Objective: Returning crop residue to the soil exerts favorable effects on physical and chemical properties of soil. In fact, the plant residues can affect soil conditions such as pH and important role in soil fertility and cycling of elements in the soil may have. In addition to the role of the organic matter from decomposition of crop residue in increasing the concentration of micronutrients i...

All US government pesticide residue datasets show that persistent organochlorine (OC) insecticide residues are surprisingly common in certain foods despite being off the market for over 20 years. Residues of dieldrin, in particular, pose substantial risks in certain root crops. About 60% of the samples of organic vegetables found to contain pesticides are contaminated with OCs. Government regul...

Prescribed burning is a common management tool used in grassland restorations to improve conditions for plant growth. At a grassland restoration in Maryland, we studied the impacts of sequential prescribed burning on near-surface soil chemistry of a highly weathered soil. We hypothesized that soil pH and base cations in the surface soil would increase in the nutrient-poor soils after the burnin...

Introduction Rising concerns about long-term energy security, human health, global climate change, and a variety of other social and environmental concerns have combined to make developing renewable and sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels a critical national priority. Biomass, as a feedstock for renewable biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower, represents one such alternative, and one that ha...

high intensity evaporation from the soil surface due to low air humidity and poor soil structure and organic matter are constraints of agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions of iran. regionally, maintaining plant residue with tillage management is one method to improve these conditions. in this study, for a barley-corn rotation, four barley residue management methods for standing stubble (bu...

Crop residues are among the cellulosic feedstocks expected to provide renewable energy. The availability of crop species and residue availability varies across the United States. Estimates of harvestable residues must consider all the residues produced during the entire rotation. Inclusion of fallow or low residue producing crops requires that less feedstock be harvested. A re-occurring theme a...