Making Better Fertiliser Decisions for Cropping Systems in Australia (BFDC): knowledge gaps and lessons learnt

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 539 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Conyers ◽  
M. J. Bell ◽  
N. S. Wilhelm ◽  
R. Bell ◽  
R. M. Norton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Critical Concentration ◽  
Relative Yield ◽  
Critical Values ◽  
National Database ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Critical Range ◽  
Wide Range

Soil testing remains a most valuable tool for assessing the fertiliser requirement of crops. The relationship between soil tests (generally taken from surface soil) and relative yield (RY) response to fertiliser is subject to the influence of environment (e.g. water, temperature) and management (e.g. cultivation, sowing date). As such, the degree of precision is often low when the soil test calibration is based on a wide range of independent experiments on many soil types over many years by many different operators. Hence, the 90% RY target used in soil test interpretation is best described by a critical range (critical concentration and confidence interval) for a given soil test rather than a single critical value. The present Better Fertiliser Decisions for Crops (BFDC) National Database, and the BFDC Interrogator that interacts with the database, provide a great advance over traditional formats and experiment-specific critical values because it allows the use of filters to refine the critical range for specific agronomic conditions. However, as searches become more specific (region, soil type) the quantity of data available to estimate a critical range becomes more vulnerable to data paucity, to outliers, and to clusters of localised experiments. Hence, appropriate training of the users of this database will ensure that the strengths and limitations of the BFDC National Database and BFDC Interrogator are properly understood. Additionally, the lack of standardised metadata for sites within the database makes it generally impossible to isolate the effects on critical values of the specific management or environmental factors listed earlier, which are therefore best determined by specific studies. Finally, the database is dominated (60%) by responses of wheat to nitrogen and phosphorus, meaning that relatively few studies are available for responses by pulses (other than narrow leaf lupins) or oilseeds (other than canola), especially for potassium and sulfur. Moreover, limited data are available for current cropping systems and varieties. However, the identification of these gaps can now be used to focus future research on the crops, nutrients, soils, regions, and management practices where data are lacking. The value of metadata and the need for standardised protocols for nutrition experiments were key lessons.

Recent Trends and Advancement in Nanotechnology for Water and Wastewater Treatment

2016 ◽  
pp. 208-252
Author(s):  
Sushmita Banerjee ◽  
Ravindra Kumar Gautam ◽  
Pavan Kumar Gautam ◽  
Amita Jaiswal ◽  
Mahesh Chandra Chattopadhyaya
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Inorganic Contaminants ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Water And Wastewater ◽  
Significant Attention

Fast growing demand of fresh water due to increasing population and industrialization dictated research interests towards development of techniques that offers highly efficient and affordable methods of wastewater treatment. In recent decades water treatment using nano-technological based expertise have gained significant attention. Varieties of nanoparticles were synthesized and proficiently used in treatment of wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants from waste streams. This chapter encompasses recent development in nano-technological approach towards water and wastewater treatment. The authors tried to compile up to-date development, properties, application, and mechanisms of the nanoparticles used for decontamination purpose. This piece of work offer a well organized comprehensive assessment of the technology that delineates opportunities as well as its limitation in water management practices moreover few recommendations for future research are also proposed.

scholarly journals Mate choice in a polluted world: consequences for individuals, populations and communities

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1781) ◽  
pp. 20180055 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrika Candolin ◽  
Bob B. M. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Animal Communication ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Final Choice ◽  
Individual Fitness ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Sensory Modalities

Pollution (e.g. by chemicals, noise, light, heat) is an insidious consequence of anthropogenic activity that affects environments worldwide. Exposure of wildlife to pollutants has the capacity to adversely affect animal communication and behaviour across a wide range of sensory modalities—by not only impacting the signalling environment, but also the way in which animals produce, perceive and interpret signals and cues. Such disturbances, particularly when it comes to sex, can drastically alter fitness. Here, we consider how pollutants disrupt communication and behaviour during mate choice, and the ecological and evolutionary changes such disturbances can engender. We explain how the different stages of mate choice can be affected by pollution, from encountering mates to the final choice, and how changes to these stages can influence individual fitness, population dynamics and community structure. We end with discussing how an understanding of these disturbances can help inform better conservation and management practices and highlight important considerations and avenues for future research. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Linking behaviour to dynamics of populations and communities: application of novel approaches in behavioural ecology to conservation’.

Soil acidification under some tropical agricultural systems. 1. Rates of acidification and contributing factors

Soil Research ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. W. Moody ◽  
R. L. Aitken
Keyword(s):  
Soil Acidification ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Agricultural System ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Table Grapes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Summer Crop ◽  
Winter Fallow

A paired site (developed v. undeveloped) approach was used to calculate acidification rates in several agricultural systems of tropical and subtropical Queensland. The systems considered were summer crop–winter fallow, grass or grass–legume pastures for hay production, tobacco, sugarcane, table grapes, and bananas. Mean acidification rates varied from -2·4 kmol H+ /ha · year for tobacco to 34·2 kmol H+ /ha · year for bananas. Acidification rates were higher than for comparable systems in temperate Australia. Subsurface acidification occurred under all systems, and was particularly severe under bananas despite the surface application of at least 2·5 t lime or dolomite/ha· year. As bananas can be considered to be a generic perennial horticultural system, subsurface acidification may be a widespread problem in such systems despite surface applications of amendments. There was a wide range in acidification rates within a particular agricultural system, suggesting that management practices can be manipulated to reduce acidification. As the N cycle terms were the major contributors to the acidification under cropping systems, N fertiliser management is likely to be the most critical acidification factor.

scholarly journals Maximizing Yields, Nutrient Uptake and Balance for Mustard-Mungbean-T. Aman Rice Cropping Systems through Nutrient Management Practices in Calcareous Soils

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 210 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Quddus ◽  
M. J. Abedin Mian ◽  
H. M. Naser ◽  
M. A. Hossain ◽  
S. Sultana
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Nutrient Management ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Calcareous Soils ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Positive Balance

The experiment was conducted to measure crop yields, nutrient concentration, nutrient uptake and balance by using different nutrient management practices for mustard-mungbean-T. aman rice cropping system in calcareous soil of Madaripur, Bangladesh. Different nutrient management practices were absolute nutrient control (T1); farmer’s practice (T2); AEZ based nutrient application (T3) and soil test based nutrient application (T4). The practices were compared in a randomized completely block design with three replications over two consecutive years. The average yield through application of soil test based nutrient (T4) was showed effective to get highest yields of mustard (1530 kg ha-1), mungbean (1632 kg ha-1) and T. aman rice (4729 kg ha-1). The same practices (T4) exhibited the greatest nutrients uptake by the test crops. The apparent balance of N and K was negative; however it was less negative and less deficiency detect in T4 treatment. Positive balance of P observed in all practices except in T1. There was a positive S balance (7.60 kg ha-1) in T4 but negative in T1, T2 and T3. Zinc balance was found positive in T3 and T4 and negative in T1 and T2. Boron balance in the system was neutral or slightly positive in T1 and negative in T2 but positive in T3 and T4. Organic matter, N, P, S, Zn and B status in soil was improved by T4 treatment. The results suggested that the soil test based nutrient application is viable and sustainable for mustard-mungbean-T. aman rice cropping system in calcareous soils of Bangladesh.

scholarly journals Industrial hemp and its potential

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARNAB BHOWMIK
Keyword(s):  
Contaminated Soils ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cannabis Sativa ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Needs ◽  
Hemp Fiber ◽  
Hemp Seed ◽  
Wide Range

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is an emerging high-value specialty crop that can be cultivated foreither fiber, seed, or cannabidiol (CBD). The demand for hemp and its products has been consistently onthe rise in the 21st century. The United States of America has reintroduced hemp and legalizedits production as an agricultural commodity through the 2018 Federal Farm Bill. Although thereis a renewed interest in the adoption of hemp due to the emerging market, its production in theUnited States remains limited partly because of unclear agronomic guidance and fertilizationrecommendations. This review article provides information on the current agronomic managementpractices that are available in the literature and identifies the future research needs for cultivating thismultipurpose crop to address the growing market demands. Hemp production could be beneficialif managed properly. Hemp fertilizer requirements vary in accordance with the type of hempgrown (seed, fiber, or CBD), soil, environmental conditions and requires a wide range of macro- andmicronutrients. Integrating management practices in hemp cultivation intended to build soil health ispromising since the hemp cropping system is suitable for crop rotation, cover cropping, and livestockintegration through animal waste applications. Hemp also has significant environmental benefitssince it has the potential to remediate contaminated soils through phytoremediation, convert highamounts of atmospheric CO2 to biomass through bio-sequestration, and hemp biomass for bioenergyproduction. This review identifies that most of the agronomic research in the past has been limitedto hemp fiber and, to some extent, hemp seed but not CBD hemp. With the increase in the globalmarkets for hemp products, more research needs to be conducted to provide agronomic guidelinesfor sustainable hemp production.

scholarly journals Effect of Mid-Term Cropping System Adoption on Soil Chemical Properties at Changunarayan Municipality, Bhaktapur, Nepal

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-89
Author(s):  
Saroj Koirala ◽  
Santosh Shrestha ◽  
Prashanta Raut ◽  
Bikram Pandey ◽  
Arbindra Timilsina
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Total Nitrogen ◽  
Soil Ph ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
C:N Ratio ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Soil Chemical Properties ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Wide Range

Soil chemical properties plays a crucial role in crop yield. In this study, we evaluated the chemical properties of soils under three different cropping systems practiced for more than five years in Changunarayan municipality of Bhaktapur district of Nepal. The cropping systems includes- (i) cultivation inside polyhouse (Treatment A: polyhouse), (ii) paddy-wheat rotation (Treatment B: P-W), and (iii) paddy-wheat-vegetable rotation (Treatment C: P-W-V). Thirty-nine composite samples (13 replicates from each site) were taken from the area based on variation in landforms. Soil pH, organic matter (%), total nitrogen (%), available phosphorus (mgkg-1), and available potassium (mgkg-1) were evaluated for each sample. The study revealed that the soil pH was acidic and ranges between 4.71 and 5.39, organic matter (1.6-2.39%), total nitrogen (0.091-0.13%), phosphorus (4.48-29.24mg kg-1) and potassium (88.04-109.52 mg kg-1). A significant lower mean pH (4.71), and higher mean organic matter (2.39%), total nitrogen (0.13%) and available phosphorus (29.24 mgkg-1) were observed in cultivation under polyhouse. Incorporation of vegetable in paddy-wheat system gave significant (p<0.05) higher accumulation of soil phosphorus and consistently raised other nutrient status. Moreover, cultivation under polyhouse raised C:N ratio (10.55) significantly than other system. This finding can be relevant to wide range of readers that focus on soil chemical properties and can be used in developing future research strategy and sustainable soil management system in the area.

scholarly journals Assessing Ecosystem Services Supplied by Agroecosystems in Mediterranean Europe: A Literature Review

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario V. Balzan ◽  
Renata Sadula ◽  
Laura Scalvenzi
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Mediterranean Region ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Mediterranean

Agricultural landscapes in the Mediterranean region may be considered as social-ecological systems that are important for biodiversity conservation whilst contributing to a wide range of ecosystem services. This literature review aims to identify the current state and biases of ecosystem service assessment in agroecosystems within the Mediterranean region, evaluate pressures impacting on agroecosystems and their services, and practices that promote ecosystem service synergies in Mediterranean agroecosystems. A total of 41 papers were selected for analysis from a set of 573 potentially relevant papers. Most of the selected papers focused on supporting, regulating and provisioning services, and mostly assessed ecosystem structure or services in the European Mediterranean context. Literature about benefits and values ascribed to by communities and stakeholders remain limited. Results presented here support the notion of multifunctional Mediterranean agroecosystems and multiple synergies were recorded in this review. Publications dealing with pressures that related to agricultural practices and demographic changes were in the majority and impact on different cropping systems. This review highlights the need to carry out integrated ecosystem service assessments that consider the multiple benefits derived from agroecosystems and which may be used to identify management practices that lead to the improvement of ecosystem services capacities and flows.

Recent Trends and Advancement in Nanotechnology for Water and Wastewater Treatment

2017 ◽  
pp. 1745-1779
Author(s):  
Sushmita Banerjee ◽  
Ravindra Kumar Gautam ◽  
Pavan Kumar Gautam ◽  
Amita Jaiswal ◽  
Mahesh Chandra Chattopadhyaya
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Inorganic Contaminants ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Water And Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Water And Wastewater ◽  
Significant Attention

Fast growing demand of fresh water due to increasing population and industrialization dictated research interests towards development of techniques that offers highly efficient and affordable methods of wastewater treatment. In recent decades water treatment using nano-technological based expertise have gained significant attention. Varieties of nanoparticles were synthesized and proficiently used in treatment of wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants from waste streams. This chapter encompasses recent development in nano-technological approach towards water and wastewater treatment. The authors tried to compile up to-date development, properties, application, and mechanisms of the nanoparticles used for decontamination purpose. This piece of work offer a well organized comprehensive assessment of the technology that delineates opportunities as well as its limitation in water management practices moreover few recommendations for future research are also proposed.

Soil nitrogen—crop response calibration relationships and criteria for winter cereal crops grown in Australia

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Bell ◽  
Wayne Strong ◽  
Denis Elliott ◽  
Charlie Walker
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Yield Potential ◽  
National Database ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Mineral N ◽  
Winter Cereal ◽  
Available N ◽  
Nitrate N ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Yield Responses

More than 1200 wheat and 120 barley experiments conducted in Australia to examine yield responses to applied nitrogen (N) fertiliser are contained in a national database of field crops nutrient research (BFDC National Database). The yield responses are accompanied by various pre-plant soil test data to quantify plant-available N and other indicators of soil fertility status or mineralisable N. A web application (BFDC Interrogator), developed to access the database, enables construction of calibrations between relative crop yield ((Y0/Ymax) × 100) and N soil test value. In this paper we report the critical soil test values for 90% RY (CV90) and the associated critical ranges (CR90, defined as the 70% confidence interval around that CV90) derived from analysis of various subsets of these winter cereal experiments. Experimental programs were conducted throughout Australia’s main grain-production regions in different eras, starting from the 1960s in Queensland through to Victoria during 2000s. Improved management practices adopted during the period were reflected in increasing potential yields with research era, increasing from an average Ymax of 2.2 t/ha in Queensland in the 1960s and 1970s, to 3.4 t/ha in South Australia (SA) in the 1980s, to 4.3 t/ha in New South Wales (NSW) in the 1990s, and 4.2 t/ha in Victoria in the 2000s. Various sampling depths (0.1–1.2 m) and methods of quantifying available N (nitrate-N or mineral-N) from pre-planting soil samples were used and provided useful guides to the need for supplementary N. The most regionally consistent relationships were established using nitrate-N (kg/ha) in the top 0.6 m of the soil profile, with regional and seasonal variation in CV90 largely accounted for through impacts on experimental Ymax. The CV90 for nitrate-N within the top 0.6 m of the soil profile for wheat crops increased from 36 to 110 kg nitrate-N/ha as Ymax increased over the range 1 to >5 t/ha. Apparent variation in CV90 with seasonal moisture availability was entirely consistent with impacts on experimental Ymax. Further analyses of wheat trials with available grain protein (~45% of all experiments) established that grain yield and not grain N content was the major driver of crop N demand and CV90. Subsets of data explored the impact of crop management practices such as crop rotation or fallow length on both pre-planting profile mineral-N and CV90. Analyses showed that while management practices influenced profile mineral-N at planting and the likelihood and size of yield response to applied N fertiliser, they had no significant impact on CV90. A level of risk is involved with the use of pre-plant testing to determine the need for supplementary N application in all Australian dryland systems. In southern and western regions, where crop performance is based almost entirely on in-crop rainfall, this risk is offset by the management opportunity to split N applications during crop growth in response to changing crop yield potential. In northern cropping systems, where stored soil moisture at sowing is indicative of minimum yield potential, erratic winter rainfall increases uncertainty about actual yield potential as well as reducing the opportunity for effective in-season applications.

Soil potassium—crop response calibration relationships and criteria for field crops grown in Australia

2013 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross F. Brennan ◽  
Michael J. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Faba Bean ◽  
Relative Yield ◽  
Soil Types ◽  
National Database ◽  
Soil Test ◽  
Hordeum Vulgare L ◽  
Brassica Napus L ◽  
Crop Species ◽  
Support Tool ◽  
Soil Test K

The Better Fertiliser Decision for Crops (BFDC) National Database holds historic data for 356 potassium (K) fertiliser rate experiments (431 treatment series) for different rain-fed grain crops and soil types across Australia. Bicarbonate-extractable K (Colwell soil-test K) is the most extensively used soil test reported in the database. Data are available for several crop species grown on a range of soil types from all states except Tasmania. Species represented and number of treatment series in the database are: wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), 254; barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), 5; canola (Brassica napus L.), 130; lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.), 32; sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), 10; sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), 5; and faba bean (Vicia faba L.), 2. About 77% of the available soil-test K (STK) data on wheat, canola, and lupin are from Western Australia. The usual sampling depth of 0–10 cm is recorded for all treatment series within the database, while 68% of experiments have STK information from other soil horizons down the profile, usually in 10-cm increments. The BFDC Interrogator, a comprehensive data search and calibration support tool developed for use with the BFDC National Database, was used to examine STK–yield relationships for each crop across Australia, with more detailed analysis by state/region and then by soil type if data were available. The BFDC Interrogator was used to determine a critical STK concentration to achieve 90% of the maximum relative yield (90%RY) for each crop species, with a critical range (determined by the 70% confidence limit for the 90%RY) also reported. The STK for 90%RY for wheat was 40–41 mg/kg on Tenosols and Chromosols, ~49 mg/kg on Kandosols, and ~64 mg/kg on Brown Ferrosols. There was some evidence of critical values increasing with increasing crop yield and on soils with no acidity constraints to root growth, with effects presumably driven by increased crop K demand. The STK for 90%RY for canola, grown mainly on Tenosols, was similar to that for wheat, ranging from 43 to 46 mg K/kg, but for lupin, also grown mainly on Tenosols, the STK for 90%RY was a relatively low ~25 mg K/kg. Data for sunflower were limited and the STK for 90%RY was poorly defined. A comparison of critical STK concentrations for different crops grown on Tenosols suggested that critical ranges for 90%RY of lupin (22–27 mg K/kg) were significantly lower than that for wheat (32–52 mg K/kg) and canola (44–49 mg K/kg). Critical STK values were not determined for sorghum and faba bean.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document