Comparative effects of crop residue incorporation and inorganic potassium fertilisation on apparent potassium balance and soil potassium pools under a wheat–cotton system

Soil Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Sui ◽  
Chaoran Yu ◽  
Guanglei Song ◽  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Ruixian Liu ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of consecutive crop residue incorporation and potassium (K) fertilisation on plant–soil K balance, K forms, K release and K fixation capacity under wheat–cotton rotation at Nanjing and Dafeng in China. Six treatments were evaluated: control (without K input), wheat straw at 0.9tha–1, cotton residue at 0.7tha–1, wheat straw and cotton residue at the aforementioned rates, and 150 and 300kg ha–1 fertiliser K. Treatments in each rotation year had an identical rate of nitrogen and phosphate fertiliser application. The initial soil K content was higher in Dafeng than Nanjing. In the low K content soil of Nanjing, crop K uptake with double crop straw was significantly higher than that under single crop straw return or inorganic fertiliser, and K uptake increased with increasing K inputs. Only double crop straw or 300kg ha–1 fertiliser K treatments reached apparent K balance in Nanjing, but not in Dafeng. The high negative K balance resulted from the elevated K removal by crops in Dafeng. Incorporation of double crop residues favoured accumulation of different forms of K. Application of K fertiliser tended to increase soil water-soluble K, and crop residue incorporation greatly improved non-exchangeable K at a depth of 0–20cm. Similar to K fertiliser, crop residue incorporation significantly increased soil K release and decreased K fixation at both sites. In summary, in a 3-year field experiment, crop residue incorporation and inorganic K fertilisation had similar effects on soil K pools and balance depending on initial soil K level and actual K input.

Soil Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Poeplau ◽  
Lisa Reiter ◽  
Antonio Berti ◽  
Thomas Kätterer

Crop residue incorporation (RI) is recommended to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. However, the positive effect on SOC is often reported to be relatively low and alternative use of crop residues, e.g. as a bioenergy source, may be more climate smart. In this context, it is important to understand: (i) the response of SOC stocks to long-term crop residue incorporation; and (ii) the qualitative SOC change, in order to judge the sustainability of this measure. We investigated the effect of 40 years of RI combined with five different nitrogen (N) fertilisation levels on SOC stocks and five SOC fractions differing in turnover times on a clay loam soil in Padua, Italy. The average increase in SOC stock in the 0–30cm soil layer was 3.1Mgha–1 or 6.8%, with no difference between N fertilisation rates. Retention coefficients of residues did not exceed 4% and decreased significantly with increasing N rate (R2=0.49). The effect of RI was higher after 20 years (4.6Mgha–1) than after 40 years, indicating that a new equilibrium has been reached and no further gains in SOC can be expected. Most (92%) of the total SOC was stored in the silt and clay fraction and 93% of the accumulated carbon was also found in this fraction, showing the importance of fine mineral particles for SOC storage, stabilisation and sequestration in arable soils. No change was detected in more labile fractions, indicating complete turnover of the annual residue-derived C in these fractions under a warm humid climate and in a highly base-saturated soil. The applied fractionation was thus useful to elucidate drivers and mechanisms of SOC formation and stabilisation. We conclude that residue incorporation is not a significant management practice affecting soil C storage in warm temperate climatic regions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhijie Li ◽  
Rüdiger Reichel ◽  
Zhenfeng Xu ◽  
Harry Vereecken ◽  
Nicolas Brüggemann

AbstractIncorporation of crop residues into the soil has been widely recommended as an effective method to sustain soil fertility and improve soil carbon sequestration in arable lands. However, it may lead to an increase in the emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) and leaching of nitrate (NO3−) to groundwater due to higher nitrogen (N) availability after crop residue incorporation. Here, we conducted a meta-analysis based on 345 observations from 90 peer-reviewed studies to evaluate the effects of crop residue return on soil N2O emissions and NO3− leaching for different locations, climatic and soil conditions, and agricultural management strategies. On average, crop residue incorporation significantly stimulated N2O emissions by 29.7%, but decreased NO3− leaching by 14.4%. The increase in N2O emissions was negatively and significantly correlated with mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation, and with the most significant changes occurring in the temperate climate zone. Crop residues stimulated N2O emission mainly in soils with pH ranging between 5.5 and 6.5, or above 7.5 in soils with low clay content. In addition, crop residue application decreased NO3− leaching significantly in soils with sandy loam, silty clay loam, and silt loam textures. Our analysis reveals that an appropriate crop residue management adapted to the site-specific soil and environmental conditions is critical for increasing soil organic carbon stocks and decreasing nitrogen losses. The most important novel finding is that residue return, despite stimulation of N2O emissions, is particularly effective in reducing NO3− leaching in soils with loamy texture, which are generally among the most productive arable soils.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei HU ◽  
Ning SUI ◽  
Chaoran YU ◽  
Changqin YANG ◽  
Ruixian LIU ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Crop residue incorporation into the soil is an effective method to augment soil potassium (K) content, and effects of crop residue and K fertilizer on soil K balance have been compared. However, their influences on other soil characteristics such as carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) characteristics and microbial activities have not been quantified. To address this, field experiments were conducted in 2011 at Dafeng (sandy loam) and Nanjing (clay loam) in China with treatments including blank control without crop residue incorporation and K fertilizer application, 0.9 t·ha− 1 wheat straw incorporation (W1C0), 0.7 t·ha− 1 cotton residue incorporation (W0C1), 0.9 t·ha− 1 wheat straw + 0.7 t·ha− 1 cotton residue incorporation (W1C1) and two K fertilizer rates (150 and 300 kg·ha− 1(K2O)) during the cotton season. Results Compared with control, K fertilizer treatments did not alter soil water-soluble organic carbon/soil organic carbon (WSOC/SOC) ratio, microbial biomass carbon (MBC)/SOC ratio, MBC/microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) ratio, water inorganic nitrogen/total nitrogen ratio (WIN/TN), the number of cellulose-decomposing bacteria, or related enzymes activities, however, W0C1, W1C0 and W1C1 treatments significantly increased WSOC/SOC ratio, MBC/SOC ratio and MBC/ MBN ratio, and decreased WIN/TN ratio at both sites. W0C1, W1C0 and W1C1 treatments also increased the number of soil cellulose-decomposing bacteria and activities of cellulase, β-glucosidase and arylamidase. Regarding different crop residue treatments, W1C0 and W1C1 treatments had more significant influences on above mentioned parameters than W0C1 treatment. Moreover, MBC/MBN ratio was the most important factor to result in the differences in the number of cellulose-decomposing bacteria and soil enzymes activities among different treatments. Conclusions Short-term K fertilizer application doesn’t affect soil C and N availability and microbial activities. However, crop residue incorporation alters soil C and N characteristics and microbial activities, and the influence of wheat straw is much stronger than that of cotton straw.


2013 ◽  
Vol 93 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Pelster ◽  
Martin H. Chantigny ◽  
Philippe Rochette ◽  
Denis A. Angers ◽  
Jérôme Laganière ◽  
...  

Pelster, D. E., Chantigny, M. H., Rochette, P., Angers, D. A., Laganière, J., Zebarth, B. and Goyer, C. 2013. Crop residue incorporation alters soil nitrous oxide emissions during freeze–thaw cycles. Can. J. Soil Sci. 93: 415–425. Freeze–thaw (FT) cycles stimulate soil nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) mineralization, which may induce nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. We examined how soybean (Glycine max L.) and corn (Zea mays L.) residue incorporation affect N2O emissions from high C content (35 g kg−1) silty clay and low C content (19 g kg−1) sandy loam soils over eight 10-d FT cycles, as a function of three temperature treatments [constant at +1°C (unfrozen control), +1 to −3°C (moderate FT), or +1 to −7°C (extreme FT)]. In unamended soils, N2O emissions were stimulated by FT, and were the highest with extreme FT. This was attributed to the increased NO3 availability measured under FT. Application of mature crop residues (C:N ratios of 75 for soybean and 130 for corn) caused rapid N immobilization, attenuating FT-induced N2O emissions in the silty clay. In the sandy loam, residue addition also induced immobilization of soil mineral N. However, N2O emissions under moderate FT were higher with than without crop residues, likely because N2O production in this low-C sandy loam was stimulated by C addition in the early phase of incubation. We conclude that FT-induced N2O emissions could be reduced through incorporation of mature crop residues and the subsequent immobilization of mineral N, especially in C-rich soils.


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