A field experiment was conducted from 1998 to 2001 to measure the performance and environmental effects of a maize crop (Zea mais L.) in a continuous production system with and without a grass understorey (Lolium perenne L.), with varied N inputs. The experiment was located on a sandy soil in northern Germany and comprised all combinations of slurry application rate (0, 20, 40 m3 ha?1) and mineral N fertilizer (0, 50, 100, 150 kg N ha?1). Understorey treatments included maize with and without perennial ryegrass. Net energy (NEL) yield of maize increased with mineral N application rate but reached a plateau at high rates. Increase in yield of dry matter because of mineral N fertilizer was lower with increased slurry application rate. Neither slurry and mineral N application nor a grass understorey affected NEL concentration of maize, whereas crude protein (CP) concentration increased with increase in application of slurry and mineral N fertilizer. Nitrogen supply by slurry or mineral fertilizer had no effect on the amount of N in the grass understorey after the harvest of maize. The average amount of N bound annually in the understorey was 60 kg N ha?1. The reduced biomass of the understorey because of enhanced maize competition was compensated for by an increased CP concentration in the grass. The grass understorey affected the NEL yield of maize negatively only at very low levels of N input but increased the N surplus at all levels. 相似文献
One means of achieving increased forage grass production on infertile soils is to select plant genotypes which grow efficiently at low levels of available nutrients. This requires methods to identify variability in individual plant nutrient response from among large populations of plants grown under controlled environmental conditions.
A compact, containerized system, partially developed for growing large numbers of forage grass seedlings for use in automatic machine transplanter research, was adapted as the basis for such a screening technique. Three trials were made with 100‐plant samples of a kleingrass‐75 (Panicum coloratum L.) population to test the utility of the system. Results of these trials showed that differences in nutrient use efficiency (= reciprocal of nutrient concentration in the plant tissue, or milligrams dry matter produced per milligram nutrient absorbed) among the grass plants could be effectively identified by using the system in conjunction with laboratory analysis of the material grown. Plants could be maintained in vigorous condition during several harvest periods, and those selections that were retained could be easily transplanted for further propagation and evaluation. 相似文献
ABSTRACTIntraspecies genetic level diversity has the potential to improve ecosystem functions and services, similar to that by species-level diversity. Although yield, pollination, and pest and disease control have been enhanced by crop genetic diversity, mixing multiple cultivars of grass within a species in an agricultural field have not been fully tested by farmers.We, therefore, tested whether multiple ecosystem functions are increased in a grass mixture of multiple cultivars compared to monoculture and whether this relationship differs with soil fertility. We performed monocultures of four Orchard Grass cultivars and a mixture of these cultivars with and without fertilizer application and examined the aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), their stability, dry matter digestibility, and resistance to weed, pest, and disease. We found significant differences between cultivars in the second yield and disease lesion area on the leaf, but not between mixed culture and monoculture. Moreover, no significant difference was found in the first and third yields in terms of stability, dry matter digestibility, and leaf damage by insects, although the number of leaves damaged by insects for mixed culture was less than half of that on average for monoculture. Although genetic diversity is not always an important driver of ecological processes due to fluctuation among plots, it may play a role in pest control of agricultural land in the long term. 相似文献
Precision‐farming applications are mainly based on site‐specific information of soil properties at the field scale. For this purpose, a number of novel sensor techniques have been developed but not intensively tested under different field conditions. This study presents a combined application of a self‐developed dual‐sensor vertical penetrometer (DVP) for measuring volumetric soil water content (VSWC) and cone index (CI), and an EM38 for soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) in a pasture (1.4 ha). To verify the feasibility of the DVP for interpreting the depth‐specific information in the field, not only the soil physical properties and their geographical coordinates were measured, but also geo‐referenced yield data were collected. We found that the yield pattern was quite similar to the soil water‐content pattern of each layer (layer‐1: 5–15 cm; layer‐2: 15–25 cm, layer‐3: 25–35 cm) and ECa pattern. Using the map‐based comparisons in conjunction with the statistical analyses, the effect of each measured soil physical property (VSWC, CI, and ECa) on the yield was investigated. The regression between the yield and VSWC at each layer fitted a quadratic equation (R2 = 0.515 at 5–15 cm; R2 = 0.623, at 15–25 cm; R2 = 0.406 at 25–35 cm). The negative correlation between yield and CI at each layer fitted a linear model with R2 ≥ 0.510. 相似文献