Recent Advances in Breeding Disease Resistant Pines / ONLANGSE VORDERINGS IN DIE TEELT VAN SIEKTE-BESTANDE DENNEBOME

Recent results in breeding disease resistant pines are discussed. Breeding for disease resistance is economically feasible and could be initiated in South Africa if it becomes necessary, provided that adequate personnel is appointed.     

3种肥料品种的氮素养分静水释放试验

以3种不同肥料品种为试验材料,通过静水释放试验测定其氮素养分释放速率。结果表明,3种肥料的氮素养分释放曲线均呈“L”形;尿素在第3h的氮素累积释放率就达到了99．53％,而油茶专用肥（15-6-9）和掺混肥（15-6-9）在第23h的氮素累积释放率分别达到97．28％和99．36％。从长期累积释放情况来看,油茶专用肥缓释性优于掺混肥,更优于尿素。可见,添加有机质、经过造粒工艺处理,可在一定程度上减缓肥料养分的释放速率,有利于提高肥料利用率和降低肥料对环境尤其是对水的污染。     

Advances in the Design of Resource-Efficient Cropping Systems

SUMMARY

Cropping systems in the Midwest USA are evolving as farmers seek labor-efficient designs to capture and use available light and precipitation. Heavy reliance on fossil fuels and other energy-intensive production inputs coupled with uncertain markets for commodities have encouraged the search for greater energy efficiency as well as alternative crops, markets, and production systems. Agroecology has emerged as an innovative and integrative approach to evaluating systems more suited to the often harsh and unpredictable environment, using native prairie structure and function as one guide to design of future systems. A more specific approach, Natural Systems Agriculture, is being explored as a new paradigm to saving soil while producing the crop and animal output needed for a growing global population. Whole-farm and landscape-level design and planning will become more important as society recognizes and values multifunctional rural landscapes.     

Delivering Fertilizers Through Seed Coatings

Summary

Coating seeds with nutrients may be an effective way of supplying starter fertilizer for establishment of seedlings and early growth. However, a large variability in benefits of providing nutrients with seeds has been reported, highlighting differences in the implementation of the techniques. This chapter will discuss the main principles relating to the imprecisely defined concept of nutrient-amended seeds.     

Enhancing Productivity of Rice-Wheat System Through Integrated Crop Management in the Eastern-Gangetic Plains of South Asia

Abstract

Rice (Oryza sariva)-wheat (Triticum aestivum) rotation is the major production system in the Indo-Gangetic plains of South Asia and mid hills and is important for the food security of the region. The productivity and profitability of the rice-wheat system are very low mainly because of inappropriate nutrient input and poor crop management practices. Field experiments were conducted in 21 farmers' fields in Bara and Parsa districts in the Eastern-Gangetic plains of Nepal from May 1999 to April 2002 to evaluate site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) and integrated crop management (ICM) for improving rice-wheat productivity and profitability. Soil nutrient-supplying capacity (based on omission plot method) varied largely among farmers' fields. Rice soil had a higher N, P, and K-supplying capacity (35–76, 8–17, and 63–98 kg ha¹, compared with wheat (16–41, 6–12, and 20–104 kg ha¹, respectively). Both SSNM and ICM strategies significantly improved the grain yields of rice and wheat. Overall yield increment by ICM over farmers' practice (FP) reached up to 2.3 Mg ha¹ (66%) in rice and 2.3 Mg ha¹ (87%) in wheat, suggesting that there is a large potential for increasing rice and wheat yields in Nepal. Yield gap 1 (maximum attainable yieldaverage yield in ICM) was 1.3 to 1.4 Mg ha¹ for rice and 0.3 to 1.0 Mg ha¹ for wheat. While yield gap 2 (maximum attainable yieldaverage yield in FP) ranged from 2.8 to 3.5 Mg ha-1 for rice and 2.3 to 2.8 Mg ha-1 for wheat. Rice N-use efficiencies increased up to 50% and 70% with SSNM and ICM, respectively, over FP. In wheat, N-use efficiency increased up to 46% by ICM over SSNM. The net profit gained by applying ICM over FP was higher in wheat (US$ 217) than in rice (US$ 73). The findings suggest the urgent need to develop an effective program for wider dissemination of ICM technology in the Eastern-Gangetic plains.     

Nutrient Dynamics

Summary

Environmental concerns currently trigger the development of more sustainable soil fertility management strategies. It appears that effective sustainable practices are those that enhance natural soil processes. Soil processes include the decomposition of residues and mineralization of organic matter, nitrogen fixation, nitrification, nitrate leaching, denitrification and sulfur reduction. Natural soil processes also include less well-understood interactions, namely, those leading to the dissolution of minerals by organic acids, as well as rhizospheric and mycorrhizospheric interactions. Plants, associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal symbionts, supply and distribute carbon and energy, sustaining most of the biotic mechanisms responsible for nutrient release from soil, and maintaining organic pools of nutrients. Among these pools, the microbial biomass and fine roots pools, with their very fast turnover time, are particularly important as they can maintain large amounts of nutrients in very labile form and, therefore, increase soil fertility. Agricultural soil systems are very dynamic and are characterized by large spatial and temporal variations, which are largely driven by plant development. In addition, nutrient dynamics in agricultural soil systems seem particularly influenced by temperature, moisture, and nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization. Nitrogen losses from soil are reduced in systems where nitrogen release corresponds to plant demand. Biological nitrogen fixation is a sound way to input nitrogen in cropping systems. Phosphorus losses can be reduced through increased reliance on the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis of crops. Soils are diverse and complex systems, which, furthermore, respond to increasingly unpredictable climatic variations. Optimal agricultural soil management is a moving target and, hence, a challenging goal that will never be totally reached.     

博尔塔拉河下游河岸带不同植被覆盖下土壤养分特征

[目的]为土壤退化的修复、防沙抗沙提供科学参考。[方法]以艾比湖流域的博尔塔拉河下游河岸带土壤为研究对象,对不同植被类型覆盖条件下土壤有机质、全氮、全磷、全钾养分指标进行分析,找出不同植被类型覆盖下土壤养分分布规律。[结果]在地表不同植被覆盖条件下,土壤中的有机质、全氮含量显示出表层(0～10 cm)20 cm40 cm60 cm80 cm的规律;全磷、全钾含量上下层含量变化较小;研究区土壤养分总体偏低,土壤贫瘠。不同植被类型在从草本向灌木演替的过程中,土壤养分含量(全磷除外)显示出灌丛灌丛及草本草本的规律。通过土壤养分指标相关性分析得出,在40 cm以上土层,土壤间相关性规律较明显,其中土壤有机质含量与土壤全氮含量之间呈显著相关性;在40～80 cm土壤层,各养分指标的相关性较差,规律不显著。[结论]该区域养分含量整体偏低;土壤中的全氮与有机质含量具有显著相关关系,两者在不同植被下均呈现灌木丛群落灌木及草本群落草本群落的规律。由于全钾、全磷含量主要受土壤母质的影响,该区域土壤母质由河水沉积物构成,径流携带作用使其上下均匀,没有明显的变化规律。     

临河区食用向日葵施肥指标体系的建立

[目的]为了掌握各个施肥单元对食用向日葵的优化施肥数量以及基肥、追肥分配比例。[方法]2006～2009年临河区在食用向日葵上安排“3414”肥料效应试验,研究植物的营养过程,阐明各种肥料的效应、肥料之间的配合以及“土壤－肥料－作物”之间的相互作用。[结果]通过“3414”田间试验以及土壤测试,分析不同土壤肥力基础下土壤有效养分含量与食用向日葵相对产量的相关性,并依此确定土壤养分等级和最佳施肥量。[结论]该研究确定了一个合适的施肥养分配比,给广大农民开出优化、合理的配方。     

不同技术措施对降水利用和土壤养分的影响

研究了豫西丘陵旱作区不同技术措施对降水利用的影响,结果表明,不同技术措施对玉米生育性状、子粒产量、土壤含水量和降水利用具有积极作用。其中,玉米产量增产1.92%~20.51%,以秸秆覆盖+营养型抗旱保水剂处理增产效果最显著,增产15.38%~20.51%;其次为营养型抗旱保水剂处理,增产11.53%~14.10%。降水利用效率分别提高0.45~3.60 kg/(mm.hm2),其中,以秸秆覆盖+营养型抗旱保水剂处理最好,提高2.70~3.60 kg/(mm.hm2);说明合理的技术集成是提高降水利用的有效途径之一。化学节水技术以营养型抗旱保水剂处理效果最好。同时,合理的秸秆覆盖可以提高土壤耕层的氮、磷、钾和有机质含量,否则将导致有效钾和有机质含量的降低。     

不同施肥模式对砒砂岩与沙复配土壤养分影响研究

为了提高砒砂岩与沙复配土壤质量,寻求最优的施肥模式,本研究基于室内盆栽试验,分析了不施肥、单施有机肥、基于农户习惯有机无机配施和单施化肥四种施肥模式对复配土壤养分的影响。结果表明：(1)基于农户习惯有机无机配施模式下土壤中的总碳和有机碳含量明显高于其他三种施肥模式;(2)单施化肥模式下土壤中的硝态氮含量最高,基于农户习惯有机无机配施模式下土壤中铵态氮含量最高;(3)基于农户习惯有机无机配施模式施肥时土壤中的有效磷含量显著高于单施化肥、单施有机肥和不施肥三种模式;(4)从环境保护和提高土壤质量的角度应优先选择有机无机配施施肥模式。研究成果以期为砒砂岩与沙复配土壤质量提高提供参考。