introduction: soil fertility management is a key factor in achieving sustainable agriculture. use of organic fertilizers is one of the methods that without environmental harmful effects with improvement of chemical and biological conditions increases soil fertility. nitroxin contains a collection of the best strains of nitrogen fixation bacteria of the genus azospirillum and azotobacter. these ...

Understanding nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes from agricultural soils in semi-arid regions is required to better understand global terrestrial N2O losses. Nitrous oxide fluxes were measured from three rain-fed, cropped soils in a semi-arid region of south-western Australia on a sub-daily basis from 1995 to 2014 using automated chambers. Western Australia’s grain-belt includes 7 million hectares of a...

Study of soil characteristics and of processes by which plants take up nutrients from the soil is therefore extremely valuable in devising effective methods of farming. For example, such study can determine which fertilizer and how much of it should be applied to a particular soil, or when and how it should be applied. Similarly, a study of soil moisture can indicate the exact irrigation needs ...

Eight hardwood species were grown in fumigated soil without vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) or in soil infested with a mixture of Glomus mosseae and Glomus etunicatus. Three fertilizer treatments of 140, 560, and 1,120 kg/ha of 10-10-10 fertilizer were established in combination with the two mycorrhizal treatments. Ten equal applications of NH4NO3, totaling 1,680 kg/ha, were added to all...

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...

The tomato leafminer, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is a devastating pest associated with tomato. In this study, effects of tomato plants treated with vermicompost (20, 40, and 60%), humic fertilizer (2, 4 and 6 g/kg soil) and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus subtilis) were investigated on the life table parameters of T. absoluta in a growth chamber at 25 ± 2...

Increasing diffuse nitrate loading of surface waters and groundwater has emerged as a major problem in many agricultural areas of the world, resulting in contamination of drinking water resources in aquifers as well as eutrophication of freshwaters and coastal marine ecosystems. Although empirical correlations between application rates of N fertilizers to agricultural soils and nitrate contamin...

Concerns about energy security and climate change have increased biofuel demand, particularly ethanol produced from cellulosic feedstocks (e.g., food crop residues). A central challenge to cropping for cellulosic ethanol is the potential environmental damage from increased fertilizer use. Previous analyses have assumed that cropping for carbohydrate in residue will require the same amount of fe...

Background In the arid and semi-arid areas of northern China, overexploitation of fertilizers and extensive irrigation with brackish groundwater have led to soil degradation and large areas of farmland have been abandoned. In order to improve the soil quality of abandoned farmland and make reasonable use of brackish groundwater, we conducted field trials in 2013 and 2014. Methods In our study...

Inland valleys are becoming increasingly important agricultural production areas for rural households in sub-Saharan Africa due to their relative high and secure water availability and soil fertility. In addition, inland valleys are important as water buffer and biodiversity hot spots and they provide local communities with forest, forage, and fishing resources. As different inland-valley ecosy...