BACKGROUND: Nitrogen is a basic plant component, playing a decisive role in the intensification of plant production. Bio-fertilizers play a very significant role in improving soil fertility by fixing atmospheric nitrogen, both, in association with plant roots and without it, insoluble soil phosphates and produces plant growth substances in the soil. OBJECTIVES:</s...

Analysis of heavy metals in top soil samples from Nzoia sugarcane farms in Western Kenya found elevated levels of heavy metals in the soils with mean concentrations (mg kg⁻¹ dry weight) of 142.38, 59.12, 73.35, 116.27, 409.84 (dry season) and 144.22, 50.29, 72.14, 158.81, 368.83 (wet season) for Cr, Pb, Cu, Zn and Fe, respectively, compared with a control soil sample from an adjacent field wher...

The availability of Haber-Bosch nitrogen (N) has permitted agricultural intensification and increased the productive capacity of agroecosystems; however, approximately 50% of this applied fertilizer N is lost from agricultural landscapes. Extensive efforts have been devoted to improving the N use efficiency of these systems. Diversified crop rotations using cover crops to provide a variety of e...

In intensive integrated crop-livestock farming systems, the surplus of N at the farm scale may be large and reflects on the N balance at the field scale. A study was conducted to assess the N fertilizer efficiency in four private farms in intensively cropped areas of NW Italy, and to monitor the effects of agricultural practices on the mineral N concentration of the soil solution, sampled every...

Organic manure is considered as a beneficial fertilizer on soil quality and an excellent alternative resource of chemical fertilizer (CF). However, organic manure from intensive farms may have a negative impact on soil quality because of containing some harmful components, such as heavy metal and antibiotics. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of poultry litter (PL) and livest...

in order to investigate the effects of applying three and five continuous periods of municipal solid waste (msw) with and without npk chemical fertilizer on the amount of micronutrient uptake by different parts of wheat, a pot experiment was conducted in split plot based on randomized complete block design with four replications in 2009. the main plot was a six-fertilizers level including contr...

Appropriate fertilizer application is an important management practice to improve soil fertility and quality in the red soil regions of China. In the present study, we examined the effects of five fertilization treatments [these were: no fertilizer (CK), rice straw return (SR), chemical fertilizer (NPK), organic manure (OM) and green manure (GM)] on soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nit...

Cadmium is a common impurity in phosphatic fertilizers and may contribute to soil Cd accumulation. Changes in total and bioavailable Cd burdens to agricultural soils and the potential for plant Cd accumulation resulting from fertilizer input was investigated. Three year field studies were conducted using three dose levels of cadmium-rich, commercial, phosphate fertilizers applied at four agricu...

The integrated soil fertility management paradigm, currently advocated in Sub-Saharan Africa for rehabilitating its soils, recognizes the possible interactive benefits of combining organic residues with mineral fertilizer inputs on agroecosystem functioning. Residue quality may be a controlling factor for any beneficial interactions. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of ...