Urban sewage sludge is a potential source of phosphorus (P) for agriculture and represents an alternative way to recycle P as fertilizer. However, the use of thermally conditioned sewage sludge (TCSS) required an accurate assessment of its value as P-fertilizer. This work aimed at assessing the plant-availability of P from TCSS. Uptake of P by a mixture of ryegrass and fescue from TCSS and trip...

Soil enzymes play a vital role in nutrient mineralization and their activity is an excellent sensor in predicting the capacity of nutrient supply to plants. Temporal changes in three soil enzymes activity (urease, alkaline phosphatase and dehydrogenase) in rainfed wheat were studies through field experiment conducted at the research farm of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpin...

Biochar (BC) application to agricultural soils could potentially sequester recalcitrant C, increase N retention, increase water holding capacity, and decrease greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Biochar addition to soils can alter soil N cycling and in some cases decrease extractable mineral N (NO and NH) and NO emissions. These benefits are not uniformly observed across varying soil types, N ferti...

We examined the effects of a forest fertilizer (urea) on newly metamorphosed terrestrial amphibians (Western toads, Bufo boreas; Cascades frogs, Rana cascadae; long-toed salamanders, Ambystoma macrodactylum; and roughskin newts, Taricha granulosa). We examined avoidance behavior of Western toads and Cascades frogs on both paper towel and soil substrates dosed with urea (control and 100 kg N/ha ...

Inorganic fertilizer use across Sub-Saharan Africa is generally considered to be low. Yet, the notion that fertilizer use is too low is predicated on the assumption that it is profitable to use rates higher than currently observed. There is, however, limited empirical evidence to support this. Using a nationally representative panel dataset, this paper empirically estimates the profitability of...

Scientifically based recommendations concerning the choice of deep banding versus traditional broadcast application of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) for corn and soybean production in conservation tillage systems have been hampered by insufficient research and inconsistent results. Even when the decision is made (e.g. by strip-tillage corn farmers) to go with deepbanding of P and K, numerous...

In order to discover the advantages and disadvantages of different fertilization regimes and identify the best management practice of fertilization in greenhouse fields, soil enzyme activities involved in carbon (C) transformations, soil chemical characteristics, and crop yields were monitored after long-term (20-year) fertilization regimes, including no fertilizer (CK), 300 kg N ha-1 and 600 k...

To identify effective regulatory methods scheduling with the compromise between the soil desalination and the improvement of tomato quality and yield, a 3-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate and compare the effect of straw mulching and soil structure conditioner and water-retaining agent on greenhouse saline soils, tomato quality, and yield. A higher salt removing rate of 80.72% in ...

Fertilizer management particularly for mango trees is tedious on alkaline and calcareous soil. Mango (Mangifera indica L.) cv. Langra trees were supplied fertilizer through soil application under bimonthly nutrient application programme to ensure the continuous supply of nutrition to plants throughout the year. Fertilizer (N, P and K) was supplied five times a year at regular intervals while sk...

Scattered SRM residues from BSE-infected cattle are possible to contaminate sewage during the slaughtering process in slaughterhouses. A proportion of the sludge discharged from wastewater treatment facilities at slaughterhouses has historically been processed into fertilizer. We therefore investigated the associated risk of BSE infection to cattle via sludge-derived fertilizer. Each stage of t...