Green Manure Amended Soils Research Articles

Effect of plastic film mulching on maize productivity and nitrogen use efficiency under organic farming in South Korea

Winter cover crop cultivation and its biomass recycling as green manure (GM) were accepted as an ideal nutrient management practice in temperate organic farming fields. Since its biomass growth was boosted with air temperature rising from late Spring to early Summer, this stage overlapped with cash crops' seeding or transplanting. Thus, organic farmers were suffering from low crop productivity, due to delayed mineralization of incorporated biomass. To accelerate the mineralization of biomass nutrients and control weeds, plastic film mulching (PM) was broadly utilized in organic farming fields of temperate-monsoon climate region. However, the effect of PM on increasing nutrient use efficiency was not properly quantified in GM amended soil. To determine the effect of PM on crop productivity and nutrient use efficiency in GM amended soils, PM and no-mulching treatments were installed under different levels of GM biomass amended soils (0, 25, 50 and 100% of harvested aboveground biomass). The biomass productivity of barley and hairy vetch mixture as cover crop and biomass nitrogen productivity were dramatically increased from the mid May to the early June. PM significantly improved soil temperature and moisture regimes during maize cropping seasons, and then increased inorganic N (NH4+ and NO3−) contents in soils. These improved soil properties under PM highly increased maize productivity and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Comparing with no-mulching, as GM application level was increased, the effect of PM on increasing maize productivity became greater, but its effect on increasing NUE became smaller. In conclusion, PM could be very useful tool to improve productivity and NUE of cash crop maize in organic cropping fields, in which the harvesting time of GM biomass might be sustained to increase GM biomass productivity.

Strong mitigation of greenhouse gas emission impact via aerobic short pre-digestion of green manure amended soils during rice cropping

To increase soil carbon (C) stock, cover crop cultivation during the fallow season and its biomass incorporation as green manure (GM) is strongly suggested in mono-rice paddy. On the other hand, biomass application can highly increase greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, in particular methane (CH4) during irrigated cropping season. Aerobic short pre-digestion of biomass applied soils was very effective to suppress CH4 emission. However, its effect on other GHG (CO2 and N2O) emissions was not clear. To assess the integrated influence of aerobic short pre-digestion of green manured soils on global warming impact, cover crop biomass as GM was amended with different time interval before flooding (0–30 days) and aerobically decomposed under upland condition. Aerobic short pre-digestion over 10 days significantly decreased seasonal CH4 flux, but did not affect N2O emission. As aerobic pre-digestion days became longer, net ecosystem C balance (NECB) which implies the difference between C input and output was slightly increased, but not statistically different. The net primary productivity of rice plant as a C input source was not significantly differentiated by aerobic short pre-digestion. As a C output source, the respired C loss that was composed with CO2-C and CH4-C emission was not considerably discriminated among 0–30 days of aerobic short pre-digestion. As a consequence, due to big reduction of CH4 emission, aerobic short pre-digestion significantly decreased net GWP which means integration of seasonal CH4 and N2O fluxes and NECB as CO2 equivalent. In conclusion, aerobic short pre-digestion of biomass applied soil could be a sustainable management practice to decrease GHG emission impact without SOC stock change in temperate rice paddy field.

Long-term organic nutrient managements foster the biological properties and carbon sequestering capability of a wetland rice soil

Monitoring the qualitative and quantitative changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) is very much essential to keep the soil viable and productive for long-term sustainability. Impact of long-term (36 years) enforcement of organic and inorganic nutrient management practices on changes in physio-chemical, microbiological properties and enzymatic activities of flooded rice soil was assessed along with soil carbon pools. The results revealed that the fractions of SOC, microbial biomass carbon, culturable microbial counts and dehydrogenase and β-glucosidase activities increased significantly in green manure amended soil. The population of functional microbial groups, namely denitrifiers and methanotrophs was high in farm yard manure applied soil, while methanogens population was high in green manure application. Higher nitrifier population was evident in inorganic or integrated organic and inorganic fertilizer. Continuous application of recommended levels of chemical fertilizers did not greatly affect biological activities in the soil. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis of humic acid revealed that organic fertilized soil fractions were more aliphatic with greater diversity than did the inorganic fertilized soil fractions. This study emphasizes the importance of organic manure and underscores the recommended dose of inorganic fertilizer to maintain the soil biological properties in flooded rice soil.

Effects of Biofertilizers Combined with Different Soil Amendments on Potted Rice Plants

This pot study investigated the effect of the combined application of two commercial biofertilizers viz. Biopower and EM (Effective Microorganisms) on rice (Oryza sativa L.) growth and yield in soils amended with farmyard manure, green manure, and NPK fertilizers. Biopower is a product of the Nuclear Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Pakistan, which contains species of associative and endophytic diazotrophs. EM (effective microorganisms), a product developed by Japanese scientists, consists of co-existing beneficial microorganisms, mainly species of photosynthetic and lactic acid bacteria, as well as yeast. Applying Biopower adversely affected plant growth and yield in NPK fertilizer amendment. Conversely, this biofertilizer markedly enhanced plant growth and yield in green manure amended soil while its effect was not significant in farmyard manure amendment. In green manure amendment, applying EM enhanced grain yield by 46%. Co-inoculation of Biopower and EM evidently improved root and shoot growth in farmyard manure amended soil. This study concludes that the two biofertilizers clearly enhanced shoot biomass and grain yield in green manure amended soils.

Effect of Green Manure Addition on Soil Organic Phosphorus Mineralisation

The mineralization of organic forms of phosphorus (P) in soil contributes significantly to plant P uptake, although quantification of organic P mineralisation has been impeded by methodological difficulties. An isotopic dilution method, based on tracer kinetic theory, was used to study the organic P flux rates for unamended and green manure amended soil in an incubation experiment carried out over 35 days. Firstly, the specific activity (SA) between two points of time as affected by dominant biological processes (under conditions of constant soil respiration rates) was determined in a series of successive labelling incubation experiments. Secondly, the instantaneous specific activity (instSA) between two points of time was also determined by shaking an unlabelled soil with 33P, i.e. soil samples that were not labelled with 33P, but kept under conditions identical to the labelled soil samples. This gives the net size of the exchangeable inorganic P pool in the labelling experiments at two points of time during incubation. The SA dilution in the labelling experiments at a constant exchangeable inorganic P pool between two times was attributed to the release of non-labelled inorganic P from the organic P pool by mineralisation. The daily gross organic P mineralisation rates for the 21 days of incubation were 0.06 and 0.27 mg P kg−1 day−1 for unamended and green manure amended soils, respectively. The study demonstrated that green manure amendment contributed to an overall increase in soil P availability through enhanced organic P mineralisation.

Nitrogen Mineralization Rates and Kinetics in Soils Freshly Amended with Green Manures

AbstractLong term incubation studies to determine the nitrogen (N) mineralization rates and kinetics in soils freshly amended with some commonly used green manures such as Sesbania rostrata. Gliricidia maculata. Leucaena leucocephala and Azolla pinnata are scarce. A long term aerobic study was, therefore, conducted by incubating soils freshly amended with the above‐mentioned green manures in PVC columns at 35 ± 1 C and with 0.01 Mpa moisture content. The soils were then leached at periodic intervals for up to 36 weeks.The N‐mineralization rates were greatest during the first week and decreased with time in all soils. The green manure amended soils leached 247 mg kg−1 more NO3+ NO2– N than the unamended control. In general, the total N mineralized (mean 61%) was almost twice that of net N mineralized (mean 30%) in the amended soils. The percent N mineralized (total and net), however, varied with the nature of green manure incorporated into the soil. It was greatest in the soil amended with sesbania and lowest in the soil amended with azolla. The kinetic parameters derived using the double exponential model indicated that green manure amended soils possessed significantly higher N‐mineralization potentials and rate constants compared to the unamended control. The kinetic parameters also varied with the nature of green manure incorporated into the soil. Among the various parameters lignin content, lignin to N ratio and lignin + polyphenol to N ratio of the green manures were the key factors governing the rate of decomposition and subsequent N mineralization from the amended soils.

Nitrogen mineralization in a green manure-amended soil as influenced by cropping history and subsequent crop

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to determine the influence of cropping variables on nitrogen dynamics in a soil amended with green manure. Surface soil from various long-term spring wheat rotations was amended with15N-labelled legume green manure (Lathyrus tingitanus) and subsequently cropped (canola [Brassica napus] and spring wheat [Triticum aestivum]) or incubated without a crop for 56 days in a greenhouse. Nitrogen mineralization from both the indigenous soil N and from green manure was suppressed in cropped soil. Net N mineralization in the uncropped and cropped treatments averaged 73 and 43 mg kg−1, respectively. This difference was attributed, in part, to enhanced biological immobilization in the rhizosphere. Previous cropping practices also had significant effect on N mineralization, largely by their influence on indigenous organic matter quality. These observations suggest that short-term N mineralization is favored by fallowing soil after green manure application whereas N retention in organic matter is favored by immediate cropping.

Effect of green manuring (Sesbania aculeata) on zinc equilibria in submerged calcareous and non-calcareous soils

A pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of green manuring (Sesbania aculeata) on pH, electrical conductivity (EC), Zn concentration and ZN equilibria in a calcareous and a non-calcareous soil under submerged conditions. The soil solutions were drawn anaerobically by gravity and analysed for pH, EC and Zn. Green manuring lowered the pH and increased the EC throughout submergence compared with the untreated control. The effect of green manuring was more pronounced in non-calcareous soil. The concentration of water-soluble Zn under submergence alone continued to decline up to the end of the experiment in both soils. But Zn concentration in green manure-amended soil was lower during the initial stages and higher in the later stages in comparison with the unamended soil. Zn potential values in the case of submergence alone were within the range of the ZnCo3-Zn2+ (aq) system up to 1 week and 4 weeks for non-calcareous and calcareous soil, respectively. Thereafter they shifted to those of the Zn-soil (unknown solid phases)-Zn2+ (aq) system. Under green manuring the values were within the range of the latter system throughout the experiment.