A field experiment was conducted under a wheat-maize rotation system from 1990 to 2006 in North China Plain (NCP) to determine the effects of N, P and K on yield and yield gap. There were five treatments: NPK, PK, NK, NP and a control. Average wheat and maize yields were the highest in the NPK treatment, followed by those in the NP plots among all treatments. For wheat and maize yield, a signif...

Phosphate fertilizers were first implicated by Schroeder and Balassa in 1963 for increasing the Cd concentration in cultivated soils and crops. This suggestion has become a part of the accepted paradigm on soil toxicity. Consequently, stringent fertilizer control programs to monitor Cd have been launched. Attempts to link Cd toxicity and fertilizers to chronic diseases are common. A re-assessme...

A pot experiment was conducted in the open net house of the Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh from January to June, 2007, to study the effect of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the growth, leaf yield, chlorophyll and protein contents of Stevia rebaudiana (Bert.). The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with three replic...

Fertilizer is a vital input for agriculture production. With the growing popularity of modern agriculture, fertilizer consumption in Nepal has been increasing over the years. Since, Nepal does not produce any fertilizers, demand for fertilizers are being met through formal and informal imports. Over the years, fertilizer policy changes have been observed several times in a bid to satisfy farmer...

Nitrate is a key component of synthetic fertilizers that can be beneficial to crop production in agro-ecosystems, but can also cause damage to natural ecosystems if it is exported in large amounts. Stable isotopes, both oxygen and nitrogen, have been used to trace the sources and fate of nitrate in various ecosystems. However, the oxygen isotope composition of synthetic and organic nitrates is ...

Salinity is the leading abiotic stress hampering maize ( Zea mays L.) growth throughout the world, especially in Pakistan. During salinity stress, the endogenous ethylene level in plants increases, which retards proper root growth and consequent shoot growth of the plants. However, certain bacteria contain the enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) deaminase, which converts 1-aminocyclo...

We studied acceptance of a urine-based fertilizer product using a mail survey of 467 Swiss farmers. We distinguished among four production types: organic or IP farming, and with or without vegetable production. Considering that the idea of urine-based fertilizers is new, acceptance among the answering farmers was surprisingly high, with 57% explicitly stating that they thought it was a good or ...

Fertilized black soil samples are prepared by mixing desired amounts of fertilizers in the black soils having 10% gravimetric moisture content. Two black soil samples were collected from two different locations of Maharashtra State (India). Three different chemical fertilizers viz., Urea, Di-Ammonium Phosphate and Potash are used. Measurements of complex dielectric constants of these soil sampl...

Nursery experiments were conducted to select the suitable bioinoculants with locally available organic source to improve quality seedling production of Jatropha curcas L. Two months old Clones was procured from the Mission Biofuel India Pvt. of Madurai district, Tamilnadu, India. Clones were transplanted in a mixture of UnSterilised sand, Soil, and Farm Yard Manure (FYM) in the ratio of 2:1:1 i...

A 2-year field study was conducted to determine the influence of the timing of application and different slow release nitrogen (N) sources with different nitrogen rates on the growth and quality of a turfgrass mixture. Three different timings were used for nitrogen application: annually, once every 3 months, and once every 6 months. Three nitrogen sources (ammonium nitrate and two slow-release ...