Aspects of soil fertility and nutrition of Pinus taeda L: A review

Cerrados are the savanna-like vegetation of central Brazil. The first accounts on Cerrado soilsCerrado soils date back to the 1950´s, but increasing knowledge about soil characteristics under this vegetation derived from the outstanding expansion of modern agriculture on mostly low fertility, acid and deep cerrado soilsCerrado soils. We report the current knowledge about soils under Cerrado vegetation within the Brazilian territory, emphasizing its genesis and classification considering the Brazilian System of Classification of Soils-SiBCS, and land use aspects. In central Brazil, the Cerrado Biome covers extensive areas of Goiás, Distrito Federal, Tocantins, Bahia, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Piauí, Rondônia and São Paulo states, and many disjunct, isolated areas across Brazil, occupying more than 2,000,000 km2. Geomorphologically, cerrados are mainly found on extensive highland plateaus, but also occur in gently dissected to hilly landforms. Most Cerrado soils are dystrophic (base saturation less than 50%), and the few eutrophic soils identified always present strong limitations to a normal plant development, either physical or chemical. With the exception of clayey Latossolos of high plateaus, practically all other soils, besides the low natural fertility, present some physical limitations to plant development, such as: presence of abundant gravels and/or concretions (petroplinthite, mainly); high water table; high stoniness or rockiness; low water holding capacity; sandy or medium light texture; shallow depths. The Latossolos with clayey texture of the Central Tablelands and Plateaus are the preferred soils for high tech grain production, and commonly have an acric character, with positive ΔpH, in addition to the low natural fertility. Other Latossolos under Cerrado are either (i) of medium texture and low water retention capacity, or (ii) are clayey with very low CEC. The high aluminum saturation (>50%), postulated by pioneer authors as a conditioning factor of the Cerrado vegetation is controversial, and has not been confirmed, since many soil surveys throughout Brazil revealed the occurrence of Cerrado vegetation on soils without high Al saturation (such as the acric types). It is consensual that Cerrado occurrence is more related to soil water availability than to soil fertility, even though Cerrado on waterlogged soils are also found. The Central Brazilian Plateau, representing the core area of Cerrado, is part of a very old and stable landmass, unaffected by marine invasions and glaciers, where widespread planation and erosion allowed a very extensive smooth surface to develop. Most vegetation in the Central Plateau has been subjected to Quaternary climate oscillations, from semiarid climates during glacial periods, to humid climates during interglacials. The common occurrence of Cerrado in the Central Plateau High Tablelands (Chapadas) is closely associated with deep Latossolos of clayey or very clayey texture. However, different types of Cerrado, from Grassy to Woodland (Cerradão), are found, and such variations cannot be explained solely by chemical or physical attributes, but rather by external, anthropogenic factors, such as burning intensity, cattle grazing and selective clearing for wood or charcoal production, besides topographical and hydrological attributes. Despite the general low fertility, high productivity and high yields of soya, sugarcane, eucalyptus, rice, wheat, cotton and maize are commonplace in the cerrados, highlighting the robust knowledge Brazil attained in converting low fertility soil into areas where two successive crops are now possible. However, conservation issues are now pressing, since Cerrado vegetation, a major biodiversity hotspot in the neotropics, is vanishing at alarming speed.

Relevance. The soil cover of the Komi Republic is dominated by podzolic and sodpodzolic soils, which are characterized by very low natural fertility, therefore, liming, organic and mineral fertilizers must be used to widely reproduce the fertility and productivity of these soils.Methods. The fodder crop rotation had the following alternation of crops: 1 — potatoes; 2 — vico-oat mixture with sowing of perennial grasses; 3 — perennial grasses of the 1st year of use; 4 — perennial grasses of the 2nd year of use; 5 — vico-oat mixture; 6 — potatoes. Organic fertilizers in the form of peat–manure compost (TNK) were introduced twice during the rotation of the crop rotation — for potatoes, mineral fertilizers in the form of Naa, Rsd and Kx during basic tillage, during the cultivation of perennial grasses, as well as during spring fertilizing of plants. To replenish the removal of nutrients by crops, annual doses of mineral fertilizers were N60P30K180 for potatoes, N40P32K116 for vico-oat mixture, and N40P32K108 for perennial grasses (Trifolium pratense + Phleum pratense). In the experiment were also used reduced doses (1/2 and 1/3 of the full dose of NPK).Results. The humus content increased by 0.5%, the exchange acidity decreased to 6.8 units of pHKCl, the hydrolytic acidity was 0.6 mmol/100 g of soil, the amount of mobile phosphorus was 312 mg/kg and the exchange potassium was 164 mg/kg of soil. A significant average yield of agricultural crops was obtained: potatoes — 7.0 t/ha, annual grasses — 4.4 t/ha and perennial grasses — 6.2 t/ha of dry matter with high quality

Detailed characterization of plinthic soils in Southern Mali, Sub-Saharan Africa, as a secure basis for specific soil management and food security

In the context of climate aridisation and high anthropogenic load on forest plantations, it is necessary to improve the reforestation system taking into account the production experience. The aim of the study has been to evaluate the growth and survival of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) crops created from 2014 to 2018 using planting material with open and closed root systems on a large-scale burnt area from 2010. The research has been conducted in the Klyuchevsky Forestry of the Altai Territory. 9 rectangular sample plots of at least 0.25 ha in size have been established. The reliability of differences in the average survival rate of forest crops formed from 2 types of planting material has been determined using the Mann-Whitney U-test. To assess the variability of forest crop survival, the Fisher criterion (F-test) has been used. The location and inventory characteristics of 5–9-year-old forest crops, current height increment values of pine trees, as well as graphs of the growth rate in height of self-seeding and pine crops have been given. It has been established that the average survival rate in 3 out of 4 forest crop plots obtained from seedlings with an open root system is higher than that of forest crops created from planting material with a closed root system. This is due to better weather conditions in the first 4–5 years of growth of forest crops from seedlings with an open root system. Trees grown from seedlings with an open root system are inferior in average height to trees of natural origin in the first 5–7 years after planting, but by the age of 9 years they are catching up with the latter in this indicator. Based on the conducted research, it is recommended to increase the planting density of seedlings with a closed root system to 4–6 thousand pcs/ha in dry steppe conditions. This research can be continued in the following directions: studying a larger number of forest crop plots planted in different years under different weather conditions, as well as observing morphological differences in trees formed from seedlings with open and closed root systems. The results obtained can be useful in designing forest crops and developing regional recommendations for reforestation in the Altai-Novosibirsk area of forest-steppes and ribbon forests.

Low natural soil fertility and inappropriate water and nutrient management practices are the main obstacles to millet productivity in the Sahelian zone of Mali. To increase millet productivity in Mali, this research was conducted at the Cinzana Agricultural Research Station during the 2013 and 2014 rainy seasons. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of water harvesting techniques and nutrient management options on: (i) pearl millet yield and (ii) harvest index. The soil water harvesting techniques evaluated were zaï, partitioned ridge, and conventional tillage (control). Cattle manure was applied at rates of 0 and 2,500 kg ha-1, while mineral fertilizers were applied at rates of 0; 20.5 kg N: 23 kg P2O5 ha-1 and 41 kg N: 46 kg P2O5 ha-1. The experimental design was a completely randomized block split-plot with three replicates. The results showed that millet grain yield increased from 47 to 67% under zaï and from 31.37 to 53.00% under partitioned ridges compared to conventional tillage. The application of cattle manure improved millet grain yield by 29 to 45% compared to the control. The application of mineral fertilizers improved millet grain yield by 34 to 54% compared to the control. The combined application of 41 kg N: 46 kg P2O5 ha-1 + M 2500 kg ha-1 increased grain yield from 1370 kg ha-1 in 2013 to 1716 kg ha-1 in 2014, while the increases in the control were from 433 kg ha-1 in 2013 to 846 kg ha-1 in 2014. Millet straw yield increased by 30 to 41% under zaï and by 25 to 37% under partitioned ridge compared to conventional tillage. The combined application of manure and mineral fertilizers improved straw yield by 23.37 to 35.00% and 18.80 to 27.17%, respectively, compared to the control. Mineral fertilizer application resulted in the highest harvest index (28.10%) compared to the control (22.01%). Therefore, the use of partitioned ridges and mineral fertilizers at a rate of 20.5 kg N: 23 kg P2O5 ha-1 with 2500 kg ha-1 of cattle manure could be a suitable option for improving millet productivity in Mali. Keywords: water harvesting technique, organic manure and mineral fertilizers, millet, Mali

This paper reports the results on the agronomic performance of organic amendments in the EU 7th FP project “FERTIPLUS—reducing mineral fertilizers and agro-chemicals by recycling treated organic waste as compost and bio-char”. Four case studies on field-scale application of biochar, compost and biochar-blended compost were established and studied for three consecutive years in four distinct cropping systems and under different agro-climatic conditions in Europe. These included the following sites: olive groves in Murcia (Spain), greenhouse grown tomatoes in Almeria (Spain), an arable crop rotation in Oost-Vlaanderen (Merelbeke, Belgium), and three vineyards in Friuli Venezia Giulia (Italy). A slow pyrolysis oak biochar was applied, either alone or in combination with organic residues: compost from olive wastes in Murcia (Spain), sheep manure in Almeria (Spain), and compost from biowaste and green waste in Belgium and Italy. The agronomical benefits were evaluated based on different aspects of soil fertility (soil total organic carbon (TOC), pH, nutrient cycling and microbial activity) and crop nutritional status and productivity. All amendments were effective in increasing soil organic C in all the field trials. On average, the increase with respect to the control was about 11% for compost, 20% for biochar-blended compost, and 36% for biochar. The amendments also raised the pH by 0.15–0.50 units in acidic soils. Only biochar had a negligible fertilization effect. On the contrary, compost and biochar-blended compost were effective in enhancing soil fertility by increasing nutrient cycling (25% mean increase in extractable organic C and 44% increase in extractable N), element availability (26% increase in available K), and soil microbial activity (26% increase in soil respiration and 2–4 fold enhancement of denitrifying activity). In general, the tested amendments did not show any negative effect on crop yield and quality. Furthermore, in vineyards and greenhouse grown tomatoes cropping systems, compost and biochar-blended compost were also effective in enhancing key crop quality parameters (9% increase in grape must acidity and 16% increase in weight, 9% increase in diameter and 8% increase in hardness of tomato fruits) important for the quality and marketability of the crops. The overall results of the project suggest that the application of a mixture of biochar and compost can benefit crops. Therefore, biochar-blended compost can support and maintain soil fertility.

Ultisol is a quite large of soil and have many constraints to be used as agricultural soil. Some of theconstraints are: Low level of the organic content, soil acidity, high level of Al saturation and lowCEC so that this land productivity is quite low. To increase the productivity can be done by increasethe availability of nutrient by adding organic compost i.e. Durian Shell compost and Cacao Shellcompost. The experiment was conducted in Completely Randomized Design methode with 3replications consistedof nine treatment. I.e by adding Durian’s Shell compost and Cacao’s Shellcompost consisting of ;1,5 g (Z1), 3,0 g (Z2), 4,5 g (Z3), 6,0 g (Z4)Durian’s Shell compost in every300 g Ultisol, and 1,5 g (C1), 3,0 g (C2), 4,5 g (C3), 6,0 (C4) Cacao’s Shell in every 300 g Ultisol,and Blanko treatment (Z0). The result shows that the addition of Durian’s Shell Compost andCacao’s Shell Compost give very real effect on Al-dd, and generally tend to increase the pH, CEC,Organic C, Total N of the soil and decrease the level of exchangeable Al.Keywords: ultisol, compost, aspects of soil fertility

About 3950 million ha (30%) of the total ice-free land area in the world is under acid soils. Acid soils are characterized by low fertility caused by high levels of Al, Mn, and Fe, and deficiencies of P, Ca, Mg, K, S, and Zn. Of these, Al toxicity and P deficiency seem to be the most important causes for low maize yields (about 400 kg/ha for land race cultivars) in these soils. Maize is a staple for millions of people in developing countries where imports are growing up by 1.5 million tons (7%) per year. There are at least two alternatives to increasing maize production in acid soils. The first is to use amendments (lime, gypsum) to correct soil acidity. This is expensive and not available for small farmers. Another disadvantage is that only the upper 30 cm of soil is corrected making maize roots to be concentrated in that layer and not growing beyond. The second approach is to develop tolerant cultivars. This solution is relatively inexpensive, environmentally clean, permanent, and energy conserving. International Center for the Improvement of Wheat and Maize (CIMMYT), in collaboration with several National Agriculture Research NARS all over the world, has been developing soil-acidity tolerant maize cultivars to increase maize production. For this purpose, acid soil tolerant maize populations were formed and recurrent selection was used to improve these populations for grain yield under both acid and normal soils. Cultivars developed from these populations show a consistent increase in grain yield in both acid and non-acidic soils. Under acid soils, the average grain yield of genotypes used to form the base population in 1977, was below 0.4 t/ha. The average grain yield of acid soil tolerant open pollinated varieties (OPVs) developed in 1993 and evaluated across 13 acid soil environments was 3.2 t/ha, while that of non conventional hybrids developed in 1995 and evaluated across six acid soil environments was 3.84 t/ha. In acid soils, high parent heterosis of up to 42.5% has been observed in inter-variety crosses and up to 261% in single crosses. Also, although superiority of hybrids compared to OPVs has been reported, OPVs will continue to be more important than hybrids for the acid soils over the next years, due to the poor economic conditions of farmers cultivating them. From our agronomic research, response to P of Sikuani, an acid soil tolerant cultivar, is higher than that of Tuxpeno (a susceptible cultivar) both in acidic and non-acidic soils. Grain yield of maize was higher using amendments with Ca, Mg, and S than with Ca and Mg only, although there were no differences among methods of application of amendments. Studies of microelements in acid soils showed a highly significant response to Zn. Planting maize in association with pastures in savannas could be a profitable alternative for farmers allowing them to raise more animals/ha with an associated gain of weight/animal. We are also looking for morphological and biochemical traits that may improve grain yield. Molecular and physiological studies are being continued to improve the efficiency of our breeding program. These activities are being developed in collaboration with prominent universities and research institutions worldwide.

Intensive pig farming is an important economic activity and generates a large amount of liquid pig manure as a by-product, which is considered a promising resource for the fertilization of tropical soils, characterized as low natural fertility. In an agricultural area under no tillage soybean-corn cropping system, located in southwest of Brazil, an experiment was carried out with different forms of fertilization; that is, organic fertilization with pig manure (17 years) at different rates of application and with mineral fertilization. Regarding the pig manure application rate, with yearly carbon load of 50 m3 ha−1 tended to promote the mineralization of organic matter, with formation of humic substances and to improve the size of aggregates. The use of LPM promoted little soil carbon addition varying of 0.05-3.41 kg ha−1 with 17 years of LPM application and the continuous application of pig tended to be advantageous for the tropical soil, providing a positive carbon balance, which favored the soil and the environment through the rational waste disposal.

The article investigates the influence of anthropogenic activity on the change in the chemical and biological properties of soils during agricultural use. The work was carried out in long-term stationary experiments laid down in 1963–1965. in the Khabarovsk Territory. The soil is meadow-brown, heavy loamy with an acidic reaction of the environment and low natural fertility. In the studied soils, the phosphorus supply varied from average in natural ecosystems to low in the variants with mineral fertilizers and very low in the variant without fertilizers. Potassium supply from high to high and medium, respectively. A decrease in acidity (pH 4.3) with an increase in anthropogenic load negatively affected the availability of chemical elements to plants and the number of microorganisms. Long-term agricultural use had a negative impact on the number of microorganisms inhabiting the soil of the agrocenosis: the content of ammonifiers decreased on average 9.7 times, amylolytics - 4.2 times. The use of mineral fertilizers contributes to some restoration of the biological activity of the soil, in comparison with the control option without their use.

Albic Luvisol occupy large areas in Ukraine, have low natural fertility and high acidity. Effective use of such soils is possible in the agricultural system only after improving their fertility. This involves constant management of reclamation and technological measures in accordance with the long-term dynamics of soil processes. A long-term experiment was started in 1965 with different rates and ratios of mineral, and organic fertilizers as well as lime. The purpose of the study is to establish the influence of systematic application of different fertilization schemes and periodic liming on the change in the structural-aggregate composition and physico-chemical properties of Albic Stagnic Luvisol under different crop rotations. Studies have shown that the long-term use of different fertilization systems and periodic liming on Albic Stagnic Luvisol both in the 4th and 9th crop rotation caused a significant predominance of very fine (VF – 0.25–1.0 mm) soil aggregates over coarse ones (CO – 5–10 mm). Under the combined organo-mineral system of fertilization and periodic liming of 1.0 n CaCO<sub>3</sub> (according to hydrolytic acidity), at the end of the 9th revolution, the content of large components is almost eight times higher than the content of very fine and medium ones (BM – 0.25–3.0 mm) fillers The content 0.25–1.0 mm fraction along the profile increases significantly with increasing of depth in the control (without fertilizers) and with only mineral fertilization. This indicates deterioration of the waterproofing of the soil profile. Research results showed that the transformation of forest ecosystems into agricultural ecosystems improved the acid-base properties of Albic Stagnic Luvisol. The reaction of the soil became slightly acidic (pH 5.18–5.51) with the average multi-year application of a single norm of mineral fertilizers (N<sub>65</sub>Р<sub>68</sub>K<sub>68</sub>), the norm of 10 t ha<sup>-1</sup> of cow manure against the background of the norm of 1.0 n CaCO<sub>3</sub> pHKCl. Hydrolytic acidity, beside the control, ranges from low to medium with maximum values in the middle part of the soil profile. We investigated the accumulation of humus only in the upper layers of the soil in the control and on various fertilization systems. The lower horizons contain less than 1% humus.

Eggplant is a very important vegetable and economic resource crop for populations in urban areas of developing countries. Its cultivation, on acidic coastal soils of Côte d’Ivoire, presents several edaphic constraints. This study aims to assess the effects of organic fertilizers and an organo-mineral fertilizer, as compared to mineral fertilizers, on the growth and eggplant yield on an acid soil. The experiment was carried out in a randomized Fisher block, with 4 treatments and a control repeated 3 times. Treatments consisted of organic and organo-mineral fertilizers, a liquid organic fertilizer and a mineral fertilizer application. Application rates of organic and organo-mineral fertilizers were 17.5 t ha-1. The liquid organic fertilizer rate was 1 L per 200 L ha-1 of water. As for the mineral fertilizer, the formula 0-23-19 and urea (46-0-0) were used, bringing rates of 138 kg ha-1 (N), 65.35 kg ha-1 (P2O5) and 54 kg ha-1 (K2O). The organo-mineral fertilizer used produced the best effects. Very highly significant (p < 0.001) growth, such as plant height and collar diameter, were 52.69 and 1.49 cm, respectively, 90 days after transplanting. Concerning yield, statistical analysis showed highly significant differences (p < 0.01) between treatments. The highest fruit yield (20.87 t ha-1) was recorded in mineral fertilizer plot, but not significantly different from those of plots with organo-mineral (17.55 t ha-1) and organic (16.66 t ha-1) fertilizers. Organo-mineral fertilizers, based on highly enriching organic materials, are capable to contribute to a lasting improvement in the practice of this crop.

The existence of very low rates of fertility among non-contracepting human populations has intrigued researchers in demography and reproductive ecology. Long inter-birth intervals, driven primarily by the lactational amenorrhoea associated with breast-feeding, have been shown to be important determinants of low natural fertility in several populations. Other reports have suggested that sterility brought about by sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) might also explain low fertility in some populations, especially in Africa. This report presents an analysis of 1981 Indian census data that documents low natural fertility in Ladakh, a high-altitude region of the Himalaya in north India. In Ladakh, there is evidence for low rates of marriage among women that may be attributable to the practice of polyandry, but also high rates of primary and secondary sterility within marriage, resulting in low completed parities for post-reproductive age married women. Age-specific fertility rates derived from the number of current births are also unexpectedly low. Hypotheses to explain very low fertility in Ladakh are considered from among the likely proximate determinants and evaluated using two supplementary sources of information derived from fieldwork in Ladakh in the early 1990s. The most likely explanations for low marital fertility include sterility from STDs, high rates of fetal loss, and possibly nutritional contraints on ovarian hormone status.

Chapter 47 - Diagnosis and management of nutrient constraints in grape

Annual crop rotation of tropical pastures with no-till soil as affected by lime surface application