Livestock waste composts with minimum inorganic fertilizer as a soil amendment in low-input intensive farming are a feasible agricultural practice to improve soil fertility and productivity and to mitigate soil degradation. The key benefits of the practice rely on the activities of soil microorganisms. However, the role of different livestock composts [composted cattle manure (CCM) vs. composte...

Seasonal changes in the levels of soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and N (MBN), N-mineralization rate and available-N concentration were studied in rice±barley supporting tropical dryland (rainfed) agroecosystem under six combinations of tillage (conventional, minimum and zero tillage) and crop residue manipulation (retained or removed) conditions. Highest levels of soil MBC and MBN (368±503 and ...

In cotton and cereals production systems, the most important cause of soil fertility degradation is the inappropriate crop residues management. In a long-term experiment carried out from 1982 to 2012, the effects of crop residues management (CRM) during 30 years on soil chemical properties and crops yields were evaluated in a cotton-cereals rotation. The experimental design was nonrandomized bl...

Understanding the effects of external organic and inorganic components on soil fertility and quality is essential for improving low-yielding soils. We conducted a field study over two consecutive rice growing seasons to investigate the effect of applying chemical fertilizer (NPK), NPK plus green manure (NPKG), NPK plus pig manure (NPKM), and NPK plus straw (NPKS) on the soil nutrient status, en...

Numerous field experiments were conducted at a wide range of sites in Arizona from 1988 through 1999 involving phosphate (P) fertilization of cotton (Gossypium spp.). A total of 21 site-years were used to study the effects of P on both Upland (G. hirsutum L.) and Pima (G. barbadense L.) varieties. The purpose of these experiments was to evaluate University of Arizona (UA) soil fertility guideli...

Soils used for vegetable production in Florida are sandy, have low organic matter content and fertility, and can support the growth of soil-borne pathogens. Some growers choose to apply compost as an antagonistic suppression approach to combat soil-borne disease effects on crop yields or to increase organic matter and improve soil fertility. The objective of this on-farm study was to determine ...

Aonla or Indian gooseberry (Emblica officinalis Gaertn) has become the important fruit crop of arid and semi–arid region of the country because of its hardy nature that makes it suitable to grow in varied edephoclimatic conditions of such regions. The major constraints are moisture stress and inherently poor soil fertility. The uses of mulches help to reduce water consumed (Keramat et al., 2011...

Terrestrial desert ecosystems are strongly structured by the distribution of plants, which concentrate resources and create islands of fertility relative to interplant spaces. Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition resulting from urbanization has the potential to change those spatial patterns via resource inputs, resulting in more homogeneous soil resource availability. We sampled soils at 12 dese...

Low phytic acid (LPA) barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars partition phosphorus (P) in seed tissue differently than conventional wild-type (WT) barley cultivars. A reduction in seed phytic acid (myoinositol-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexkisphosphate) is coupled with an increase in inorganic phosphorus (Pi). The response of the LPA characteristic to phosphate fertilization has not been previously investigated...