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.
N moallemi; Esmaeil Khaleghi; Abas Danaeifar
Abstract
Acacia with the scientific name Acacia salicina is a tree or shrub from the leguminous family and a nitrogen fixer. This species is native to dry areas in southern Australia. In some areas, this species is used as a source of fodder for livestock, for ornamental purposes, and for revival areas without ...
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Acacia with the scientific name Acacia salicina is a tree or shrub from the leguminous family and a nitrogen fixer. This species is native to dry areas in southern Australia. In some areas, this species is used as a source of fodder for livestock, for ornamental purposes, and for revival areas without vegetation. Climate change is one of the most important concerns of the world's growing population. Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses that affects the nutritional status of plants. Stresses constantly affect the growth and development of plants, which are considered the most important factors of yield reduction in the world. Stresses are the result of abnormal physiological processes that are caused by one or a combination of biological and environmental factors, and drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses that affect growth and performance, as well as this Stress can cause plant death and limits approximately 25% of agricultural production. One of the most common ways to withstand drought stress is the use of super absorbent polymers. Commercial superabsorbent polymers are hygroscopic materials similar to sugar, and the shape of these polymers must be maintained after absorbing water and swelling. They don't have harm for soil, plants and environment. Considering the increase in temperature and pollution the purpose of this research is the effect of using three types of super absorbent polymers to increase N.P.K. absorption, water retention, reduce irrigation, reduce costs and improve the growth of acacia plants under drought stress conditions for cultivation in areas free of vegetation in Khuzestan to contrast with fine dust. In order to improve the nutritional status of acacia, a research was conducted using three types of superabsorbent polymers in three concentrations at three levels of drought stress in a factorial format in a completely randomized block design with three replications in the agricultural faculty of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz. The results showed that the use of superabsorbent polymers significantly increases the amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus absorption by leaves, stems and roots. The concentration of 2 g/kg of A200 hydrogel in the first week increased leaf nitrogen by 12.85%, leaf phosphorus by 17.64%, stem nitrogen by 50.29% and root nitrogen by 4.96%. In the first week, SNF superabsorbent had the highest amount of potassium in stem and phosphorus in the root. Among the hydrogels, SNF superabsorbent polymer had the highest amount of phosphorus in the stem in the second week and a concentration of 1 g/kg, and this increase was significant compared to some treatments, and the lowest amount of phosphorus in the stem were obtained s in the treatment of the first week and a concentration of 0 g/kg Super absorbent polymer A200 and SNF. Increasing the concentration of super absorbent polymers increased the amount of phosphorus in the stem in most cases. increase in the intensity of drought stress caused a decrease in the amount of leaf nitrogen compared to non-stressed conditions, so that the lowest amount of nitrogen was obtained in the third week of treatment with SNF superabsorbent polymer at a concentration of 0 g/kg, which caused a decrease of 29.04% compared to the control. The increase in the severity of drought stress caused a decrease in the amount of phosphorus in leaves compared to the first week, so that the lowest amount of phosphorus was obtained in the second week in the concentration of 2 g/kg of SNF,which had a decrease of 52.94% compared to the control. intensity of drought stress and increasing the frequency of irrigation caused a decrease in the amount of nitrogen in the stem, so that the lowest amount of nitrogen was obtained in the third week and the concentration of 0 g/kg of Barbari hydrogel, which was a 32.16% decrease compared to the control. The lowest amount of root phosphorus was obtained in the third week of treatment with a concentration of 2 grams per kilogram of Barbarii superabsorbent polymer, which caused a decrease of 54.54% compared to the control. Based on the results of this research, the use of A200 superabsorbent polymer compared to other hydrogels had the greatest effect on the nutritional status of the plant and the absorption of N.P.K elements.
Parstoo Aslani; Masoud Davari; Mohammad Ali Mahmoodi; Farzad Hosseinpanahi; Naser Khaleghpanah
Abstract
Introduction Soil quality is one aspect of sustainable agroecosystem management. The application of zeolite minerals alone or in combination with other soil amendments (organic and inorganic fertilizers) can, directly or indirectly, affect soil quality indicators. Considering the unique characteristics ...
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Introduction Soil quality is one aspect of sustainable agroecosystem management. The application of zeolite minerals alone or in combination with other soil amendments (organic and inorganic fertilizers) can, directly or indirectly, affect soil quality indicators. Considering the unique characteristics of zeolites, such as the low-cost and abundance of its mines in Iran and the large area of wheat cultivation in Kurdistan province, the need to study the effect of zeolite application on soil properties and wheat yield becomes apparent. Although there is a lot of research on the impact of zeolite on improving soil properties and increasing the yield of various crops, few studies have been done on its residual effects. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of zeolite and nitrogen (N) application on some basic soil properties, N efficiency, and wheat yield under field conditions after two years of zeolite application. Materials and MethodsBefore conducting the research, a composite soil sample from the soil surface (0 to 30 cm depth) was collected and analyzed to assess the farm's soil properties. The experiment was laid out in a split-plot based on a randomized complete block design with three replications at the University of Kurdistan research farm in Dehgolan. The main plots consisted of natural zeolite at four levels (0, 5, 10, and 15 ton. ha-1). Within each main plot, subplots were subjected to nitrogen applications at five levels (0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 kg. ha-1). Urea fertilizer was used to supply the required nitrogen. Zeolite was only utilized in 2018 and mixed into the surface layer of soil. The experiment was repeated in 2019 except for no addition of zeolite. The field was under potato cultivation in the first year of the experiment and followed by wheat crop in the second year. Wheat cultivation (Pishgam cultivar) was done in 2019 by grain seeders in plots with dimensions of 4.5 × 8.25 m. At the end of cultivation season, harvest was done from each plot, and some plant traits (grain protein, thousand-grain weight, spike number, grain number in spike, an economic yield of the plant, biological yield of plant, harvest index, and chlorophyll concentration) were measured. In order to investigate the effect of zeolite on basic soil properties, soil samples were collected from plots in the second year after harvest, and a number of physical and chemical properties of the soil were measured (dry bulk density (ρb), particle density (ρp), total porosity (f), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), electrical conductivity (EC), soil reaction (pH), cation exchange capacity (CEC), and total soil nitrogen (TN)). Statistical analysis of data was performed using SAS 8.02 software.Results and DiscussionThe results from the second year indicated that the applications of zeolite or nitrogen alone or in combination with each other decreased dry bulk density and particle density of soil, but increased total porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, electrical conductivity, soil reaction, and cation exchange capacity. The porous structure of zeolite helps improve soil structure and increase porosity, thereby reducing the bulk density of the soil. Also, zeolites can affect the soil hydraulic conductivity due to channels in their structure. Zeolite is not acidic but marginally alkaline, and its use with fertilizers can help buffer soil pH levels. The very open structure of the zeolite and the similar pore network create a high specific surface area for the storage and exchange of nutrients. Therefore, different salts can be absorbed or desorbed from the zeolite structure. Desorption of salts from the zeolite can increase EC in the soil. The high cation exchange capacity and porosity of zeolite increase soil CEC, which increases the soil's ability to retain nutrients such as ammonium. The results also revealed that the grain protein, thousand-grain weight, spike number, grain number in spike, an economic yield of the plant, biological yield of plant and harvest index, with mean increasing about 37%, 6%, 30%, 15%, 43%, 26% and 7%, respectively, compared with the control, were significantly affected by zeolite and nitrogen applications, and also zeolite and nitrogen interaction. However, the chlorophyll concentration was not meaningfully influenced by them. Increased grain yield can be attributed to reduced nitrogen leaching and increased soil water holding capacity in the presence of zeolite, which improves nitrogen status and the availability of water for growth. Drought stress significantly affects grain yield, harvest index, thousand-grain weight, spike number, grain number in spike, and plant height. The use of zeolite can maintain soil moisture for a longer period and mitigate the adverse effects of drought stress on the crops.ConclusionThe improved agronomic traits and enhanced grain yield potentials induced by zeolite amendment were related to decreased drought stress in wheat crops and the increase in soil quality indicators and N uptake. The zeolite application probably enhanced NH4+–N retention in the topsoil and prevented NO3-–N from leaching into the subsoil. In general, the results showed that the combined application of zeolite and N can be a beneficial approach for increasing nitrogen fertilizer efficiency and improving the sustainability of agricultural systems.
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.
Volume 34, Issue 2 , March 2011, , Pages 69-84
Abstract
To study the effects of irrigation water salinity, nitrogen, and foliar application of calcium chloride on yield and growth indices of pepper, a factorial pot experiment was carried out in Znajan Agricultural Research Center in 2010 using a completely randomized design and three replications. In this ...
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To study the effects of irrigation water salinity, nitrogen, and foliar application of calcium chloride on yield and growth indices of pepper, a factorial pot experiment was carried out in Znajan Agricultural Research Center in 2010 using a completely randomized design and three replications. In this experiment, four levels of nitrogen (0, 75, 150 and 300 mg/kg), four levels of salinity (0.7, 1.5, 3 and 6 dS/m) and two levels of foliar spray (with and without spray) were used. Analysis of variance showed that the effects of salinity were significant on yield, number of fruit, length and diameter of fruit, dry weights of root, plant height and dry weights of leaf and fruit, and these parameters decreased as the salinity levels increased. Yield and growth indices of pepper plant increased as the nitrogen levels increased, but fruit length and diameter were not affected by nitrogen application. Foliar application of calcium chloride was not effective on growth indices of pepper under saline conditions. But interactive effects of salinity and nitrogen was significant on plant yield. When the salinity levels of treatments were 0.7 or 1.5 dS/m, the plant yield increased as the nitrogen levels increased. However under the salinity levels of 3 dS/m, the plant yield increased when the nitrogen levels did not exceed 150 mg/kg. At higher salinity level (6 dS/m), application of nitrogen decreased the plant yield as compared to control.
