• Authors:
    • Souza, R. A.
    • Crispino, C. C.
    • Franchini, J. C.
    • Torres, E.
    • Hungria, M.
  • Source: Soil & Tillage Research
  • Volume: 92
  • Issue: 1/2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: The objective of this work was to identify soil parameters potentially useful to monitor soil quality under different soil management and crop rotation systems. Microbiological and chemical parameters were evaluated in a field experiment in the State of Parana, southern Brazil, in response to soil management [no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT)] and crop rotation [including grain (soybean, S; maize, M; wheat, W) and legume (lupin, L.) and non-legume (oat, O) covers] systems. Three crop rotation systems were evaluated: (1) (O/M/O/S/W/S/L/M/O/S), (2) (O/S/L/M/O/S/W/S/L/M), and (3) (O/S/W/S/L/M/O/M/W/M), and soil parameters were monitored after the fifth year. Before ploughing, CO 2-emission rates were similar in NT and CT soils, but plough increased it by an average of 57%. Carbon dioxide emission was 13% higher with lupin residues than with wheat straw; decomposition rates were rapid with both soil management systems. Amounts of microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen (MB-C and MB-N, respectively) were 80 and 104% higher in NT than in CT, respectively; however, in general these parameters were not affected by crop rotation. Efficiency of the microbial community was significantly higher in NT: metabolic quotient ( qCO 2) was 55% lower than in CT. Soluble C and N levels were 37 and 24% greater in NT than in CT, respectively, with no effects of crop rotation. Furthermore, ratios of soluble C and N contents to MB-C and MB-N were consistently lower in NT, indicating higher immobilization of C and N per unit of MB. The decrease in qCO 2 and the increase in MB-C under NT allowed enhancements in soil C stocks, such that in the 0-40 cm profile, a gain of 2500 kg of C ha -1 was observed in relation to CT. Carbon stocks also varied with crop rotation, with net changes at 0-40 cm of 726, 1167 and -394 kg C ha -1 year, in rotations 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Similar results were obtained for the N stocks, with 410 kg N ha -1 gained in NT, while crop rotations 1, 2 and 3 accumulated 71, 137 and 37 kg of N ha -1 year -1, respectively. On average, microbial biomass corresponded to 2.4 and 1.7% of the total soil C, and 5.2 and 3.2% of the N in NT and CT systems, respectively. Soil management was the main factor affecting soil C and N levels, but enhancement also resulted from the ratios of legumes and non-legumes in the rotations. The results emphasize the importance of microorganisms as reservoirs of C and N in tropical soils. Furthermore, the parameters associated with microbiological activity were more responsive to soil management and crop rotation effects than were total stocks of C and N, demonstrating their usefulness as indicators of soil quality in the tropics.
  • Authors:
    • Pereira, J.
    • Prior, M.
    • Uribe-Opazo, M.
    • Nobrega, L.
    • Lopes, R.
  • Source: Acta Scientiarum Agronomy
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue: Suplemento Espec
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: This study evaluated alterations in the physical properties water content, soil density and porosity in areas under no tillage and tillage systems in the cultures of soybean and maize in three agricultural years. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Nucleus of Agricultural Engineering of Unioeste (Cascavel, state of Parana). Soybean culture occurred in the first two years and in the third year maize, as summer crop, black oats and forage turnip as winter cover crops. During these three years the study observed reduction of water content and soil density and increase of porosity. The variations as regards the physical properties of the soil showed direct proportional relation between water content and soil density and was in inverse proportion for soil porosity. The soil presented improvements on its physical conditions for the porosity increase and density reduction with the black oats and forage turnip crops and maize. The soybean/maize management in rotation with black oats and forage turnip showed more adequate in the improvement of the physical conditions of the soil as compared with the management systems, since neither of the systems had a major impact in the improvements of the physical properties evaluated throughout this whole period.
  • Authors:
    • Lucca e Braccini, A.
    • Pinheiro Neto, R.
    • Lopes, R.
    • Souza, E.
  • Source: Acta Scientiarum Agronomy
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: This study evaluated the performance of the soybean under the influence of vegetal covering and soil management in Red Latosol dystrofic. Oats, turnip, hairy vetch, pea, millet and lupine were used. The study evaluated height and density of plants, height of insertion in string beans, number of string beans, productivity, a thousand grain mass, water contend, bulk density and soil resistance to penetration. The no-tillage system had greater height of insertion of string beans, amount of string beans, height of plants, water contend and soil bulk density. Greater values of soil resistance to penetration were verified in the tillage, though higher productivity was observed. The coverings and the soil tillage systems influenced the productivity of soybean plants. The vegetal coverings promoted improvement of the ground with reduction of the compactation in some layers of the soil. The oats/millet association is a viable option of soil covering predecessor of soybean. The no-tillage practice showed to be the adequate management technique for the type of soil studied.
  • Authors:
    • Rodrigues, E.
    • Marchetti, M.
    • Goncalves, M.
    • Souza, L.
    • Ontocelli, R.
    • Lourente, E.
  • Source: Acta Scientiarum Agronomy
  • Volume: 29
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Some plants for mulching have the capacity to increase the availability of nutrients in the soil - nitrogen in particular - for crop succession, thus producing positive effects on the interaction between mineral fertilizer and green manure. As a result, there is a greater possibility to obtain higher incomes than by using each one separately. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of antecedent crops, levels and sources of nitrogen on yield compounds and foliar nitrogen content of maize by means of no-tillage system. These were constituted by crops preceding maize, i.e., black oat, wheat, pasture turnip, hairy vetch and one fallow treatment during winter. Subplots were established by four levels of nitrogen (0; 50; 100 and 200 kg ha -1 of N), which were applied as cover. Sub-subplots were represented by two sources of nitrogen (ammonium sulfate and urea). Results showed that antecedent crops had some influence upon yield, mass of 1000 grains and foliar nitrogen content of maize. The highest yield of maize was obtained after the winter rest, the pasture turnip and also in the absence of nitrogen fertilizer application as cover. Maximum yield of maize was also obtained when sowing was done after wheat and black oat, in nitrogen levels of 140 and 137 kg ha -1, respectively. The nitrogen sources utilized had some influence only upon the index of harvest, the number of grains per ear and the foliar nitrogen content.
  • Authors:
    • Silva, P.
    • Ernani, P.
    • Sangoi, L.
  • Source: REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIA DO SOLO
  • Volume: 31
  • Issue: 3
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: No-tillage systems, associated with black oat as preceding cover crop, have been increasingly adopted. This has motivated anticipated maize nitrogen fertilizer application, transferring it from the side-dress system at the stage when plants have 5-6 expanded leaves to when the preceding cover crop is eliminated or to maize sowing. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of soil tillage system and timing of N fertilizer application on maize grain yield and agronomic efficiency of N applied to a soil with high organic matter content. A three-year field experiment was conducted in Lages, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, from 1999 onwards. Two soil tillage systems were tested in the main plots: conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT). Six N management systems were assessed in the split-plots: S1, control (without N application); S2, all N (100 kg ha -1) applied at oat desiccation; S3, all N applied at maize sowing; S4, all N side-dressed when maize had five expanded leaves (V5 growth stage); S5, 1/3 of N rate applied at maize sowing and 2/3 at V5; and S6, 2/3 of nitrogen rate applied at maize sowing and 1/3 at V5. Maize response to the time and form of splitting N was not affected by the soil tillage system. Grain yield ranged from 6.0 to 11.8 t ha -1. The anticipation of N application (S2 and S3) decreased grain yield in two of three years. In the rainiest early spring season (2000/2001) of the experiment, S4 promoted an yield advantage of 2.2 t ha -1 over S2 and S3. Application of total N rate before or at sowing decreased the number of kernels produced per ear in 2000/01 and 2001/02 and the number of ears produced per area in 2001/02, resulting in reduced grain yield. The agronomic efficiency of applied N (kg grain increase/kg of N applied) ranged from 13.9 to 38.8 and was always higher in the S4 than in the S2 and S3 N systems. Short-term N immobilization did not reduce grain yield when no N was applied before or at maize sowing in a soil with high organic matter content, regardless of the soil tillage system.
  • Authors:
    • Mielniczuk, J.
    • Dieckow, J.
    • Zanatta, J.
    • Bayer, C.
    • Vieira, F.
    • He, Z.
  • Source: Soil & Tillage Research
  • Volume: 96
  • Issue: 1/2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: The carbon management index (CMI) is derived from the total soil organic C pool and C lability and is useful to evaluate the capacity of management systems to promote soil quality. However, the CMI has not been commonly used for this purpose, possible due to some limitations of the 333 mM KMnO 4-chemical oxidation method conventionally employed to determine the labile C fraction. We hypothesized, however, that physical fractionation of organic matter is an alternative approach to determine the labile C. The objectives of this study were (i) to assess the physical fractionation with density (NaI 1.8 Mg m -3) and particle-size separation (53 m mesh) as alternative methods to the KMnO 4-chemical oxidation (60 and 333 mM) in determining the labile C and thus the CMI, and (ii) to evaluate the capacity of long-term (19 years) no-till cropping systems (oat/maize: O/M, oat + vetch/maize: O + V/M, oat + vetch/maize + cowpea: O + V/M + C, and pigeon pea + maize: P + M) and N fertilization (0 and 180 kg N ha -1) to promote the soil quality of a Southern Brazilian Acrisol, using the CMI as the main assessment parameter. Soil samples were collected from 0 to 12.5 cm layer, and the soil of an adjacent native grassland was taken as reference. The mean annual C input of the cropping systems varied from 3.4 to 6.0 Mg ha -1 and the highest amounts occurred in legume-based cropping systems and N fertilized treatments. The C pool index was positively related to the annual C input ( r2=0.93, P
  • Authors:
    • May, W. E.
    • Brandt, S. A.
    • Lafond, G. P.
    • Holzapfel, C. B.
    • Johnston, A. M.
  • Source: Canadian Journal of Plant Science
  • Volume: 87
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Delaying nitrogen (N) applications into the growing season as a risk management tool is a concept that has received considerable attention in recent years. A 3-yr field study with spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) and canola ( Brassica napus L.) was conducted at two Saskatchewan locations, Indian Head and Scott. The effects of postponing N applications for up to 30 d after seeding and several application methods were evaluated against mid-row banded urea at seeding. Liquid urea ammonium-nitrate (UAN) was applied at four separate times relative to seeding, either as an in-soil coulter band or a surface band. The surface band applications were applied either with or without the addition of 5% ammonium thiosulphate (ATS), a potential urease inhibitor. The dependent variables considered included plant density and grain yield for both crops, and grain protein in wheat. The only effect on plant density occurred in canola, where the post-seeding coulter applications slightly reduced stands compared with the other treatments. Postponing N fertilization for up to 30 d after seeding compared with N fertilization at seeding did not affect the yield of canola or protein in spring wheat, but reduced the yield of spring wheat at Indian Head in 2003, which was a very dry growing season. The coulter applications only showed a slight advantage over the surface band applications. For the surface band applications, the addition of 5% ATS did not provide a noticeable advantage over UAN alone. Canola appeared to be less sensitive to post-seeding applications than spring wheat. Deferring the entire amount of fertilizer N into the growing season appears to be a viable option but it is not without risk, especially when dry conditions are encountered.
  • Authors:
    • Lares, M. T.
    • Liebig, M. A.
    • Tanaka, D. L.
    • Merrill, S. D.
    • Krupinsky, J. M.
    • Hanson, J. D.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 99
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Field research was conducted to determine the influence of crop and crop sequencing on crop residue coverage of soil with 10 crops [buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), canola (Brassica napus L.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), dry pea (Pisum sativum L.), grain sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), oil seed sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), and hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)]. Crop residue production was obtained. Crop residue coverage of the soil surface was measured with a transect technique at the time of seeding spring wheat. Crop residue coverage varied and was more clearly associated with the second-year crop than with the first-year crop of a 2-yr crop sequence. Crop sequences composed of spring wheat, proso millet, and grain sorghum had higher crop residue coverage compared with sequences composed of the other crops. When these three crops and three crops that provide lower crop residue coverage of soil the subsequent year (lentil, chickpea, and sunflower) were analyzed as a subset to compare various sequences of crops providing a range of residue coverage, for example, lower (first yr)/lower (second yr), the surface residue coverage ranged from 65% for the lower/lower combination to 93% for the higher/higher combination in 2004 and from 56 to 94% in 2005, respectively. A producer operating on more fragile soil and concerned about reducing soil erosion hazards would be advised to grow crops that provide higher residue coverage in the year before crops that provide lower residue coverage.
  • Authors:
    • Lares, M. T.
    • Liebig, M. A.
    • Merrill, S. D.
    • Tanaka, D. L.
    • Krupinsky, J. M.
    • Hanson, J. D.
  • Source: Agronomy Journal
  • Volume: 99
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: Crop sequence is an important management practice that may lower the risk for leaf spot diseases of spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.). Field research was conducted near Mandan, ND, to determine the impact of crop sequences on leaf spot diseases of hard red spring wheat early in the growing season. Spring wheat was evaluated for disease severity following crop sequence combinations of 10 crops [buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum Moench)], canola ( Brassica napus L.), chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L.), corn ( Zea mays L.), dry pea ( Pisum sativum L.), grain sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench], lentil ( Lens culinaris Medik.), oil seed sunflower ( Helianthus annuus L.), proso millet ( Panicum miliaceum L.), and hard red spring wheat. Spring wheat leaves with distinct lesions were collected for determination of lesion number and percentage necrosis data, which were used to estimate leaf spot disease severity. Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Died.) Drechs., the cause of tan spot, and Phaeosphaeria nodorum (E. Muller) Hedjaroude, the cause of Stagonospora nodorum blotch, were the major leaf spot diseases and consistently present throughout the growing season. The frequency of isolation following alternative crops was generally lower compared with spring wheat following wheat. Leaf spot diseases on spring wheat were impacted by crop sequencing. Spring wheat following crop sequences with alternative crops for 1 or 2 yr had lower levels of disease severity compared with a continuous spring wheat treatment early in the growing season. Disease severity was apparently not related to the percentage of crop residue coverage on the soil surface associated with various crop sequence combinations. New alternative crops preceding spring wheat reduce levels of leaf spot diseases.
  • Authors:
    • Warland, J.
    • von Bertoldi, P.
    • Parkin, G.
    • Jayasundara, S.
    • Barbeau, J.
    • Lee, I.
    • McLaughlin, N. L.
    • Furon, A.
    • Wagner-Riddle, C.
  • Source: Global Change Biology
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue: 8
  • Year: 2007
  • Summary: No-tillage (NT), a practice that has been shown to increase carbon sequestration in soils, has resulted in contradictory effects on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Moreover, it is not clear how mitigation practices for N2O emission reduction, such as applying nitrogen (N) fertilizer according to soil N reserves and matching the time of application to crop uptake, interact with NT practices. N2O fluxes from two management systems [conventional (CP), and best management practices: NT + reduced fertilizer (BMP)] applied to a corn (Zea mays L.), soybean (Glycine max L.), winter-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rotation in Ontario, Canada, were measured from January 2000 to April 2005, using a micrometeorological method. The superimposition of interannual variability of weather and management resulted in mean monthly N2O fluxes ranging from - 1.9 to 61.3 g N ha(-1) day(-1). Mean annual N2O emissions over the 5-year period decreased significantly by 0.79 from 2.19 kg N ha(-1) for CP to 1.41 kg N ha(-1) for BMP. Growing season (May-October) N2O emissions were reduced on average by 0.16 kg N ha(-1) (20% of total reduction), and this decrease only occurred in the corn year of the rotation. Nongrowing season (November-April) emissions, comprised between 30% and 90% of the annual emissions, mostly due to increased N2O fluxes during soil thawing. These emissions were well correlated (r(2) = 0.90) to the accumulated degree-hours below 0 degrees C at 5 cm depth, a measure of duration and intensity of soil freezing. Soil management in BMP (NT) significantly reduced N2O emissions during thaw (80% of total reduction) by reducing soil freezing due to the insulating effects of the larger snow cover plus corn and wheat residue during winter. In conclusion, significant reductions in net greenhouse gas emissions can be obtained when NT is combined with a strategy that matches N application rate and timing to crop needs.