Tillage and Fertilizer Management Effects on Soil-Atmospheric Exchanges of Methane and Nitrous Oxide in a Corn Production System

Land application of poultry litter (PL) presents an opportunity to improve soil productivity and disposal of poultry waste. We investigated methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from agricultural soil receiving PL and ammonium nitrate (AN) fertilizers using surface (SA), soil incorporation (SI), and subsurface band (BA) application methods in conventional (CT) and no-tillage (NT) systems on a Decatur silt loam soil in North Alabama. Plots under CT and NT were sinks of CH4in spring, summer, and fall. In winter, the plots had net emissions of 3.32 and 4.24 g CH4ha-1day-1in CT and NT systems, respectively. Plots which received AN were net emitters of CH4and N2O, whereas plots which received PL were net sinks of CH4. Plots which received PL using SA or SI methods were net emitters of N2O, whereas under PL using BA application, the plots were net sinks of N2O. Our study indicates that using subsurface band application of PL was the most promising environmentally sustainable poultry waste application method for reducing CH4and N2O emissions from agricultural soil in NT and CT corn production systems on the Decatur soil in north Alabama.

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Triple-row system with a wider drip-line lateral spacing for two drip-irrigated sweet corn cultivars

Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira ◽

10.1590/s1678-3921.pab2020.v55.01684 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 55 ◽

Author(s):

Ibrahim Mubarak

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Climate ◽

Yield Loss ◽

Sweet Corn ◽

Production Systems ◽

Drip Line ◽

Corn Production ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Irrigation Water Use ◽

Loam Soil ◽

Soil Water Conditions

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the use of both single- and triple-row production systems in two drip-irrigated sweet corn cultivars under dry Mediterranean climate conditions. A two-year field experiment (2017 and 2018) was carried out in clay loam soil. The following three combinations spacing between crop rows and drip-line lateral spacing, with three replicates for each cultivar, were applied: single rows at 75 cm spacing, with one drip-line lateral spacing for each crop row; single rows at 75 cm row spacing, with one drip-line lateral spacing for three crop rows; and triple rows, 37.5 cm apart, on 225 cm centers, with one drip-line lateral spacing for each triple row. The responses of both cultivars were similar. In addition, husked cob yield and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) significantly reduced as the drip-line lateral spacing increased in single rows. Yield loss was 35.2% in relation to the 75 cm spacing. However, when the triple-row system with 225 cm drip-line lateral spacing was adopted, yield and IWUE were noticeably improved, and the yield loss was moderated to 16%, due to the improvement in soil water conditions in the triple rows. For improved yield and IWUE, the combination of triple rows with the 225-cm drip-line lateral spacing is an efficient drip-irrigated planting pattern for sweet corn production in dry Mediterranean climate conditions.

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