scholarly journals Impact of Legumes as a Pre-Crop on Nitrogen Nutrition and Yield in Organic Greenhouse Tomato

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 468
Author(s):  
Anastasios Gatsios ◽  
Georgia Ntatsi ◽  
Luisella Celi ◽  
Daniel Said-Pullicino ◽  
Anastasia Tampakaki ◽  
...  

An organic greenhouse crop of tomato was established in February following cultivation of cowpea (CP) or common bean (CB) for green pod production, or faba bean (FB) for green manuring. The vegetative residues of CP and CB were incorporated to the soil together with farmyard manure (FYM), prior to establishing the tomato crop. The FB plants were incorporated to the soil at anthesis together with either FYM or composted olive-mill waste (CO). Green manuring with FB resulted in higher soil mineral N levels during the subsequent tomato crop and higher tomato fruit yield when combined with FYM, compared to compost. The level of soil mineral N was the main restrictive factor for yield in organic greenhouse tomato. FB for green manuring as preceding crop to tomato increased significantly the level of soil mineral N and tomato yield compared to CB or CP aiming to produce green pods. The lowest tomato yield was obtained when the preceding crop was CB cultivated for green pod production. The soil mineral N was significantly higher when FYM was applied as base dressing compared with CO, despite the higher total N concentration in CO, pointing to slower mineralization rates of CO during tomato cultivation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Luo ◽  
Lukas Beule ◽  
Guodong Shao ◽  
Edzo Veldkamp ◽  
Marife D. Corre

<p>Monoculture croplands are considered as major sources of the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N<sub>2</sub>O). The conversion of monoculture croplands to agroforestry systems, e.g., integrating trees within croplands, is an essential climate-smart management system through extra C sequestration and can potentially mitigate N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. So far, no study has systematically compared gross rates of N<sub>2</sub>O emission and uptake between cropland agroforestry and monoculture. In this study, we used an in-situ <sup>15</sup>N<sub>2</sub>O pool dilution technique to simultaneously measure gross N<sub>2</sub>O emission and uptake over two consecutive growing seasons (2018 - 2019) at three sites in Germany: two sites were on Phaeozem and Cambisol soils with each site having a pair of cropland agroforestry and monoculture systems, and an additional site with only monoculture on an Arenosol soil prone to high nitrate leaching. Our results showed that cropland agroforestry had lower gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and higher gross N<sub>2</sub>O uptake than in monoculture at the site with Phaeozem soil (P ≤ 0.018 – 0.025) and did not differ in gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and uptake with cropland monoculture at the site with Cambisol soil (P ≥ 0.36). Gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions were positively correlated with soil mineral N and heterotrophic respiration which, in turn, were correlated with soil temperature, and with water-filled pore space (WFPS) (r = 0.24 ‒ 0.54, P < 0.01). Gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions were also negatively correlated with nosZ clade I gene abundance (involved in N<sub>2</sub>O-to-N<sub>2</sub> reduction, r = -0.20, P < 0.05). These findings showed that across sites and management systems changes in gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions were driven by changes in substrate availability and aeration condition (i.e., soil mineral N, C availability, and WFPS), which also influenced denitrification gene abundance. The strong regression values between gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and net N<sub>2</sub>O emissions (R<sup>2 </sup>≥ 0.96, P < 0.001) indicated that gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions largely drove net soil N<sub>2</sub>O emissions. Across sites and management systems, annual soil gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and uptake were controlled by clay contents which, in turn, correlated with indices of soil fertility (i.e., effective cation exchange capacity, total N, and C/N ratio) (Spearman rank’s rho = -0.76 – 0.86, P ≤ 0.05). The lower gross N<sub>2</sub>O emissions from the agroforestry tree rows at two sites indicated the potential of agroforestry in reducing soil N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, supporting the need for temperate cropland agroforestry to be considered in greenhouse gas mitigation policies.</p>


1999 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. VOS

In four field experiments, the effects of single nitrogen (N) applications at planting on yield and nitrogen uptake of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) was compared with two or three split applications. The total amount of N applied was an experimental factor in three of the experiments. In two experiments, sequential observations were made during the growing season. Generally, splitting applications (up to 58 days after emergence) did not affect dry matter (DM) yield at maturity and tended to result in slightly lower DM concentration of tubers, whereas it slightly improved the utilization of nitrogen. Maximum haulm dry weight and N content were lower when less nitrogen was applied during the first 50 days after emergence (DAE). The crops absorbed little extra nitrogen after 60 DAE (except when three applications were given). Soil mineral N (0–60 cm) during the first month reflected the pattern of N application with values up to 27 g/m2 N. After 60 DAE, soil mineral N was always around 2–5 g/m2. The efficiency of N utilization, i.e. the ratio of the N content of the crop to total N available (initial soil mineral N+deposition+net mineralization) was 0·45 for unfertilized controls. The utilization of fertilizer N (i.e. the apparent N recovery) was generally somewhat improved by split applications, but declined with the total amount of N applied (range 0·48–0·72). N utilization and its complement, possible N loss, were similar for both experiments with sequential observations. Separate analysis of the movement of Br− indicated that some nitrate can be washed below 60 cm soil depth due to dispersion during rainfall. The current study showed that the time when N application can be adjusted to meet estimated requirements extends to (at least) 60 days after emergence. That period of time can be exploited to match the N application to the actual crop requirement as it changes during that period.


2008 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Rochette ◽  
Denis A Angers ◽  
Martin H Chantigny ◽  
Bernard Gagnon ◽  
Normand Bertrand

Manure is known to increase soil N2O emissions by stimulating nitrification and denitrification processes. Our objective was to compare soil-surface N2O emissions following the application of liquid and solid dairy cattle manures to a loamy and a clay soil cropped to silage maize. Manures were applied in 2 consecutive years at rates equivalent to 150 kg total N ha-1 and compared with a control treatment receiving an equivalent rate of synthetic N. Soil-surface N2O fluxes, soil temperature, and soil water, nitrate and ammonium contents were monitored weekly in manured and control plots. From 60 to 90% of seasonal N2O emissions occurred during the first 40 d following manure and synthetic fertilizer applications, indicating that outside that period one or several factors limited N2O emissions. The period of higher emissions following manure and fertilizer application corresponded with the period when soil mineral N contents were highest (up to 17 g NO3−-N m-2) and water-filled pore space (WFPS) was greater than 0.5 m3 m-3. The absence of significant N2O fluxes later in the growing season despite high WFPS levels indicated that the stimulating effect of organic and synthetic N additions on soil N2O production was relatively short-lived. Fertilization of silage maize with dairy cattle manure resulted in greater or equal N2O emissions than with synthetic N. This was observed despite lower overall soil mineral N contents in the manured plots, indicating that other factors affected by manure, possibly additional C substrates and enhanced soil respiration, resulted in greater denitrification and N2O production. Silage maize yields in the manured soils were lower than those receiving synthetic N, indicating that the N2O emissions per kilogram of harvested biomass were greater for manures than for synthetic N. Our results also suggest that the main source of N2O was nitrification in the loam and denitrification in the clay soil. There was no clear difference in N2O emissions between liquid and solid manures. The variable effects of liquid and solid manure addition reported in the literature on soil N2O emissions likely result from the variable composition of the manures themselves as well as from interactions with other factors such as soil environment and farming practices. A better characterization of the availability of manure C and N is required to assess the impact of manure application on soil N2O emissions under field conditions. Key words: Greenhouse gases, N2O, maize, manure


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 2307
Author(s):  
Anna Nogalska ◽  
Aleksandra Załuszniewska

A long-term (six year) field experiment was conducted in Poland to evaluate the effect of meat and bone meal (MBM), applied without or with mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer, on crop yields, N content and uptake by plants, and soil mineral N balance. Five treatments were compared: MBM applied at 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 Mg ha−1, inorganic NPK, and zero-fert check. Mineral N accounted for 100% of the total N rate (158 kg ha−1) in the NPK treatment and 50%, 25%, and 0% in MBM treatments. The yield of silage maize supplied with MBM was comparable with that of plants fertilized with NPK at 74 Mg ha−1 herbage (30% DM) over two years on average. The yields of winter wheat and winter oilseed rape were highest in the NPK treatment (8.9 Mg ha−1 grain and 3.14 Mg ha−1 seeds on average). The addition of 25% and 50% of mineral N to MBM had no influence on the yields of the tested crops. The N content of plants fertilized with MBM was satisfactory (higher than in the zero-fert treatment), and considerable differences were found between years of the study within crop species. Soil mineral N content was determined by N uptake by plants rather than the proportion of mineral N in the total N rate. Nitrogen utilization by plants was highest in the NPK treatment (58%) and in the treatment where mineral N accounted for 50% of the total N rate (48%).


1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. Oosterhuis ◽  
J. Chipamaunga ◽  
G. C. Bate

SUMMARYThree levels of nitrogen (N) were applied to cotton grown in irrigated field trials at two locations in Zimbabwe in 1978. Dry matter (DM) production, total uptake and distribution of N among vegetative and reproductive components, and soil mineral-N contents were recorded about every 14 days. About 60% of total DM was produced, and 40% of total N taken up, between 10 and 16 weeks after sowing. Most N was present in vegetative parts, particularly leaves and branches, during early growth but, later, it accumulated in buds, flowers and bolls. At maturity, seeds and lint contained 42% of total above-ground plant N. N concentrations were similar in sympodial and mainstem leaves, petioles and branches. Inorganic N applied at sowing had little effect on plant N, but when given after 10 weeks it increased the N content of leaves, stems, branches, petioles and bolls.


2003 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. 763 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Evans ◽  
G. Scott ◽  
D. Lemerle ◽  
A. Kaiser ◽  
B. Orchard ◽  
...  

Important factors in the successful uptake of grain legumes by cereal growers have been their capacity to increase soil N and control cereal disease, as these have underpinned high yields in following wheat crops. However, alternative 1-year legume crops are required to introduce additional biodiversity and management flexibility for cereal growers. The effects on soil mineral N and potential contribution to soil total N of other legume enterprises were studied. These included vetch (Vicia bengalhensis) or clovers (mix of Trifolium alexandrinum, T.�versiculosum, T. resupinatum) managed for green manure; pea (Pisum sativum), vetch, or clovers managed for silage; and clovers managed for hay. These were compared with pea and lupin (Lupinus angustifolius) managed for grain production. Wheat was also included as a control. The legumes were grown in acidic Red Kandasol soil at Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Mineral N was measured in the autumn or winter of seasons 1997 and 1998 respectively. Amounts of stubble residue N were measured in all seasons. The green manure crops, particularly vetch, produced more mineral N than both grain legumes. The forage conservation crops (silage or hay) produced similar amounts of mineral N to grain pea and more than grain lupin. For the grain and green manure legume crops, variation in amounts of mineral N was explained by the total N content of legume stubble residue, but for the forage conservation crops, more mineral N was measured than was predictable from stubble N. The amounts of mineral N at different soil depths differed between legume treatments and experiments (sites and years). Based only on above-ground plant N, the green manure crops contributed more to increasing total soil N than grain legumes; in turn, the grain legumes contributed more than the forage conservation crops. It was concluded that alternative annual legume enterprises to grain legumes may provide at least similar enrichment of soil mineral N early in the following season, and that all annual legume enterprises may accumulate nitrate deep in the soil profile in some seasons.


1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 295 ◽  
Author(s):  
WM Strong ◽  
RC Dalal ◽  
JE Cooper ◽  
PG Saffigna

Mineralisation and availability of residual fertiliser nitrogen (N) was studied in pots during December-October with and without the addition of straw (0-7.5 t/ha) on a Darling Downs black earth previously cropped with wheat. Soil (0-0.2 m) and straw were collected from field plots in which wheat was grown previously with supplementary irrigation and fertiliser N applied at 0, 100, 200, 300 or 400 kg/ha. At the end of the fallow, in June, there was a net increase in soil mineral N of between 0.7 and 11.1 mg/kg where fertiliser was applied to the preceding crop. The increase represented between 2 and 9% of the original N application and was larger with increasing N application rate and smaller with increasing rate of straw addition. Straw addition caused a substantial decrease in mineral N which was still evident in June and October, 162 and 305 days respectively following straw addition. Soil mineral N decreased linearly at the rate of 5 kg N/t of straw added up to 7.5 t/ha. The net effect of prior N applications on the quantity of N available to wheat plants was equivalent to 10-23% of the quantity of N applied to the preceding crop in the absence of straw and only 4% in the presence of straw. Residual effects of prior N applications on the quantity of N available for wheat plants was generally greater than was evident as soil mineral N in June. During crop growth, additional available N may have been released from the microbial soil N pool, especially where 200 or 400 kg/ha of N had been applied. Straw addition resulted in more microbial biomass throughout the fallow. The larger microbial N pool, however, contained less N than that immobilised due to straw addition. Thus, regardless of prior N application, less N was available to wheat plants in the presence than in the absence of straw of preceding wheat crops.


2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. McCallum ◽  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
D. J. Connor

The nitrogen (N) dynamics (N2 fixation inputs, changes in soil mineral N and total N, N removed in agricultural produce) of a lucerne-based phase farming system (grazed lucerne–annual medic–ryegrass pastures grown in rotation with crops) was compared with that of continuous cropping (cereal, oilseed, and legume pulse crops) in the Victorian Wimmera. The contribution of biological N2 fixation to the N economy of these different systems was strongly linked to biomass production by the legume components of pastures, or field pea in the cropping sequence. The amount of fixed N present in field pea shoots or the total amount of N2 estimated to be fixed by the whole plant (shoots and roots) (121–175 kg N/ha.crop and 181–262 kg N/ha.crop, respectively) was generally greater than the combined measured annual inputs of fixed N by lucerne and annual medic during a pasture ley (40–95 kg N/ha.year in herbage, 80–190 kg N/ha.year in total plant), although large amounts of N were removed in the field pea grain at harvest (115–151 kg N/ha.crop). Over 2 years (1995–96), the seasonal rainfall patterns had a much larger impact on the growth, dry matter production, and N2 fixation of annual medic compared with lucerne. Winter-cleaning of ryegrass from the pasture before cropping resulted in a greater legume content in the pasture and generally increased amounts of fixed N in herbage (by up to 55 kg N/ha.year). Total soil N at depth (0.5–1.0 m) was significantly greater after 2–4 years of pasture than under continuous cropping. In one year (1996), the amount of soil mineral N following a winter-cleaned pasture was greater (by 32–45 kg N/ha, 0–1 m) than after either canola or wheat, producing a yield benefit in a subsequent canola crop that was equivalent to pre-drilling 46 kg N/ha as fertiliser. However, despite some improvements in N fertility, large crop responses to N fertiliser were still observed following pasture. Grain yield was increased by 0.33–0.55 t/ha in canola and by 1.0 t/ha in wheat, grain protein raised by 0.7–2.3% in canola and by 1.3% in wheat, and oil yield in canola enhanced by 124–205 kg/ha with pre-drilled applications of fertiliser N (46 kg/ha). It is speculated that more legume-dominant pastures (>80%) could provide greater flow-on N benefits to farming systems in the Wimmera than the mixed legume–grass swards used in the present study. However, it is likely that a need will remain for supplementary fertiliser N to optimise the nutrition of subsequent non-legume crops in the region.


SOIL ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhwan Lee ◽  
Gina M. Garland ◽  
Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel

Abstract. Soil N is an essential element for plant growth, but its mineral forms are subject to loss from the environment by leaching and gaseous emissions. Despite its importance for the soil-plant system, factors controlling soil mineral N contents over large spatial scales are not well understood. We used NH4+ and NO3- contents (0–30 cm depth) from 469 sites across Australia and determined soil controls on their regional variation. Soil mineral N varied regionally but depended on the different land uses. In the agricultural region of Australia, NH4+ tended to be similar (median 4.0 vs. 3.5 mg N kg−1) and NO3- was significantly enriched (3.0 vs. 1.0 mg N kg−1), compared to the non-agricultural region. The importance of soil controls on mineral N in the agricultural region, identified by the model trees algorithm Cubist, showed that NH4+ was affected by total N, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and pH. In the non-agricultural region, NH4+ was affected not only by CEC and pH, but also by organic C and total P. In each of the regions, NO3- was primarily affected by CEC, with more complex biophysical controls. In both regions, correlations between mineral N and soil C : N : P stoichiometry suggest that more NH4+ was found in P-depleted soil relative to total C and total N. However, our results showed that only in the non-agricultural region was NO3- sensitive to the state of C and its interaction with N and P. The models helped to explain 36 %–68 % of regional variation in mineral N. Although soil controls on high N contents were highly uncertain, we found that region-specific interactions of soil properties control mineral N contents. It is therefore essential to understand how they alter soil mechanisms and N cycling at large scales.


1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 675 ◽  
Author(s):  
WM Strong ◽  
RC Dalal ◽  
MJ Cahill ◽  
EJ Weston ◽  
JE Cooper ◽  
...  

Unreliable rainfall during the crop growing season leads to a variable use of applied fertiliser nitrogen (N) by the crop, which may leave substantial fertiliser N residue in the soil. Residual effects of fertiliser N (0-150 kg/ha) applied to a succession of wheat crops over the period 1987-94 were studied in terms of increased crop returns ($A/ha) from fertiliser application and increased soil mineral N for the subsequent crop. In spite of the unreliability of wheat responses to applied N in this region, increases in financial returns over this sequence of crops suggest that a strategy of routine N application to wheat was highly profitable on this fertility-depleted soil. When increases in returns from 1 fertiliser application were summed over successive crops, financial returns generally increased with increasing rate of N applied up to the highest N rate (100 or 150 kg/ha). When N was applied to each successive crop, financial returns were similarly increased but applications >50 kg/ha were less profitable than rates <50 kg/ha. Increased financial returns for the 7 crops grown with conventional tillage increased by $A306/ha, $794/ha, $867/ha and $867/ha for fertiliser N applied at rates of 12.5, 25, 50 and 75 kg N/ha to each crop, respectively. Total N fertiliser costs for the 7 crops were $A63ha, $126ha, $253/ha and $380/ha. Increased financial returns of $608/ha and $962/ha were derived from applications of 25 and 75 kg N/ha to each of the 7 crops with zero tillage. When N uptake by wheat was reduced by water deficit, or where a longer fallow period created much higher nitrate levels, a single fertiliser N application of 75 or 150 kg/ha resulted in nitrate accumulated to 1.2 m depth in the following May. Where N was applied to each crop in the sequence, application of 75 kg/ha increased soil nitrate to 1.2 m in the following May, except in 1989 and 1990. The 3-crop sequence, 1988-90, placed high demands on soil N supplies, with high wheat yields (about 4.5 t/ha) and grain N contents (100-115 kg/ha) in 1988 but lower yields (>2t/ha) in 1989 and 1990. Consequently, low levels (46-63 kg/ha) of soil mineral N were apparently carried over for crops in 1989 and 1990 even where 75 kg N/ha was applied to the preceding crop. Subsequent recovery of financial losses, incurred in years of water deficit, made the routine application of 75 kg N/ha to fertility-depleted soils of this region profitable.


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