Effects of Low Doses of Glyphosate on Agronomic Traits of Upland Rice

Research has shown the occurrence of the hormesis effect in some upland rice cultures resulting from low-dose application of glyphosate. Glyphosate herbicide is widely used in Brazilian agriculture for controlling the large quantity of weeds. The aim of this work was to verify the effects of low-dose application of glyphosate herbicide on agronomic characteristics in upland rice. The experimental design used was randomized blocks comprising five low-dose applications of glyphosate herbicide (10, 20, 40, 70, and 100?g acid equivalent [a.e.] ha^?1) and the control, in two stages of development of the rice culture (tillering [V4] and floral differentiation [R1]) with four repetitions. The agronomic traits of upland rice were evaluated. Data were subjected to variance analysis, polynomial regression analysis for the quantitative factor, and Tukey’s test for the qualitative factor at p?<?0.05. The grain yield and the number of spikelets per panicle increased with the application of 10?g a.e. ha^?1 of glyphosate at the floral differentiation stage. Until the low dose of 75?g a.e. ha^?1, there was an increase in the number of panicles. Low doses between 70 and 100?g a.e. ha^?1 applied in R1 provided less spikelets per panicle, lower 100-grain weight, and lower grain yield. The leaf flavonoid content increased due to the increase in the low doses of glyphosate herbicide.

     

Fast field cycling NMR relaxometry characterization of biochars obtained from an industrial thermochemical process

Purpose

Biochar has unique properties which make it a powerful tool to increase soil fertility and to contribute to the decrease of the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide through the mechanisms of C sequestration in soils. Chemical and physical biochar characteristics depend upon the technique used for its production and the biomass nature. For this reason, biochar characterization is very important in order to address its use either for agricultural or environmental purposes.

Materials and methods

Three different biochars obtained from an industrial gasification process were selected in order to establish their chemical and physical peculiarities for a possible use in agronomical practices. They were obtained by charring residues from the wine-making industry (marc) and from poplar and conifer forests. Routine analyses such as pH measurements, elemental composition, and ash and metal contents were performed together with the evaluation of the cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) ¹³C NMR spectra of all the biochar samples. Finally, relaxometry properties of water-saturated biochars were retrieved in order to obtain information on pore size distribution.

Results and discussion

All the biochars revealed basic pH values due to their large content of alkaline metals. The quality of CPMAS ¹³C NMR spectra, which showed the typical signal pattern for charred systems, was not affected by the presence of paramagnetic centers. Although paramagnetism was negligible for the acquisition of solid state spectra, it was effective in some of the relaxometry experiments. For this reason, no useful information could be retrieved about water dynamics in marc char. Conversely, both relaxograms and nuclear magnetic resonance dispersion profiles of poplar and conifer chars indicated that poplar char is richer in small-sized pores, while larger pores appear to be characteristic for the conifer char.

Conclusions

This study showed the potential of relaxometry in revealing chemical?Cphysical information on industrially produced biochar. This knowledge is of paramount importance to properly direct biochar agronomical uses.