Average yields of upland rice are the lowest in Uganda, and most of the productivity gains attributed to improved varieties are related to increased area of production from clearing virgin lands for rice production. In a bid to optimize productivity, we compared the effect of four nitrogen fertilizer treatments: 0, 40, 80 and 120 kgN/ha and two variety types (ITAs (Oryza sativa) and NERICAs (Ne...

The Chaobai watershed in northern China is the most important source of drinking water for Beijing. The level of fertilizer use, especially overuse, as well as farming practices in the region have a great impact on the water quality downstream and affect an enormous number of people. This study analyzes the factors influencing the farmers’ decisions on fertilizer use and the implications for wa...

Meat and bone meal (MBM) contains appreciable amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus and calcium making it interesting as fertilizer to various crops. The effect of Norwegian MBM as N fertilizer has been evaluated in pot and field experiments. The soils used in the pot experiment were peat and a sand/peat mixture, both low in content of plant nutrients. The field experiment was carried out on a si...

Fertigation is widely used in the new intensive olive orchards, although, there is not enough information for a rational management of this practice. Preliminary results of an fertigation experiment iniciated in 1999 in a mature olive orchard of the cultivar ‘Manzanilla de Sevilla’ are presented. Four treatments were established: T1(no fertilizer) and T2, T3 and T4, in which the trees received ...

Measurements of methane (CH(4)) and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) fluxes have been extensively taken following rice seedlings transplanted into paddy fields, while little is known about CH(4) and N(2)O fluxes from rice seedling nurseries. Fluxes of CH(4) and N(2)O were simultaneously measured in rice seedling nurseries under the water regimes of continuous flooding and moist irrigation without waterlog...

Appropriate fertilization practice is crucial to achieve maximum wheat grain yield with minimum nitrogen (N) loss. A field 15N micro-plot experiment was conducted to determine the effects of application methods [split application (SA) and band application (BA)] and N rates (60, 150 and 240 kg ha-1) on the wheat grain yield, urea-15N fate and N efficiency in Jiangyan County, China. At high N rat...

In fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) desalination, the final nutrient concentration (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK)) in the product water is essential for direct fertigation and to avoid over fertilization. Our study with 11 selected fertilizers indicate that blending of two or more single fertilizers as draw solution (DS) can achieve significantly lower nutrient concentration in t...

Rice is a typical silicon-accumulating plant. Silicon (Si), deposited as phytoliths during plant growth, has been shown to occlude organic carbon, which may prove to have significant effects on the biogeochemical sequestration of atmospheric CO2. This study evaluated the effects of silicate fertilization on plant Si uptake and carbon bio-sequestration in field trials on China's paddy soils. The...

Improving the efficiency of resource utilization has received increasing research attention in recent years. In this study, we explored the potential physiological mechanisms underlying improved grain yield and water-use efficiency of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) following organic fertilizer application. Two wheat cultivars, ChangHan58 (CH58) and XiNong9871 (XN9871), were grown under the...

O ver the past few years Malawi made remarkable progress toward increasing its national maize production and achieving food security owing to its long-running policy of subsidizing fertilizer. The implementation of these subsidy programs is continuously being improved upon as the country learns from past experiences. Recent evaluations of the current Farm Input Subsidy Program by Dorward and Ch...