Current Situation on research core of Integrated Field Control

Food production systems have been studied in order to improve production capacity and quality in individual bio-production fields, and these advances have contributed to establishing a sufficient food supply to meet the needs of the increasing world population since the industrial revolution. However, it has also been clarified in the last two decades that agricultural activity has also contributed to increases in environmental loading such as global warming gas increase, stream and subterranean water pollution, soil degradation, etc. The development of environmentally friendly bio-production systems that integrate high production efficiency with the ecosystems, including human society, is expected to be of great interest. To facilitate the development of environmentally friendly bio-production systems that consider the ecosystem, the new Field Science Center was established in 2003 through the merger and reorganization of two former educational and research facilities for field science : the University Farm, and the Education and Research Center of Marine Bio-resources. The new center has three educational and research stations : the Field Control Station (Sendai), the Terrestrial Field Station (Naruko), and the Marine Field Station (Onagawa). It also has five following research cores : the Forest-Andisols Research Core, the Ruminant Production Research Core, the Rice Production Research Core, the Marine Bio-production Research Core, and the Integrated Field Control Research Core. The Integrated Field Control Core was formed to promote an environmentally, friendly, high quality and high yielding bio- production and to hasten the integrated field science in terrestrial-marine ecosystems

Response of Dent Corn and Sweet Corn to Two Different Forms of Co-situs Application Methods of Controlled Release Fertilizer in Upland Field of a Volcanic Ash Soil

Polyolefin coated fertilizer as a new type of controlled release fertilizer (CRF) has began to be used in upland crops in Japan due to its high N recovery rate and environmental friendly characteristics under humid climate. The objective of this paper lies in investigating the response and adaptability of dent corn (Zea mays L. var. indentata Sturt.) and sweet corn (Zea mays L. var. saccharata Sturt.) to two forms of co-situs application methods (co-situs band application and co-situs spot application) of CRF in upland field of a volcanic ash soil (Alic Pachi Mellanudand) under humid climate conditions. The results obtained showed that, compared to the conventional side-band application of urea, for sweet corn and dent corn, in co-situs spot application of LP70 (polyolefin coated urea, 70 day type), the mean germination percentage at each sowing point greatly decreased by 66.7% and 50%, respectively ; In co-situs band application of LP70, the germination percentage decreased by 26.7% and 10.0%, respectively ; under the condition of co-situs band application of urea, nearly all the seeds of two corns did not germinate and the germinating power was inhibited completely ; The weather conditions with less rainfall and higher temperatures at the germination stage probably increased tendency of poor germination under the co-situs application conditions ; Co-situs spot application of LP70 further retarded seedling development, but such retardation was not obvious at the late growing period because of good water conditions, and in this treatment, the grain yield of both corns as well as the uptake amount of N, P, K decreased significantly, too, but there were no significant difference for harvest index and nitrogen harvest index as compared with control, suggesting that poor germination and less plant number is the main reason for significant decrease of yield and nutrients uptake. Based on the above results, it is therefore recommended that the co-situs application of CRF especially the co-situs spot application would not be applied in sweet corn production, and the co-situs band application of CRF is ideal fertilization method for dent corn production under upland conditions without irrigation in humid area.Controlled release fertilizerCo-Situs applicationDent CornGerminationSweet Cor

Band versus Nursery Pot Application of Polyolefin-coated Fertilizer for Bell Peppers Grown in the Field

Using a single basal application of controlled-release fertilizers for bell peppers is a perspective method, because by the elimination of top-dressings, labour and energy costs can be reduced. In this study, effects of band and nursery pot applications of polyolefin-coated fertilizers (POCF) on bell peppers grown in the field were compared at two different application rates, in 1997 and 1998. As a consequence of continuous nutrient supply, a good yield could be achieved in case of both application methods. Application methods significantly affected the generative/vegetative balance of the bell pepper plants, and thus the yield. Both years, early plant development and early yield were much better for the nursery pot application treatments than for the band application treatments, due to the better seedlings and to the quicker seedling establishment. Results of total yield were unambiguous for the two years. It was concluded that the nursery pot application method can be a very effective fertilization method for reducing labour and energy costs, but seedlings must be transplanted before the lag time of the sigmoid-type POCF ends. Using POCFs, 25% decrease in the amount of fertilizer applied did not decrease the yield of bell peppers

Effectiveness of co-situs application of ferrous and ferric iron in alleviating iron deficiency of paddy rice on calcareous soil(Field Science Center Environmental Crop Science)

A pot experiment was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of co-situs application of ferric and ferrous iron in alleviating iron deficiency in paddy rice grown (Oryza sativa L.) on calcareous soil. Various ferric and/or ferrous iron containing materials were co-situs applied together with rice seedlings. Plants treated with no iron and ferric iron containing material died by 30 days after transplanting. Materials containing ferrous iron were more effective in alleviating iron chlorosis of paddy rice than those containing ferric iron. In this study, iron deficiency in rice was partially alleviated by co-situs application of all materials that contained ferrous iron in the composition, and the co-situs application of controlled released fertilizer containing ferrous iron was proved to be the most efficient method for improving rice growth in the calcareous soil used