Direct and Residual Contributions of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes to the Yield and Nitrogen Uptake of Maize (Zea mays L.) in the Nigerian Savannah

Field experiments were conducted to determine the direct and residual contributions of legumes to the yield and nitrogen (N) uptake of maize during the wet seasons of 1994 and 1995 at the University Farm, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria, located in the Northern Guinea savannah of Nigeria. Nodulating soybean, lablab, green gram and black gram contributed to the yield and N uptake of maize either intercropped with the legumes or grown after legumes as a sole crop. Direct transfer of N from the nodulating soybean, lablab, green gram and black gram to the intercropped maize was 24.9–28.1, 23.8–29.2, 19.7–22.1 and 18.4–18.6 kg N ha^–1, respectively. However, the transfer of residual N from these legumes to the succeeding maize crop was 18.4–20.0, 19.5–29.9, 12.0–13.7 and 9.3–10.3 kg N ha^–1, respectively. Four years of continuous lablab cropping resulted in yields and N uptake of the succeeding maize crop grown without fertilizer N that were comparable to the yields and N uptake of the succeeding maize crop supplied with 40–45 kg N ha^–1 and grown after 4 years of continuous sorghum cropping. It may therefore be concluded that nodulating soybean, lablab, green gram and black gram may be either intercropped or grown in rotation with cereals in order to economize the use of fertilizer N for maize production in the Nigerian savannah.     

Impact of pig slurry on soil properties, water salinization, nitrate leaching and crop yield in a four-year experiment in Central Spain

Abstract. The repeated application of pig slurry to agricultural soils may result in an accumulation of salts and a risk of aquifer pollution due to nitrate leaching and salinization. Under Mediterranean conditions, a field experiment on a sandy loam soil (Typic Xerofluvent) was performed with maize (Zea mays) in 1998, 1999 and 2001 to study the effects of applying optimal (P1) and excessive rates (P3) of pig slurry on soil salinization, nitrate leaching and groundwater pollution. The rate of pig slurry was established considering the optimal N rate for maize in this soil (170, 162 and 176 kg N ha^?1 for 1998, 1999 and 2001, respectively). Pig slurry treatments were compared to an optimal N rate supplied as urea (U) and a control treatment without N fertilizer (P0). The composition of the slurries showed great variability between years. Mean NO₃^? leaching losses from 1998 to 2001 were 329, 215, 173 and 78 kg N ha^?1 for P3, P1, U and P0 treatments, respectively. The amount of total dissolved salts (TDS) added to the soil in slurry application between 1998 and 2001 was 2019 kg TDS ha^?1 for the P1 treatment and 6058 kg TDS ha^?1 for the P3 treatment. As a consequence, the electrical conductivity (EC) of the slurry‐treated soils was greater than that of the control soil. The EC correlated significantly with the sodium concentration of the soil solution. Over the entire experimental period, 2653, 2202 and 2110 kg Na ha^?1 entered the aquifer from the P3, P1 and P0 treatments, respectively. The P3 treatment did not significantly increase grain production in 1999 and 2001 compared with that achieved with the optimal N rate treatment (P1). This behaviour shows the importance of establishing application guidelines for pig slurry that will reduce the risk of soil and groundwater pollution.     

The rates of maize growth and lignin biosynthesis change after root-applied chalcone

The effects of root-applied chalcone at 0.15 mmol L⁻¹ on the growth and lignin biosynthesis in maize were investigated. The contents of 4-coumarate: CoA ligase (4CL, EC 6.2.1.12) substrates in maize shoots were increased more rapidly in the samples with chalcone application than in the control and the increase occurred at ≤ 3 h after the application (HAA). The lignin content was reduced by chalcone at ≤ 6 HAA. The shoot growth was suppressed by chalcone at ≤ 9 HAA. Consequently, the results suggest that chalcone suppressed maize growth by inhibiting monolignol biosynthesis.     

Parasitoid community of the loreyi leaf wormMythimna (Acantholeucania) loreyi: Novel host-parasitoid associations and their efficiency in the eastern mediterranean region of Turkey

The loreyi leaf worm,Mythimna (Acantholeucania) loreyi Duponchel (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae), is a pest of gramineous crops and causes significant economic damage to maize. In field surveys on maize to determine the parasitoid community and its impact on the pest in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey, nine parasitoid species were found associated with immature stages ofM. loreyi: The hymenopteran (Braconidae and Ichneumonidae) parasitoidsCotesia (=Apanteles) ruficrus (Haliday),Chelonus oculator Panzer,Meteorus ictericus Nees,Hyposoter didymator (Thunberg),Sinophorus sp.; and the dipteran (Tachinidae) parasitoidsPseudogonia rufifrons Wiedeman,Exorista rossica Mesnil,Gonia picea (Robineau-Desvoidy) andLinnaemya vulpina (Fallen) — the last three recorded for the first time as parasitoids ofM. loreyi in Turkey.C. ruficrus was the dominant parasitoid species, being recovered from 38.5% of the larvae collected and was also the most prevalent species, existing in 91.0% of the fields in whichM. loreyi was found. Total parasitism levels achieved by braconid species was 41.4%, by ichneumonid parasitoids 4.8%, and by tachinid parasitoids 1.9%. In a separate field experiment, seasonal population fluctuations and natural efficiency ofC. ruficrus onM. loreyi were found to be 35.1% and 42.4%, respectively. Population levels ofC. ruficrus were closely related to fluctuations in the population ofM. loreyi, with parasitism ranging between 0 and 77.3% during the study. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting Aug. 28, 2005.     

华北地区夏玉米田马唐治理的生态经济杀除阈期研究

作者于1992～1994年研究夏玉米田马唐(Digitaria sanguinalis L.)治理的生态经济阈期,借助计算机进行数学模拟,建立夏玉米的相对产量与马唐的相对干扰生长时间、相对出苗时间的函数关系。苗后马唐干扰生长的相对时间即相对天数(Xu)与夏玉米相对产量(Yu)的关系式为: Yu=101.5/{1.0 0.01756EXP[—(—0.0876Xu 0.0004888Xu~2)]}…………(1)苗后马唐出苗的相对时间与玉米相对产量的关系式为: Yd=100.73/{1.0 0.96EXP[—(0.06346Xd-0.00006859Xd~2)]}……………(2) 根据生态经济杀除阈期的定义和(1)、(2)两公式计算可知:夏玉米田马唐防除的生态经济杀除阈期的始期应从夏玉米苗后生育期总天数的11.8％开始,结束于夏玉米苗后生育期总天数的53.9％。例如华北地区夏玉米全生育期总天数一般是95天,夏玉米苗后生育期总天数(T)约为88天,故夏玉米田马唐防除的生态经济杀除阈期约在夏玉米苗后10.6—47.5天之间。     

国内一种玉米新病害--玉米黑腐病

1999年7月云南省元谋县城郊玉米地发现一种玉米新病害,发病面积大约70hm2.其典型症状表现为植株矮化,节间缩短,叶片密集簇生,叶片上有黄绿相间的条斑.叶鞘上有坏死或腐烂病斑,幼穗腐烂,不实,严重者绝产,颗粒无收.从坏死或腐烂的叶鞘和果穗上可镜检到分生孢子及分生孢子梗.纯化培养后,并按柯赫氏法则进行接种试验,病原鉴定为柔弱无枝孢Acladium tenellum(Berk.& Curt.)Subram.comb.nov..本文对病害症状、病原形态、发病情况等进行了详细研究,确定该病为玉米一种新病害.     

减氮对麦玉轮作农田土壤反硝化细菌群落结构和多样性的影响

探究减氮对华北地区麦玉轮作农田土壤反硝化细菌群落结构和多样性影响,为华北地区麦玉轮作农田氮肥管理提供技术支持,本研究以不施氮为对照（CK）,设置 2个施氮量,分别为常规施氮量（纯氮 300 kg·hm^-2,N2）、减氮 20%（纯氮 240 kg·hm^-2,N1）,提取土壤DNA,用nirS（细胞色素cd1-亚硝酸还原酶）、nirK（Cu-亚硝酸还原酶）引物扩增后采用MiSeq PE300测序技术,研究施氮量对麦玉轮作农田土壤性状及nirS、nirK反硝化细菌群落结构及多样性的影响。结果表明,3个处理nirS、nirK反硝化细菌α-多样性指数无显著差异,nirS反硝化细菌α-多样性高于nirK。减氮显著影响nirS、nirK反硝化细菌物种组成。减氮对nirS、nirK反硝化细菌门水平及nirK纲水平物种组成无显著影响,但显著降低了nirS反硝化细菌Deltaproteobacteria（δ-变形菌纲）相对丰度;减氮显著影响nirS、nirK属水平物种组成。硝态氮、速效磷、pH值是影响土壤nirS反硝化细菌属水平群落结构主要环境因子;pH值是影响土壤nirK反硝化细菌属水平群落结构的主要环境因子。研究表明,适量减氮不影响反硝化细菌α-多样性,但显著影响反硝化细菌属水平群落组成和群落结构,减氮主要是通过影响土壤性状及微生物群落结构进而影响农田土壤N₂O排放。     

稀植栽培下春小麦旗叶光合性状的变化规律

试验选用适宜稀植栽培的三个春小麦品种,设三个处理A1:600万株.hm-2(三叶期开沟施肥),A2:450万株.hm-2(三叶期开沟施肥,花期叶面喷肥),A3:300万株.hm-2(花期叶面喷肥)。结果表明,三个品种旗叶叶绿素总量Chl(a+b)和叶绿素a/b值变化规律不同,东农122、龙麦26的Chl(a+b)最大值出现在300万株密度下,克丰6出现在450万株密度下。稀植栽培下比叶重也有不同程度提高,东农122、龙麦26在A1、A2处理下明显高于A3处理。     

Interactions between phosphorus availability and microbes in a wheat–maize double cropping system: A reduced fertilization scheme

Mechanisms controlling phosphorus(P) availability and the roles of microorganisms in the efficient utilization of soil P in the wheat–maize double cropping system are poorly understood. In the present study, we conducted a pot experiment for four consecutive wheat–maize seasons(2016–2018) using calcareous soils with high(30.36 mg kg^–1) and low(9.78 mg kg^–1) initial Olsen-P content to evaluate the effects of conventional P fertilizer application to both wheat and maize(Pwm) ...     

Factors influencing seed reserve utilization during seedling establishment in maize inbred lines

Strong seedlings are essential for high yield. To explore the foundation of strong seedlings, we investigated various factors influencing the conversion and distribution of seed storage reserves during seedling establishment in maize inbred lines. Three maize inbred lines were used to explore the effects of seed size, seed vigor, illumination duration, temperature, water content, and salt concentration of the seedling medium on the utilization of seed storage reserves during seedling establishme...