Plant Nutrition, Soil Fertility and Fertilizers
samira mohamadi; Fardin Sadegh-Zadeh; Mohammad AIi bahmanyar; mostafa emadi; mahdi ghajar- sepanlu
Abstract
Introduction: Recovery of nutrients from plant residues is a sustainable and economical method in agriculture. Considering the important role of nutrients, it is essential to supply these elements in the soil and achieve the appropriate yield. The amount of nutrients in the plant residues after harvesting ...
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Introduction: Recovery of nutrients from plant residues is a sustainable and economical method in agriculture. Considering the important role of nutrients, it is essential to supply these elements in the soil and achieve the appropriate yield. The amount of nutrients in the plant residues after harvesting is very variable due to the difference between the species used. Each plant residue contains some nutrients that during the decomposition process, these nutrients can be available to the soil and crops in different amounts. In more detail, considering that the excessive use of chemical fertilizers has caused environmental problems and unused plant residues in the environment have created problems for the environment and farmers, therefore, to solve these problems, recovering important elements such as silicon from plant residues can be effective in improving the quality and quantity of many different products and plants. Rice straw, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse are among the most common plant residues that have been studied in different studies to recover nutrients from them with different methods. In particular, rice straw is known as one of the most important plant residues that can be found in abundance in the north of Iran. Obviously, there is still a need for a better understanding of the amount of nutrients recovery from plant residues with different methods. And there is an effect of these elements on improving the condition of the soil. Considering that the excessive use of chemical fertilizers has caused environmental problems, as well as unused or underused plant residues in the environment have caused problems for the environment and farmers. The purpose of this study is to compare the residues of rice straw, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse and the methods of recovering nutrients from these residues in order to add macro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and micro-nutrients (iron, zinc, copper and manganese) into the soil.Materials and Methods: This research was carried out based on a factorial experiment in the form of a completely "randomized" design with three replications during 2022-2023. The treatments of plant residues in three levels (rice straw, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse) and the methods of recovering elements from these residues in five levels (biochar, straw, digestion, ash and ash with acid) were examined. Soil samples, from a depth of 0-25 cm and with silty loam texture were randomly taken from the forest parts of Mazandaran province, Iran, characterized by a Mediterranean climate, Csa type, with an average annual rainfall of 676 mm, and average air temperature of 14 ℃, and then were air-dried. After preparing the samples, the characteristics of the treatments, macronutrients and micronutrients, including pH, electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, and silicon were measured. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) assessed the statistical significance of the differences in the studied variables among the different treatments. Tukey test was used for the post-hoc comparisons at a p-level < 0.01. Prior to the statistical analysis, QQ-plots were used to check the normality of sample distribution, and the data were square root-transformed whenever necessary. Moreover, the principal component analysis (PCA) was used to cluster the studied variables in groups related to the studied treatments.Results and Discussion: The results of analysis of variance showed the effect of plant residues and element recovery method on all studied characteristics including soil characteristics (pH, electrical conductivity and organic carbon), macronutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) and micronutrients (silicon, manganese, copper, iron and zinc) were significant at the probability level of 1%. The results showed that the biochar treatment of rice straw had the maximum amount of pH (7.66), organic carbon (2.61%), nitrogen (0.24%), phosphorus (46 mg/g), potassium (781 mg/g) and silicon (261.33 mg/g) compared to other treatments. Also, the results of the compare means showed that sugarcane bagasse biochar treatment had the maximum amount of manganese (25.01 mg/kg), zinc (3.20 mg/kg), iron (48.27 mg/kg) and copper (2.20 mg/kg) compared to other treatments. The application of principal component analysis showed that three distinct groups (for rice straw/biochar, sugarcane bagasse/biochar and control treatments) were demonstrated, without clear overlap of the points related to these treatments and their element recovery methods.Conclusions: In general, this study confirmed that the treatment of rice straw residues and the method of recovering its elements through biochar play a significant role in increasing the quality and fertility of the soil and can be recommended to farmers.
Soil Chemistry and Pollution
Hadi Habiby; Alireza Movahedi; Mojtaba Khoshravesh; Alireza Saberi
Abstract
Introduction Increasing the yield and, consequently, increasing the concentration of macro and micro nutrients in the plant is one of the important aspects of agriculture. The improvement of the quality and quantity of some elements, such as potassium, zinc, and iron in the soil can cause an increase ...
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Introduction Increasing the yield and, consequently, increasing the concentration of macro and micro nutrients in the plant is one of the important aspects of agriculture. The improvement of the quality and quantity of some elements, such as potassium, zinc, and iron in the soil can cause an increase in the yield of the crop and the concentration of these elements in plant tissues. The increase in the concentration of these elements in plants can be effective in the health of livestock and consequently the health of humans. One of the new approaches that can be used in this field is the use of magnetic water. Magnetic water is obtained by passing water from a magnetic field. An externally applied magnetic field causes changes in the atomic, molecular, and electronic structure of the treated water, such as changes to its solidifying and boiling points, viscosity and the dielectric constant, the formation of clustering structures from linear and ring hydrogen-bound chains of molecules, the magnetic interaction between these clustering structures, and increasing the polarization effects of water molecules. The biological effects of magnetic field or electromagnetic field treatments depend on the strength and exposure period of water conditioning, in particular, the ion content, quality, and the volume of water. Materials and Methods For this purpose, a field experiment was conducted in a factorial arrangement with two main treatments, adding and without adding potassium and zinc fertilizers, and five sub-treatments (magnetic field strengths, including a 0.4 Electromagnetic Coil (EC), 0.3 magnet, 0.3 EC, 0.1 EC, and the control treatment) in four replications at Research Station of Goran University of Agricultural and Natural Resources. The size of each experimental plot was 2 m × 2.5 m. Corn was planted in each plot with the distances of 15 cm from each other and rows with distances of 70 cm from each other. An electromagnetic coil and a permanent magnet were used to create a magnetic field. Water was passed from the middle of this magnetic field through a hose and the plots were irrigated with this magnetic water. The irrigation was conducted based on soil moisture content and continued until the harvest and drying of the plants. Soil and plant samples were taken at two flowering and harvesting stages and were transferred to the laboratory for analyzation. Concentrations of Zn and Fe in the soil and plant tissues were measured. Statistical analysis was performed using the SAS software. Results and Discussion The results of this study showed that all the plots that were irrigated by magnetic water had corn plants with greater height and more yield was obtained than the control treatments. This could be due to the ease of absorbing water from the soil. Magnetic water has lower surface tension than untreated water, so the plant needs less force to absorb water from soil particles. Also, the plants that were irrigated by magnetic water had higher concentrations (P <0.01) of elements such as zinc and iron in their cobs. Magnetic water can increase the availability of the elements in the soil. So, more concentration of elements can be absorbed by the roots and transferred to the aerial parts of the plants. Among the magnetic water treatments, 0.4 Tesla strength treatment had the highest effect on the yield and corn height, as well as zinc and iron concentration in cobs (P <0.01). Higher strengths of the magnetic field (0.4 T) had more effect on the availability of elements in the soil and their absorption by the plants. The yield of corn in 0.4 EC, 0.3 M, 0.3 EC, and 0.1 EC treatments that potassium and zinc fertilizers were added to them increased as compared to the control. So, increasing the strength of the magnetic field had more effects on some soil properties. The treatments that K and Zn fertilizers were added to them had more yield than other treatments that these fertilizers were not added to them. This could be attributed to the fact that magnetic water has increased the solubility of K and Zn fertilizers. In fact, magnetic water has been able to increase the uptake of Zn from the soil. Conclusion These results indicate that the magnetization of water can be used as an appropriate approach to increase the quantity and quality of product yield and the concentration of the elements in the crops.
Plant Nutrition, Soil Fertility and Fertilizers
banafsheh rezaee niko; Naeimeh Enayatizamir; mojtaba norozi masir
Abstract
Introduction Zinc is one of the imperative micronutrients required relatively in small concentrations in tissues for healthy growth and reproduction of plants. Zinc deficiency in plants leads to reduced membrane integrity and synthesis of carbohydrates, auxins, nucleotides, cytochromes, and chlorophyll ...
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Introduction Zinc is one of the imperative micronutrients required relatively in small concentrations in tissues for healthy growth and reproduction of plants. Zinc deficiency in plants leads to reduced membrane integrity and synthesis of carbohydrates, auxins, nucleotides, cytochromes, and chlorophyll and develops susceptibility to heat stress. The solubility of Zn is highly dependent upon soil pH and moisture and hence arid and semiarid areas are often zinc-deficient. The use of microorganisms with the aim of improving nutrients availability for plants is an important practice and necessary for agriculture. Zinc-solubilizing microorganisms can solubilize zinc from inorganic and organic pools of total soil zinc and can be utilized to increase zinc availability to plants. Therefore, the present study was carried out to isolate and characterize native zinc-solubilizing bacteria from Zea mays rhizosphere and evaluate their zinc-solubilizing potential and the effect of zinc solubilizing isolate on Zea mays growth.Materials and Methods: In vitro zinc solubilization assay of isolates was done using 0.1% zinc from zinc oxide in both plate and broth assays. Actively growing cultures of each isolates were spot-inoculated (7 µL) onto the agar and plates were incubated at 28°C for 48 h. The clearing zone around colony was recorded. Quantitative study of zinc solubilization was studied in 150 mL conical flasks containing 50 mL of liquid mineral salt medium. The broth was inoculated with 10 µL of overnight grown bacterial inoculum and incubated for 72 h at 160 rpm in an incubator shaker at 28°C. After incubation, the culture broth was centrifuged and the concentration of Zn in the supernatant was estimated in atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Among these isolates, 18 isolates with a solubility index of 1 and higher were selected based on morphological, biochemical and physiological characteristics for further studies. An isolate with more ability to dissolve zinc, phosphorus, potassium and auxin production were selected for investigation the effect of isolate on Zea mays growth. Maize seeds of cultivable variety were surface sterilized with 1% sodium hypochlorite for 5 min and washed several times with sterile distilled water. Seeds were treated with inoculum containing 108 cfu•g−1 of isolate. A factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with five replications was conducted. The treatments included two levels of bacteria B1 (control), B2 (Stenotrophomonas) and zinc sulfate fertilizer at three levels of Zn0 (control), Zn20 (20 kg/ha) and Zn40 (40 kg/ha). After 60 days of sowing, plants were removed from the tubes carefully and biometric parameters like root length, shoot length and dry mass of plants were recorded as the indicative of plant growth. Results and Discussion: A total of 50 bacterial isolates were isolated from corn rhizosphere. Of all, sixteen isolates showed solubilization halo on plate agar medium. Among the cultures, Z1, Z3, Z16 and Z12 showed the highest solubilisation zone in ZnO amended medium with maximum solubility index (1.3). Quantitative assay for zinc solubilisation revealed that Z14 were able to dissolve 44.8 ppm from ZnO in liquid medium. While solubility index of this isolate was lower that above mentioned isolates (1). Of all, the isolate Z14 with highest zinc solubilisation by broth assay was characterized and identified as Stenotrophomonasspecies based on Gram-negtive reaction and other biochemical and physiological properties. This isolate was able to produce auxin and dissolve insoluble phosphorus and potassium from the source tricalcium phosphate and vermiculte, respectively. One of these strains (Z14), Stenotrophomonas was used as inoculum in corn culture. Seed bacterization of maize with zinc solubilising Stenotrophomonas enhanced the plant growth significantly after 15 days. Results indicated a significant interaction effect of bacterium and fertilizer on shoot dry weight and chlorophyll content (p < 0.01). The maximum spad index and wet weight of aerial part obtained at present of bacterium and without using of zinc sulfate. The main effect of bacterium on wet and dry weight of root and wet weight of aerial part, root length and shoot height was significant (p < 0.01). َApplication of bacterium in all treatments caused to increased all measured parameters in th eperesence of zinc fertilizer or absence of zinc fertilizer.Conclusion: PGPR is known as a group of useful rhizospheric bacteria that increase plant growth. Today, the increasing use of PGPRs in agriculture as an alternative to chemical fertilizers to prevent environmental contamination.
Arezoo Mohammadi; Mohammad Bahmanyar; Mehdi Ghajar Sepanlou
Volume 36, Issue 1 , September 2013, , Pages 1-11
Abstract
Salinity limited plant growth and will decrease the yield with decrease in solution osmotic pressure, nutrient imbalance and toxicity of some specific elements. Application of amendment materials such as gypsum and cattle manure can adjust the undesirable effects and increase the nutrient elements in ...
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Salinity limited plant growth and will decrease the yield with decrease in solution osmotic pressure, nutrient imbalance and toxicity of some specific elements. Application of amendment materials such as gypsum and cattle manure can adjust the undesirable effects and increase the nutrient elements in leaf and grain. In this regard a pot experiment was conducted during 2009 growing season based on split factorial with four replications in complete randomize design. In this experiment the main factor was inclusive different level of salinity in irrigation water {0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 dS/m as NaCl and CaCl2 (1:1 w/w)} and subsidiary factors were inclusive gypsum (0, 15 and 30 ton/ha) and the cattle manure (0 and 30 ton/ha). The results showed that increasing the salinity content of irrigation water causes reduce the amount of phosphorus and increase nitrogen and potassium in wheat leaves. Also, with increasing in salinity of irrigation water the amounts of phosphorus and potassium in grain decreased and the amount of nitrogen in grain increased. Application of gypsum increased the amounts of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium 6.31, 10.89 and 14.82 percent in leaves and the amounts of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium 10.32, 10.84 and 3.45 percent in grain, respectively. Using manure at different salinity treatments was significant affecting on the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in leaves and phosphorus and potassium in grain. The highest amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in leaves and grain were obtained using 15 and 30 tons of gypsum per ha while the highest amount of potassium in leaves and grain were obtained using 30 tons of gypsum per ha.
Elahe Hasanzade; Mehdi Ghajar Sepanlou; Mohammad Bahmanyar
Volume 36, Issue 1 , September 2013, , Pages 77-85
Abstract
In order to study the effect of potassium and manure fertilizer on yield and concentration of macro elements in leaf and grain of wheat (N-81-18 cultivar) under water stress, a pot experiment was conducted in split plot based on randomized complete design with four replications in 2009-2010 crop years. ...
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In order to study the effect of potassium and manure fertilizer on yield and concentration of macro elements in leaf and grain of wheat (N-81-18 cultivar) under water stress, a pot experiment was conducted in split plot based on randomized complete design with four replications in 2009-2010 crop years. The main factor was inclusive irrigation after depletion of 75, 50 and 25 percent of available water, and the subsidiary factor was inclusive potassium sulfate in three levels (0, 300 and 600 kg/ha) as well as manure fertilizer in three levels (0, 20 and 40 ton/ha). Results indicated that irrigation treatment had a significant effect on grain yield and elements of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in leaf and grain at p-1 manure fertilizer and the greatest amount of phosphorous of leaf was observed with consumption of 20 and 40 tons ha-1of manure fertilizer. The maximum amount of grain yield was achieved in irrigation treatment after depletion of 25% available water and usage of 40 ton ha-1manure fertilizer. Grain potassium was increased with the consumption of 300 and 600 kg/ha-1 potassium sulfate.
