Towards Precision Fertilization: Multi-Strategy Grey Wolf Optimizer Based Model Evaluation and Yield Estimation

Precision fertilization is a major constraint in consistently balancing the contradiction between land resources, ecological environment, and population increase. Even more, it is a popular technology used to maintain sustainable development. Nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are the main sources of nutrient income on farmland. The traditional fertilizer effect function cannot meet the conditional agrochemical theory’s conditional extremes because the soil is influenced by various factors and statistical errors in harvest and yield. In order to find more accurate scientific ratios, it has been proposed a multi-strategy-based grey wolf optimization algorithm (SLEGWO) to solve the fertilizer effect function in this paper, using the “3414” experimental field design scheme, taking the experimental field in Nongan County, Jilin Province as the experimental site to obtain experimental data, and using the residuals of the ternary fertilizer effect function of Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as the target function. The experimental results showed that the SLEGWO algorithm could improve the fitting degree of the fertilizer effect equation and then reasonably predict the accurate fertilizer application ratio and improve the yield. It is a more accurate precision fertilization modeling method. It provides a new means to solve the problem of precision fertilizer and soil testing and fertilization.

Factors Determining the Variability of Performance of Bio-Control Agents against Root-Knot Nematodes in Vegetable Plants

The application of management strategies against plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs), an alternative to the use of toxic nematicides, has become of paramount importance due to the recognized environmental impact. Pre-treatments with bio-control agents (BCAs), such as bio-control fungi (BCF, Trichoderma spp.) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), have been proved to protect many crop plants from endoparasitic sedentary nematodes (ESNs), the most damaging PPN group. However, the use of commercial BCA formulates is not always successful because of an array of variables that influence their performance. One AMF-based and 2 BCF-based commercial formulates were used as soil-drench pre-treatments to protect tomato, egg, and pepper plants from ESN attack. High variability of performance occurred according to the growth stage of treated plants and the amounts of formulates provided per plant. All formulates were highly effective in reducing both root-knot (RKN) and potato cyst (PCN) nematode infection when plants had reached an intermediate growth stage (3.5–5 g plant weight at treatment). However, only specific ranges of doses had to be used. Lower doses were ineffective against nematode attack; higher doses were often toxic to plants. When plants were grown from seeding in BCA-enriched soil, priming against RKNs was even more active. If plants were not challenged by nematodes, BCAs had a low bio-fertilizer effect.

The Response of the Amazon Ecosystem to the Photosynthetically Active Radiation Fields: Integrating Impacts of Biomass Burning Aerosol and Clouds in the NASA GEOS ESM

The Amazon experiences fires every year, and the resulting biomass burning aerosols, together with cloud particles, influence the penetration of sunlight through the atmosphere, increasing the ratio of diffuse to direct photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) reaching the vegetation canopy and thereby potentially increasing ecosystem productivity. In this study, we use the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) model running with coupled aerosol, cloud, radiation, and ecosystem modules to investigate the impact of Amazon biomass burning aerosols on ecosystem productivity, as well as the role of the Amazon’s clouds in tempering the impact. The study focuses on a seven-year period (2010–2016) during which the Amazon experienced a variety of dynamic environments (e.g., La Niña, normal years, and El Niño). The radiative impacts of biomass burning aerosols on ecosystem productivity – call here the aerosol light fertilizer effect – are found to increase Amazonian Gross Primary Production (GPP) by 2.6 % via a 3.8 % increase in diffuse PAR (DFPAR) despite a 5.4 % decrease in direct PAR (DRPAR) on multiyear average. On a monthly basis, this increase in GPP can be as large as 9.9 % (occurring in August 2010). Consequently, the net primary production (NPP) in the Amazon is increased by 1.5 %, or ~92 TgCyr−1– equivalent to ~37 % of the carbon lost due to Amazon fires over the seven years considered. Clouds, however, strongly regulate the effectiveness of the aerosol light fertilizer effect. The efficiency of the fertilizer effect is highest for cloud-free conditions and linearly decreases with increasing cloud amount until the cloud fraction reaches ~0.8, at which point the aerosol-influenced light changes from being a stimulator to an inhibitor of plant growth. Nevertheless, interannual changes in the overall strength of the aerosol light fertilizer effect are primarily controlled by the large interannual changes in biomass burning aerosols rather than by changes in cloudiness during the studied period.

DCD on Mechanism of Improving Nitrogen Utilization and Application in Production of Slow-Release Fertilizers

This paper introduces the composition, properties and uses of DCD, the effect of DCD on various crop, summaries the fertilizer effect test of fertilizer Nano slow release agent, analyzes the economic benefit analysis of fertilizer Nano slow release agent.

Fertilizer effect of composted sewage sludge and cattle manure on Pelargonium growth

Sewage sludge is considered as a main product obtained from urban liquid effluents that are discharged into sanitation systems of wastewater treatment plants. The aim of this work was to reuse it as compost, after the dehydration process, to replace the amendment applied in agriculture and also to reduce the environmental pollution caused by solid wastes. To justify our biotechnological approach, nutrient characterization of the composted dewatered sewage sludge was carried out and compared to cattle manure. The contents of N, P, K, and the organic matter are 3.67, 5.64, 6.60 g·kg-1 dry matter (DM), and 70%, respectively, in compost and 3.1, 1.6, 3.0 g·kg−1 DM, and 55%, respectively, in manure. Fertilization tests with composted dewatered sewage sludge and cattle manure were performed on Pelargonium inquinans. Monitoring the length of the first internodes showed an improvement of 4.2 mm in the length in compost plants with a development of 22.8 buds and 8.2 flower buds (19.4 buds and 4.4 flower buds developed in manure plants). It appears that the intake of composted dewatered sewage sludge ensures better growth for the studied plant due to its richness in nutrients, which confirms the beneficial effect of composting sewage sludge on plant cultivation.

PENGARUH DOSIS PUPUK ORGANIK CAIR TERHADAP PERTUMBUHAN DAN HASIL TANAMAN TERUNG (Solanum melongena L.)

This research aimed to know the effect and optimum rates of liquid organic fertilizer on the growth and yield of Eggplant. The research used Randomized Block Designconsisted of 5 rates of liquid organic fertilizer;(M0 = control/without fertilizers, M1 = 1 liters ha-1, M2 = 1 ha-2 litres, M3 = 3 liters ha-1, M4 = 4 liters ha-1). The observed variable is the height of plants, number and leaf area, length of fruit, fruit diameter, number of fruit, the weight of fruit per plant, weight of fruit per hectare, fresh residues per plant, and fresh residues per hectare and harvest index. The result of experiment showed the rates of liquid organic fertilizer effect on percentage of the growth and yield of eggplant; they are; height of plants(6,22%), leaf number (28,20%), leaf area (29,58%), length of eggplant (43,11%), eggplant diameter (9,00%), number of eggplant (22,03%), weight of eggplant per plant (25,62%), weight of eggplant per hectare (16,70%), fresh residues per plant (28,58%), residues per hectare (34,93%), and harvest index (53,91%). Optimum rates of liquid organic fertilizer which effect on the growth and yield of eggplant are about 4 litre ha-1.

Climate change via CO2 drawdown from astrophysically initiated atmospheric ionization?

Motivated by the occurrence of a moderately nearby supernova near the beginning of the Pleistocene, possibly as part of a long-term series beginning in the Miocene, we investigated whether nitrate rainout resulting from the atmospheric ionization of enhanced cosmic ray flux could have, through its fertilizer effect, initiated carbon dioxide drawdown. Such a drawdown could possibly reduce the greenhouse effect and induce the climate change that led to the Pleistocene glaciations. We estimate that the nitrogen flux enhancement onto the surface from an event at 50 pc would be of order 10%, probably too small for dramatic changes. We estimate deposition of iron (another potential fertilizer) and find it is also too small to be significant. There are also competing effects of opposite sign, including muon irradiation and reduction in photosynthetic yield caused by UV increase from stratospheric ozone layer depletion, leading to an ambiguous result. However, if the atmospheric ionization induces a large increase in the frequency of lightning, as argued elsewhere, the amount of nitrate synthesis should be much larger, dominate over the other effects and induce the climate change. More work needs to be done to clarify the effects on lightning frequency.