Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment最新文献

Albrecht, K. A.,Contreras-Govea, F. E., Munaiz, E. D., Bures, E. J., & Arriaga, F. J. (2025). Performance of drought-tolerant maize for silage or grain in conventional and Kura clover perennial groundcover cropping systems. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment, 8, e70255.https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.70255

The affiliation for co-author Eduardo D. Munaiz was incomplete. The original affiliation is listed as “UniLaSalle, College of Agrosciences, Beauvais, France.” It has now been updated to “UniLaSalle, College of Agrosciences, AGHYLE UP 2018.C101, Beauvais, France.”

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With the increasing availability of soil water sensing technologies for irrigation management, it is essential to compare sensor options in production field settings. In this study, four soil water sensors—CropX, FieldNet with Watermark sensors, Valley Aqua Trac Lite using Sentek probe, and Aqua Trac Pro with Watermark sensors—were compared with Acclima TDR-310H (where TDR is time domain reflectometry) at four depths during the 2021–2023 growing seasons in three production fields in southeastern North Dakota. The Acclima sensor was calibrated in the same fields where the sensors were installed and was considered the reference standard for comparison with the other sensors. Soil water characteristic curves were developed to convert soil water potential from Watermark sensors from FieldNet and Valley Aqua Trac Pro systems to volumetric water content for comparison to other sensors. Overall, Aqua Trac Lite and CropX had mixed results at all depths (root mean square error [RMSE] typically above 0.05 cm³ cm⁻³). Lindsay and Aqua Trac Pro had better (smaller) RMSE across depths at sites 1 and 3 compared to CropX and Aqua Trac Lite. As expected, measured soil water contents varied over time for all sensors (i.e., significant main effect for timestamp [p < 0.05]). However, the sensor type's effect on θ_v was consistent across all 3 years (i.e., main effect for sensor type [p < 0.05] but there was no interaction with timestamp [p > 0.05]). These results will help farmers and crop consultants understand sensor performance when selecting soil water sensors for irrigation management.

Maintaining soil fertility and enhancing food production on smallholder farms in Ethiopia remain a major challenge due to severe nutrient depletion caused by continuous cropping with minimal external nutrient inputs. In this context, a field study was conducted on Nitisols over two consecutive cropping seasons (2022–2023) across four locations to evaluate the effects of combining bio-slurry with inorganic fertilizer on selected soil chemical properties, wheat yield, and economic feasibility. The experiment consisted of 11 treatments comprising sole and integrated applications of liquid bio-slurry, dry bio-slurry, vermicompost, and nitrogen fertilizer from urea. Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block design with three replications. The results showed that the integrated use of bio-slurry with inorganic fertilizer significantly improved soil chemical properties, wheat yield, yield attributes, and overall economic profitability. The combined treatments increased grain yield by 84%–102% compared to the untreated plot, with the highest yield (3835.2 kg ha⁻¹) achieved with 50% N from urea and 50% N from liquid bio-slurry. Specifically, 75% N from urea combined with 25% N from liquid bio-slurry produced the highest grain yields in Hula and Basoliben, while 100% N from urea supplemented with 25% N from liquid and dry bio-slurries provided the maximum yields in Welmera and Ejere districts, respectively. In conclusion, the integrated application of bio-slurry and inorganic fertilizer enhances soil chemical properties, improves wheat yield and its components, and offers a promising approach for sustainable intensification of smallholder wheat production in Nitisols of the study areas and similar agro-ecologies.

Reduced tillage (RT) is a common conservation agriculture practice, generally regarded to be a valuable greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation approach through increasing soil carbon (C) stocks. However, direct GHG measurements from RT compared to conventional tillage (CT) treatments can vary greatly depending on site-specific soil properties and management practices. The objective of this study was to evaluate the short-term effects of RT on soil-to-atmosphere carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) fluxes and emissions, global warming potential (GWP), yield, and emissions intensity (EI) throughout the 2024 soybean (Glycine max) growing season in a southeast Arkansas production field. Bulk density was lower (p < 0.05) in the CT (1.29 g cm⁻³) than in the RT (1.44 g cm⁻³) treatment at the beginning of the growing season, but the greater bulk density in the RT treatment did not result in a change in yield compared to CT. There was no difference in CO₂ fluxes between tillage treatments on any measurement date. Methane fluxes from CT were greater (p < 0.05) than from RT on four out of seven measurement dates. Nitrous oxide fluxes were greater (p < 0.05) from CT than RT and greater from RT than CT on four out of eight measurement dates each. Season-long CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O emissions and EI, as well as GWP, did not differ (p > 0.05) between RT and CT. Results showed that more continuous RT practices are needed to develop a residue layer capable of affecting GHG emissions.

The golf industry is undergoing a technological transformation with the integration of autonomous solutions for turf maintenance. The implementation of autonomous mowers (AMs) offers the potential for maintaining low cutting heights at high frequencies, thereby reducing soil compaction and labor requirements. In this case study conducted at Montecchia Golf Course in Italy, a comparative analysis was performed between AMs set to work with a daily mowing frequency and reel mowers set to work two times per week at 16 mm mowing height focusing on turf quality, color, normalized difference vegetation index, root growth, and soil moisture, temperature, and surface hardness. Economic and environmental evaluations, including cost analysis and local CO₂ emissions, were also taken into account to assess the two mowing managements. Results indicate that although the reel mower exhibited superior turf quality in May, July, August, and September and turf color during all the study period (May, June, July, August, and September), AMs maintained acceptable standards while providing significant cost and environmental advantages, notably reduced CO₂ emissions. This research supports informed decision-making for turf managers contemplating the adoption of autonomous mowing technology.

The composition and breakdown paths of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) and urea are different, but there is limited information on how soil properties relate to ammonia volatilization loss from surface-applied, unincorporated UAN and urea on various soils. Controlled environment incubation experiments were conducted to evaluate ammonia volatilization potential of commonly used urea-containing fertilizers, and to correlate these losses to selected soil properties. A completely randomized design with four replicates was used to evaluate and correlate ammonia loss from urea and UAN applied onto eight soils at a rate of 134 kg N ha⁻¹. Urea was more susceptible to ammonia loss (21% of applied N) than UAN (3.3% of applied N) in soils with pH < 7. In contrast, the losses from UAN were either higher or comparable to urea for soils with pH > 7. A significant and strong relationship was evident between ammonia loss from UAN and soil pH (R² = 0.84), soil organic matter (R² = 0.65), clay content (R² = 0.69), and container capacity (R² = 0.90). In contrast, the loss relationships observed for the urea and these properties were insignificant. Stepwise regression analysis identified clay content and soil pH as the most influential factors affecting ammonia loss from both urea and UAN applications. In conclusion, high initial soil pH significantly increases ammonia loss for surface-applied UAN but not for urea, suggesting that different soil management strategies may be needed depending on the N fertilizer source used.

Precise nondestructive methods for monitoring soil water content (SWC) are essential for maintaining plant growth and metabolic activity. In this study, an inductance-based monitoring system was developed using a solenoid-coil sensor for continuous in situ SWC measurements. Three plant species, Melissa officinalis L., Ficus benghalensis L., and Podocarpus macrophyllus (Thunb.) Sweet, were selected as the experimental plants based on their distinct leaf morphologies and stomatal traits. In the control experiments, the inductance variation showed a strong linear correlation with soil moisture meter-based SWC (r² = 0.900, p < 0.001). When the system was applied to live experimental plants, plant species-specific differences in water consumption rates were monitored. The system showed a strong relationship between photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm) and the inductance-based SWC. These results indicate that the inductance measurement system supports rapid, reliable, and noninvasive plant cultivation based on an accurate watering schedule and enhanced water-use efficiency.

Effective nitrogen management is vital for maximizing yield and maintaining soil health in Basmati rice cultivation. A 2-year field study (2023–2024) was carried out to investigate the effects of integrated nitrogen management on yield traits, grain quality, and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in three Basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars: Pusa Basmati 1718, Pusa Basmati 1847, and Pusa Basmati 1886. The experiment employed a split-plot design, with cultivars as main plots and six nitrogen treatments in sub-plots, incorporating prilled urea, foliar nano urea, and green manuring in various combinations. Pusa Basmati 1847 consistently showed superior performance in panicle length, grain count, 1000-grain weight, and overall yield. Among nitrogen regimes, the treatment comprising 75% prilled urea combined with a single nano urea spray and green manuring achieved the highest grain yield (5.29 t ha⁻¹), biological yield (11.97 t ha⁻¹), and NUE (32.33%). Integrated nitrogen approaches significantly improved nitrogen accumulation in both grain and straw without depleting residual soil nitrogen. These findings highlight the potential of combining conventional fertilizers with nano and organic sources to enhance productivity, grain quality, and nitrogen use efficiency in aromatic rice systems.

Agronomic practices for good crop performance vary with variety and growing conditions. A split-plot experiment was conducted in the dry season in southwestern Ethiopia to determine growth, yield component, and yield responses of medium- and late-maturing hybrid maize (Zea mays L.) varieties (BH-546 and BH-661, respectively) to different plant densities (39,216, 44,444, 47,059, 51,282, 53,333, 58,824, 61,538, 66,667, and 76,923 plants ha⁻¹) and to optimize the plant density for offseason hybrid maize production in the hot-submoist tropical environment of the study area. Both variety and plant density significantly affected most growth traits and yield components considered, while their interaction significantly affected grain yield and harvest index. The late-maturing variety provided higher growth and yield components than the medium-maturing variety. The higher plant density (66,667 and 76,923 plants ha⁻¹) showed a higher leaf area index and biomass yield followed by 53,333 plants ha⁻¹. However, the higher plant density (76,923 plants ha⁻¹) produced a smaller stalk diameter, leaf area, cobs, and 1000-grain weight than the other plant densities. The late-maturing variety planted at 66,667 plants ha⁻¹ and the medium-maturing variety planted at 53,333 plants ha⁻¹ produced a higher grain yield with a higher economic return than the other variety–plant density combinations, suggesting that these plant densities can be used for hybrid maize production under irrigation system in the offseason in the study area. This study also pinpointed that the optimum plant density for offseason maize production differs from that is recommended for the rainy season (44,444 plants ha⁻¹).

High-protein wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain is useful for bread flour, and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) can be useful in predicting crop yields and assessing overall crop health in response to a wide variety of management systems. However, protein and NDVI responses to nitrogen rates in systems containing cover crops have been understudied in spring wheat. Protein, grain yield, and NDVI measurements were collected during the spring wheat phase of spring wheat–pea (Pisum Sativum L.)/cover crop rotations in different plots in 2018 and 2019 at the Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory, Mandan, ND. Grain protein concentration increased with nitrogen (N) rate, but not every level of N rate was significantly different. This result suggests that preceding pea then cover crop mixture can slightly reduce the nitrogen fertilizer requirements of subsequent spring wheat. Spring wheat NDVI did not significantly respond to categorical nitrogen rates, but continuous N rate had a small positive effect. Adding NDVI heterogeneity (as measured by the nugget:sill ratio) improved peak NDVI-based spring wheat grain yield predictions at the relatively small scales that were measured.