increase their yields even in basic fertilizer application.
  • Authors:
    • Pookpakdi, A.
    • Juntakool, S.
    • Suwanketnikom, R.
    • Chinawong, S.
    • Woldetsadik, G.
  • Source: Kasetsart Journal: Natural Science
  • Volume: 39
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2005
  • Summary: A field experiment was conducted during the rainy season of 2003 to study the effects of nitrogen rates (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg/ha) and moisture conservation practices (flat bed, ridge furrow, flat bed + mulching and ridge furrow + mulching) on the soil, soil water, yield and yield components of maize ( Zea mays) grown in a rift valley in central Ethiopia. Grain yield was affected by nitrogen fertilizer levels but 1000-grain weight, total biomass, straw yield, soil temperature, soil moisture content, and infiltration rate were not affected by the nitrogen rates. Significant effects in harvest index and water use efficiency of nitrogen rates were observed only at Dera and Melkassa, respectively. Moisture conservation practices improved grain and straw yields, harvest index, and total biomass compared to the use of flat beds due to the availability of moisture. Bulk density, infiltration rate, water use efficiency, and soil moisture content were also affected by moisture conservation practices. Mulching reduced soil temperature prior to maize maturity.
  • Authors:
    • Trein, C.
    • Herzog, R.
    • Levien, R.
  • Source: Engenharia Agricola
  • Volume: 24
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: To evaluate soyabean productivity on natural pasture fields, grown once with oats to produce grain and straw for soil cover, an experiment was conducted on a Typic Paleudult Soil in Eldorado do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. After mechanically harvesting oats, the straw was returned to plots in amounts of 0, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 mg/ha and were divided according to the furrow opening depth (0.06 and 0.12 m). The area was divided in 2, with and without irrigation. The volume of soil mobilized by the fertilizer furrow openers was 53% higher when the working depth reached 0.12 m compared to 0.06 m, but no difference due to the amount of cover crop residues was attained. Grain yield, crop biomass and root mass up to 0.15 cm depth did not differ with both soil working depth and crop residue cover. Irrigation increased grain yield and total biomass of soyabeans. Even without irrigation, soyabean productivity was higher than the Rio Grande do Sul State average, showing its suitability to be grown on native pastures under the no-till system.
  • Authors:
    • Peterson, G. A.
    • Westfall, D. G.
  • Source: Annals of Applied Biology
  • Volume: 144
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: In the Great Plains of North America potential evaporation exceeds precipitation during most months of the year. About 75% of the annual precipitation is received from April through September, and is accompanied by high temperatures and low relative humidity. Dryland agriculture in the Great Plains has depended on wheat production in a wheat-fallow agroecosystern (one crop year followed by a fallow year). Historically this system has used mechanical weed control practices during the fallow period, which leaves essentially no crop residue cover for protection against soil erosion and greatly accelerates soil organic carbon oxidation. This paper reviews the progress made in precipitation management in the North American Great Plains and synthesises data from an existing long-term experiment to demonstrate the management principles involved. The long-term experiment was established in 1985 to identify dryland crop and soil management systems that would maximize precipitation use efficiency (maximization of biomass production per unit of precipitation received), improve soil productivity, and increase economic return to the farmers in the West Central portion of the Great Plains. Embedded within the primary objective are subobjectives that focus on reducing the amount of summer fallow time and reversing the soil degradation that has occurred in the wheat-fallow cropping system. The experiment consists of four variables: 1) Climate regime; 2) Soils; 3) Management systems; and 4) Time. The climate variable is based on three levels of potential evapotranspiration (ET), which are represented by three sites in eastern Colorado. All sites have annual long-term precipitation averages of approximately 400-450 mm, but vary in growing season open pan evaporation from 1600 mm in the north to 1975 mm in the south. The soil variable is represented by a catenary sequence of soils at each site. Management systems, the third variable, differ in the amount of summer fallow time and emphasize increased crop diversity. All systems are managed with no-till techniques. The fourth variable is time, and the results presented in this paper are for the first 12 yr (3 cycles of the 4-yr system). Comparing yields of cropping systems that differ in cycle length and systems that contain fallow periods, when no crop is produced, is done with a technique called "annualisation". Yields are "annualised" by summing yields for all crops in the system and dividing by the total number of years in the system cycle. For example in a wheat-fallow system the wheat yield is divided by two because it takes 2 yr to produce one crop. Cropping system intensification increased annualised grain and crop residue yields by 75 to 100% compared to wheat-fallow. Net return to farmers increased by 25% to 45% compared to wheat-fallow. Intensified cropping systems increased soil organic C content by 875 and 1400 kg ha(-1), respectively, after 12 yr compared to the wheat-fallow system. All cropping system effects were independent of climate and soil gradients, meaning that the potential for C sequestration exists in all combinations of climates and soils. Soil C gains were directly correlated to the amount of crop residue C returned to the soil. Improved macroaggregation was also associated with increases in the C content of the aggregates. Soil bulk density was reduced by 0.01g cm(-1) for each 1000 kg ha(-1) of residue addition over the 12-yr period, and each 1000 kg ha(-1) of residue addition increased effective porosity by 0.3%. No-till practices have made it possible to increase cropping intensification beyond the traditional wheat-fallow system and in turn water-use efficiency has increased by 30% in West Central Great Plains agroecosystems. Cropping intensification has also provided positive feedbacks to soil productivity via the increased amounts of crop residue being returned to the soil.
  • Authors:
    • Halvorson, A. D.
    • DeVuyst, E. A.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2004
  • Summary: Annualized yields with more intensive cropping (IQ systems tend to be greater than those of spring wheat-fallow (SW-F); however, little economic comparison information is available. The long-term (12 yr) effects of tillage system and N fertilization on the economic returns from two dryland cropping systems in North Dakota were evaluated. An IC rotation [spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)winter wheat (T. aestivum L.)-sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)] and a SW-F rotation were studied. Tillage systems included conventional till (CT), minimum till (MT), and no-till (NT). Nitrogen rates were 34, 67, and 101 kg N ha(-1) for the IC system and 0, 22, and 45 kg N ha(-1) for the SW-F system. Annual precipitation ranged from 206 to 655 mm, averaging 422 mm over 12 yr. The IC system generated higher profits than the SW-F system, but the IC profits were more variable. Within the IC system, MT generated higher profits than corresponding N treatments under CT and NT, but MT profits were more variable. Of the N rates evaluated, the largest N rates generated the largest profits. The dryland IC system with MT and NT was more profitable than the best SW-F system using CT for this location. Stochastic dominance analyses revealed that the SW-F system and IC system CT treatments were economically inefficient when compared with the IC system with MT and NT.