Abstract
The Sudan grass plant (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench subsp. drummondii) density and yield were determined in this 2-year research with different tillage systems and fertilization at 3 locations. After harvesting the main crops, 3 tillage treatments were applied: conventional (CT) mouldboard ploughing (25-30 cm deep), followed by disk harrowing and sowing: reduced tillage 1 (HDH) with 2 passes by a disk harrow (15-20 cm deep), followed by seedbed preparation, and reduced tillage 2 (LDH) with a single pass by a disk harrow. Soil penetration resistance was measured at each tillage treatment. A total of 5 side dressing fertilizer treatments were applied: the control (NO), calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) 100 kg ha-1 in granular form, 60 kg ha?1 urea applied as foliar fertilizer (UF), 8 L ha-1 of foliar fertilizer Profert Mara (0.9 kg N, 0.22 kg P, 0.38 kg K, 0.24 kg Ca, 0.01 kg S, and 0.03 kg Mg) (PM1), and double rate PM1 (PM2). Significant differences (P ≥ 0.05) among the tillage treatments were present (19.023, 18.934, and 17.489 t ha-1 of dry matter for CT, HDH, and LDH, respectively). The tillage treatments resulted in significant differences (P ≥ 0.05) in the average plant density in both experimental years, with the greatest plant number with HDH (104.11 m2) and highest soil penetration resistance value with CT (more than 2.00 MPa). All of the fertilizer treatments resulted in a higher yield than the control (14,698 kg ha-1). CAN, UF, and PM1 were not different among themselves, whereas PM2 resulted in significantly higher dry matter yield. The results suggested better effects of foliar than granular fertilizers for postharvest-sown Sudan grass in the drought of 2009 or the over-wet conditions of 2010.
Highlights
High yields in modern agriculture are achievable due to the genetic potential of crops and agrotechniques, where fertilization makes up to 50% of the crop yield
Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients used in agricultural systems and contributes strongly to the economic performance, sustainability, and improvement of cropping systems (Delgado and Shaffer, 2008); nitrogen use efficiency is usually reported to be lower than 50% (Newbould, 1989) and the losses of added nitrogen fertilizers can be very significant
A large amount of precipitation from July through August favored development of the Sudan grass, which obtained greater plant density and average yield in 2010 compared to 2009. This was similar to that reported by Sowiński and Szydelko (2011), who pointed out the importance of water supply in the period of the highest demand of Sudan grass for water
Summary
High yields in modern agriculture are achievable due to the genetic potential of crops and agrotechniques, where fertilization makes up to 50% of the crop yield. Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients used in agricultural systems and contributes strongly to the economic performance, sustainability, and improvement of cropping systems (Delgado and Shaffer, 2008); nitrogen use efficiency is usually reported to be lower than 50% (Newbould, 1989) and the losses of added nitrogen fertilizers can be very significant. It is important to reduce environmental pollution under the specific agroecological conditions through the reduction of fertilizer requirements and nitrate levels in groundwater. One of the potential solutions that may contribute to reducing environmental pollution by excess
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