Long-term organic and inorganic fertilizations enhanced basic soil productivity in a fluvo-aquic soil

The improvement of soil productivity depends on a rational input of water and nutrients, optimal field management, and the increase of basic soil productivity（BSP）. In this study, BSP is defined as the productive capacity of a farmland soil with its own physical and chemical properties for a specific crop season under local field management. Based on 19-yr data of the long-term agronomic experiments（1989–2008） on a fluvo-aquic soil in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, the decision support system for agrotechnology transfer（DSSAT ver. 4.0） crop growth model was used to simulate yields by BSP of winter wheat（Triticum aestivium L.） and summer maize（Zea mays L.） to examine the relationship between BSP and soil organic carbon（SOC） under long-term fertilization. Five treatments were included：（1） no fertilization（control）,（2） nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers（NPK）,（3） NPK plus manure（NPKM）,（4） 1.5 times of NPKM（1.5NPKM）, and（5） NPK plus straw（NPKS）. After 19 yr of treatments, the SOC stock increased 16.7, 44.2, 69.9, and 25.2% under the NPK, NPKM, 1.5NPKM, and NPKS, respectively, compared to the initial value. Among various nutrient factors affecting contribution percentage of BSP to winter wheat and summer maize, SOC was a major affecting factor for BSP in the fluvo-aquic soil. There were significant positive correlations between SOC stock and yields by BSP of winter wheat and summer maize（P〈0.01）, and yields by BSP of winter wheat and summer maize increased 154 and 132 kg ha^（–1） when SOC stock increased 1 t C ha^（–1）. Thus, increased SOC accumulation is a crucial way for increasing BSP in fluvo-aquic soil. The manure or straw combined application with chemical fertilizers significantly enhanced BSP compared to the application of chemical fertilizers alone.

Design and Experiment on Environment Friendly Type of Production Equipment of Organic Fertilizer by Chicken Manure

In accordance with current problems such as odor pollution,long production period,consumption of a large amount of manpower and so on existing in chicken manure fermentation ,an environment friendly type of chicken manure fermentation device is designed. The key parameters of the equipment are resonance activated tube and fermenting cellar. Resonance activated tube makes the activated water,which could improve obvi- ously the biodegradation rate of chicken manure. The aerator could provide enough oxygen to microbes,and the agitator could make oxygen evenly distributed across the chicken manure in fermenting cellar. The test shows that this equipment is high-efficiency,and only takes 7 days to make the chicken manure achieve the decomposed requirement. The organic matter content of composted chicken manure is 91.2%,C/N ratio is 18.8, MPN is 0.04, mortality of ascarid egg is 99.6% ,concentrations of NH3 and H2 S are 4.20 and 1.58 mg/m3, furthermore ,there is no offensive smell in the fermenting cellar. Therefore,the study can provide a pollution-free, high-efficiency, manpower saving fermentation equipment for organic fertilizer production by chicken manure in agriculture area.

Comparative effects of nitrogen application on growth and nitrogen use in a winter wheat/summer maize rotation system

The application of fertilizer in agricultural production has become universally common for achieving high crop yields and economic benefits, but it has potential impacts on food safety, energy crisis and environmental pollution. Optimal management of fertilization is thus necessary for maintaining sustainable agriculture. Two-year（2013–2015） field experiment was conducted, in Yangling（108°24′E, 34°20′N, and 521 m a.s.l.）, Shaanxi Province, China, to explore the effects of different nitrogen（N） applications on biomass accumulation, crop N uptake, nitrate N（NO_3~–-N） distribution, yield, and N use with a winter wheat/summer maize rotation system. The N applications consisted of conventional urea（U）（at 80（U80）, 160（U160）, and 240（U240） kg N ha^（–1）; 40% applied as a basal fertilizer and 60% top-dressed at jointing stage） and controlled-release urea（CRU）（at 60（C60）, 120（C120）, 180（C180）, and 240（C240） kg N ha~（^（–1））; all applied as a basal fertilizer） with no N application as a control（CK）. The continuous release of N from CRU matched well with the N demands of crop throughout entire growing stages. Soil NO_3~–-N content varied less and peaked shallower in CRU than that in urea treatments. The differences, however, were smaller in winter wheat than that in summer maize seasons. The average yield of summer maize was the highest in C120 in CRU treatments and in U160 in urea treatments, and apparent N use efficiency（NUE） and N agronomic efficiency（NAE） were higher in C120 than in U160 by averages of 22.67 and 41.91%, respectively. The average yield of winter wheat was the highest in C180 in CRU treatments and in U240 in urea treatments with C180 increasing NUE and NAE by averages of 14.89 and 35.62% over U240, respectively. The annual yields under the two N fertilizers were the highest in C120 and U160. The results suggested that CRU as a basal fertilizer once could be a promising alternative of urea as split application in semiarid areas.

Environmental and Social Advantages to On-Site andLocal Vermicomposting of Food and Agricultural Waste

This paper is a distillation of thirty-plus years of experience,experimentation,and observations,gleaned while designing,setting up,nunning,refining,and training people to run indoor vemicomposting systems.The objectives of this study are to reduce thevolume of food waste going into the waste stream;produce ligh quality organic fertilizer,improve soil heath,reduce waste-haulingcosts;encourage community members to move away from using chemical fertilizers,herbicides,and pesticides,in their gardens.Thishas been,essentially,a long-term,crowd-conducted,wide-ranging.and ongoing experiment.The design of a system is important,butthe way it is run is more important.For some people,prison inmates,for example,leaning to nun a vermicomposting system,can belife-and mind-altering.

Multiple cropping and soil fertility in sustainable production of paddy fields

Multiple cropping has been popularized on morethan two thirds of the total area of paddy fields inSouth China.It demands more nutrients due tohigher cropping index.Therefore,how to keepmoderately higher yields of multiple crops and to