scholarly journals Long-Term Response of Groundwater Nitrate Concentrations to Management Regulations in Nebraska's Central Platte Valley

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 286-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Exner ◽  
Hugo Perea-Estrada ◽  
Roy F. Spalding
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sprinkler Irrigation ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
Nitrate Concentrations ◽  
Management Area ◽  
Platte River Valley ◽  
N Management ◽  
The Impact

The impact of 16 years (1988–2003) of management practices on high groundwater nitrate concentrations in Nebraska's central Platte River valley was assessed in a 58,812-ha (145,215-ac) groundwater quality management area intensively cropped to irrigated corn (Zea maysL.). Crop production and groundwater nitrate data were obtained from ~23,800 producer reports. The terrace, comprising ~56% of the study area, is much more intensively cropped to irrigated corn than the bottomland. From 1987 to 2003, average groundwater nitrate concentrations in the primary aquifer beneath the bottomland remained static at ~8 mg N/l. During the same period, average groundwater nitrate concentrations in the primary aquifer beneath the terrace decreased from 26.4 to 22.0 mg N/l at a slow, but significant (p< 0.0001), rate of 0.26 mg N/l/year. Approximately 20% of the decrease in nitrate concentrations can be attributed to increases in the amount of N removed from fields as a consequence of small annual increases in yield. During the study, producers converted ~15% of the ~28,300 furrow-irrigated terrace hectares (~69,800 ac) to sprinkler irrigation. The conversion is associated with about an additional 50% of the decline in the nitrate concentration, and demonstrates the importance of both improved water and N management. Average N fertilizer application rates on the terrace were essentially unchanged during the study. The data indicate that groundwater nitrate concentrations have responded to improved management practices instituted by the Central Platte Natural Resources District.

Carbon footprint of crop production in China: an analysis of National Statistics data

2014 ◽  
Vol 153 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. CHENG ◽  
M. YAN ◽  
D. NAYAK ◽  
G. X. PAN ◽  
P. SMITH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
N Fertilization ◽  
Paddy Rice ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
Carbon Equivalent ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
Application Rates

SUMMARYAssessing carbon footprint (CF) of crop production in a whole crop life-cycle could provide insights into the contribution of crop production to climate change and help to identify possible greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation options. In the current study, data for the major crops of China were collected from the national statistical archive on cultivation area, yield, application rates of fertilizer, pesticide, diesel, plastic film, irrigated water, etc. The CF of direct and indirect carbon emissions associated with or caused by these agricultural inputs was quantified with published emission factors. In general, paddy rice, wheat, maize and soybean of China had mean CFs of 2472, 794, 781 and 222 kg carbon equivalent (CE)/ha, and 0·37, 0·14, 0·12 and 0·10 kg CE/kg product, respectively. For dry crops (i.e. those grown without flooding the fields: wheat, maize and soybean), 0·78 of the total CFs was contributed by nitrogen (N) fertilizer use, including both direct soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission and indirect emissions from N fertilizer manufacture. Meanwhile, direct methane (CH4) emissions contributed 0·69 on average to the total CFs of flooded paddy rice. Moreover, the difference in N fertilizer application rates explained 0·86–0·93 of the provincial variations of dry crop CFs while that in CH4 emissions could explain 0·85 of the provincial variation of paddy rice CFs. When a 30% reduction in N fertilization was considered, a potential reduction in GHGs of 60 megatonne (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalent from production of these crops was projected. The current work highlights opportunities to gain GHG emission reduction in production of crops associated with good management practices in China.

scholarly journals Changing Fertilizer Management Practices in Sugarcane Production: Cane Grower Survey Insights

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syezlin Hasan ◽  
James C. R. Smart ◽  
Rachel Hay ◽  
Sharyn Rundle-Thiele
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
Practice Change ◽  
Farm Income ◽  
Fertilizer Management ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
Fertilizer Application Rate ◽  
The Impact

Research focused on understanding wider systemic factors driving behavioral change is limited with a dominant focus on the role of individual farmer and psychosocial factors for farming practice change, including reducing fertilizer application in agriculture. Adopting a wider systems perspective, the current study examines change and the role that supporting services have on fertilizer application rate change. A total of 238 sugarcane growers completed surveys reporting on changes in fertilizer application along with factors that may explain behavior change. Logistic regressions and negative binomial count-data regressions were used to examine whether farmers had changed fertilizer application rates and if they had, how long ago they made the change, and to explore the impact of individual and system factors in influencing change. Approximately one in three sugarcane growers surveyed (37%) had changed the method they used to calculate fertilizer application rates for the cane land they owned/managed at some point. Logistic regression results indicated growers were less likely to change the basis for their fertilizer calculation if they regarded maintaining good relationships with other local growers as being extremely important, they had another source of off-farm income, and if they had not attended a government-funded fertilizer management workshop in the five years preceding the survey. Similar drivers promoted early adoption of fertilizer practice change; namely, regarding family traditions and heritage as being unimportant, having sole decision-making authority on farming activities and having attended up to 5 workshops in the five years prior to completing the survey. Results demonstrated the influence of government-funded services to support practice change.

scholarly journals Best Management Practices for Minimizing Nitrate Leaching from Container-Grown Nurseries

2001 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 96-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianjun Chen ◽  
Yingfeng Huang ◽  
Russell D. Caldwell
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Nitrate Leaching ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Ornamental Plants ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Agricultural Practice ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
N Management

Containerized plant production represents an extremely intensive agricultural practice; 40,000 to 300,000 containers may occupy one acre of surface area to which a large amount of chemical fertilizer is applied. Currently, recommended fertilizer application rates for the production of containerized nursery ornamental plants are in excess of plant requirements, and up to 50% of the applied fertilizers may run off or be leached from containers. Among the nutrients leached or allowed to runoff, nitrogen (N) is the most abundant and is of major concern as the source of ground and surface water pollution. In this report, current N fertilizer application rates for different container-grown nursery ornamental plants, the amount of nitrate leaching or runoff from containers, and the potential for nitrate contamination of ground and surface water are discussed. In contrast, our best N management practices include: (1) applying fertilizers based on plant species need; (2) improving potting medium�s nutrient holding capacity using obscure mineral additives; (3) using controlled-release fertilizers; and (4) implementing zero runoff irrigation or fertigation delivery systems that significantly reduce nitrate leaching or runoff in containerized plant production and encourage dramatic changes in N management.

scholarly journals Assessment of Fertilizer Management Strategies Aiming to Increase Nitrogen Use Efficiency of Wheat Grown Under Conservation Agriculture

Agronomy ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Santillano-Cázares ◽  
Fidel Núñez-Ramírez ◽  
Cristina Ruíz-Alvarado ◽  
María Cárdenas-Castañeda ◽  
Iván Ortiz-Monasterio
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Use Efficiency ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Nitrogen Use ◽  
Agronomic Efficiency ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
N Management

Sustainable crop production systems can be attained by using inputs efficiently and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) parameters are indirect measurements of sustainability of production systems. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of selected nitrogen (N) management treatments on wheat yields, grain and straw N concentration, and NUE parameters, under conservation agriculture (CA). The present study was conducted at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), in northwest, Mexico. Seventeen treatments were tested which included urea sources, timing, and methods of fertilizer application. Orthogonal contrasts were used to compare groups of treatments and correlation and regression analyses were used to look at the relationships between wheat yields and NUE parameters. Contrasts run to compare wheat yields or agronomic efficiency of N (AEN) performed similarly. Sources of urea or timing of fertilizer application had a significant effect on yields or AEN (p > 0.050). However, methods of application resulted in a highly significant (p < 0.0001) difference on wheat yields and agronomic efficiency of N. NUE parameters recorded in this study were average but the productivity associated to NUE levels was high. Results in this study indicate that wheat grew under non-critically limiting N supply levels, suggesting that N mineralization and reduced N losses from the soil under CA contributed to this favorable nutritional condition, thus minimizing the importance of N management practices under stable, mature CA systems.

scholarly journals The Water Footprint Assessment of Agriculture in Banjar River Watershed

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 476-488
Author(s):  
J Himanshu Rao ◽  
Mahesh Kumar Hardaha ◽  
Hardikkumar Mansukhbhai Vora
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Total Water ◽  
River Watershed ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
On Farm

The water footprint (WF) is a spatially explicit character of water use in terms of consumption or pollution for producing a product, commodity or service. The WF of a crop may be defined as the amount of water required for producing the crop over the complete growing season. The present study was carried out to assess the WF of agriculture in Banjar river watershed (BRW) over the period 2000 - 2013. The WF of crops were evaluated and their further multiplication with production (ton/yr) in the watershed yielded the water footprint of crop production (WFCP) in Banjar river watershed whose further summation gave WF of agriculture in BRW. The findings depicted that the water footprint of rice was maximum (7848 m3/ton) followed by gram (5782 m3/ton) and wheat (5417 m3/ton). The crop with least WF was maize (2886 m3/ton). These values of WF are much higher than the national average WF for different crops grown in India. Lower crop yields due to improper irrigation practices, low fertilizer application rates and improper on farm water management practices are the primary reasons of such high values of WF of crops in BRW. The water footprint of agriculture in BRW was 690.37 million m3/yr with 59.74 % WFgreen, 39.69 % WFblue and 0.56 % WF grey. Rice was having maximum share in water footprint of agriculture in BRW with 87.38 % of total water footprint followed by gram (4.97 %), wheat (4.33 %) and maize (1.31%).

scholarly journals Optimizing nitrogen fertilizer use for more grain and less pollution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyu Ren ◽  
Minggang Xu ◽  
Rong Li ◽  
Lei Zheng ◽  
Shaogui Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
N Application ◽  
Fertilizer Use ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
Operational Practices ◽  
N Management ◽  
N Fertilizer Use

Abstract Optimal nitrogen (N) management is critical for efficient crop production and agricultural pollution control. However, it is difficult to implement advanced management practices on smallholder farms due to a lack of knowledge and technology. Here, using 35,502 on-farm fertilization experiments, we demonstrated that smallholders in China could produce more grain with less N fertilizer use through optimizing N application rate. The yields of wheat, maize and rice were shown to increase between 10% and 19% while N application rates were reduced by 15–19%. These changes resulted in an increase in N use efficiency (NUE) by 32–46% and a reduction in N surplus by 40% without actually changing farmers’ operational practices. By reducing N application rates in line with official recommendations would not only save fertilizer cost while increasing crop yield, but at the same time reduce environmental N pollution in China. However, making progress towards further optimizing N fertilizer use to produce more grain with less pollution would require managements to improve farmers’ practices which was estimated to cost about 11.8 billion US dollars to implement.

scholarly journals Quantifying the impact of land degradation on crop production: the case of Senegal

Solid Earth ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. J. S. Sonneveld ◽  
M. A. Keyzer ◽  
D. Ndiaye
Keyword(s):  
Land Degradation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Yield Reduction ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
Confounding Variables ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Land degradation has been a persistent problem in Senegal for more than a century and by now has become a serious impediment to long-term development. In this paper, we quantify the impact of land degradation on crop yields using the results of a nationwide land degradation assessment. For this, the study needs to address two issues. First, the land degradation assessment comprises qualitative expert judgements that have to be converted into more objective, quantitative terms. We propose a land degradation index and assess its plausibility. Second, observational data on soils, land use, and rainfall do not provide sufficient information to isolate the impact of land degradation. We, therefore, design a pseudo-experiment that for sites with otherwise similar circumstances compares the yield of a site with and one without land degradation. This pairing exercise is conducted under a gradual refining of the classification of circumstances, until a more or less stable response to land degradation is obtained. In this way, we hope to have controlled sufficiently for confounding variables that will bias the estimation of the impact of land degradation on crop yields. A small number of shared characteristics reveal tendencies of "severe" land degradation levels being associated with declining yields as compared to similar sites with "low" degradation levels. However, as we zoom in at more detail some exceptions come to the fore, in particular in areas without fertilizer application. Yet, our overall conclusion is that yield reduction is associated with higher levels of land degradation, irrespective of whether fertilizer is being applied or not.

Silicon fertilizer and biochar effects on plant and soil PhytOC concentration and soil PhytOC stability and fractionation in subtropical bamboo plantations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chengpeng Huang ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Xiaoqiang Gong ◽  
Zhangting Huang ◽  
Miaorong Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Moso Bamboo ◽  
Pool Size ◽  
Phyllostachys Pubescens ◽  
Soil System ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Soil Organic Nitrogen ◽  
Plant Soil ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;The use of exogenous silicon (Si) amendments, such as Si fertilizers and biochar, can effectively increase crop Si uptake and the formation of phytoliths, which are siliceous substances that are abundant in numerous plant species. Phytolith-occluded carbon (C) (PhytOC) accumulation in soil plays an important role in long-term soil organic C (SOC) storage. Nevertheless, the effects of both Si fertilizer and biochar application on PhytOC sequestration in forest plant-soil systems have not been studied. We investigated the impact of Si fertilizer and biochar applications on 1) the PhytOC pool size, the solubility of plant and soil phytoliths, and soil PhytOC in soil physical fractions (light (LFOM) and heavy fractions of organic matter (HFOM)) in Moso bamboo (&lt;em&gt;Phyllostachys pubescens&lt;/em&gt;) forests; and 2) the relationships among plant and soil PhytOC concentrations and soil properties. We used a factorial design with three Si fertilizer application rates: 0 (S0), 225 (S1) and 450 (S2) kg Si ha&lt;sup&gt;&amp;#8722;1&lt;/sup&gt;, and two biochar application rates: 0 (B0) and 10 (B1) t ha&lt;sup&gt;&amp;#8722;1&lt;/sup&gt;. The concentrations of PhytOC in the bamboo plants and topsoil (0&amp;#8211;10 cm) increased with increasing Si fertilizer addition, regardless of biochar application. Biochar addition increased the soil PhytOC pool size, as well as the LFOM- and HFOM-PhytOC fractions, regardless of Si fertilizer application. The Si fertilizer application increased or had no effect on soil phytolith solubility with or without biochar application, respectively. Soil PhytOC was correlated with the concentration of soil organic nitrogen (R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;=0.32), SOC (R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;=0.51), pH (R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;=0.28), and available Si (R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;=0.23). Furthermore, Si fertilizer application increased plant and soil PhytOC by increasing soil available Si. Moreover, biochar application increased soil PhytOC concentration in LFOM-PhytOC and the unstable fraction of PhytOC. We conclude that Si fertilizer and biochar application promoted PhytOC sequestration in the plant-soil system and changed its distribution in physical fractions in the Moso bamboo plantation in subtropical China.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Quantifying N2O emissions from intensive grassland production: the role of synthetic fertilizer type, application rate, timing and nitrification inhibitors

2016 ◽  
Vol 154 (5) ◽  
pp. 812-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. BELL ◽  
J. M. CLOY ◽  
C. F. E. TOPP ◽  
B. C. BALL ◽  
A. BAGNALL ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nitrous Oxide ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
Nitrous Oxide Emissions ◽  
Mineral Fertilizers ◽  
Urea Fertilizer ◽  
Mitigation Options ◽  
Application Rates ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Ipcc Default

SUMMARYIncreasing recognition of the extent to which nitrous oxide (N2O) contributes to climate change has resulted in greater demand to improve quantification of N2O emissions, identify emission sources and suggest mitigation options. Agriculture is by far the largest source and grasslands, occupying c. 0·22 of European agricultural land, are a major land-use within this sector. The application of mineral fertilizers to optimize pasture yields is a major source of N2O and with increasing pressure to increase agricultural productivity, options to quantify and reduce emissions whilst maintaining sufficient grassland for a given intensity of production are required. Identification of the source and extent of emissions will help to improve reporting in national inventories, with the most common approach using the IPCC emission factor (EF) default, where 0·01 of added nitrogen fertilizer is assumed to be emitted directly as N2O. The current experiment aimed to establish the suitability of applying this EF to fertilized Scottish grasslands and to identify variation in the EF depending on the application rate of ammonium nitrate (AN). Mitigation options to reduce N2O emissions were also investigated, including the use of urea fertilizer in place of AN, addition of a nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) and application of AN in smaller, more frequent doses. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured from a cut grassland in south-west Scotland from March 2011 to March 2012. Grass yield was also measured to establish the impact of mitigation options on grass production, along with soil and environmental variables to improve understanding of the controls on N2O emissions. A monotonic increase in annual cumulative N2O emissions was observed with increasing AN application rate. Emission factors ranging from 1·06–1·34% were measured for AN application rates between 80 and 320 kg N/ha, with a mean of 1·19%. A lack of any significant difference between these EFs indicates that use of a uniform EF is suitable over these application rates. The mean EF of 1·19% exceeds the IPCC default 1%, suggesting that use of the default value may underestimate emissions of AN-fertilizer-induced N2O loss from Scottish grasslands. The increase in emissions beyond an application rate of 320 kg N/ha produced an EF of 1·74%, significantly different to that from lower application rates and much greater than the 1% default. An EF of 0·89% for urea fertilizer and 0·59% for urea with DCD suggests that N2O quantification using the IPCC default EF will overestimate emissions for grasslands where these fertilizers are applied. Large rainfall shortly after fertilizer application appears to be the main trigger for N2O emissions, thus applicability of the 1% EF could vary and depend on the weather conditions at the time of fertilizer application.

scholarly journals Assessing the Impact of Best Management Practices in a Highly Anthropogenic and Ungauged Watershed Using the SWAT Model: A Case Study in the El Beal Watershed (Southeast Spain)

Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrián López-Ballesteros ◽  
Javier Senent-Aparicio ◽  
Raghavan Srinivasan ◽  
Julio Pérez-Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Lagoon ◽  
Best Management Practices ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Check Dam ◽  
Best Management ◽  
The Impact

Best management practices (BMPs) provide a feasible solution for non-point source pollution problems. High sediment and nutrient yields without retention control result in environmental deterioration of surrounding areas. In the present study, the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model was developed for El Beal watershed, an anthropogenic and ungauged basin located in the southeast of Spain that drains into a coastal lagoon of high environmental value. The effectiveness of five BMPs (contour planting, filter strips, reforestation, fertilizer application and check dam restoration) was quantified, both individually and in combination, to test their impact on sediment and nutrient reduction. For calibration and validation processes, actual evapotranspiration (AET) data obtained from a remote sensing dataset called Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) were used. The SWAT model achieved good performance in the calibration period, with statistical values of 0.78 for Kling–Gupta efficiency (KGE), 0.81 for coefficient of determination (R2), 0.58 for Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and 3.9% for percent bias (PBIAS), as well as in the validation period (KGE = 0.67, R2 = 0.83, NS = 0.53 and PBIAS = −25.3%). The results show that check dam restoration is the most effective BMP with a reduction of 90% in sediment yield (S), 15% in total nitrogen (TN) and 22% in total phosphorus (TP) at the watershed scale, followed by reforestation (S = 27%, TN = 16% and TP = 20%). All effectiveness values improved when BMPs were assessed in combination. The outcome of this study could provide guidance for decision makers in developing possible solutions for environmental problems in a coastal lagoon.

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