Effect of long-term fertilization on greenhouse gases emission in paddy soils, China

Poster Sessio

The potential for using smartphones as portable soil nutrient analyzers on suburban farms in central East China

Soil testing is frequently conducted to specify nutrient supply recommendations. By adjusting fertilizer type and application rates, farmers can achieve desired crop yields with lower production costs and are thereby less likely to contribute to eutrophication of nearby waterbodies. However, traditional methods of soil testing can be costly, time-consuming and are often impractical in rural and resource-poor regions in China, where rapid population growth and consequent food demand must be balanced against potential environment risks. Smartphones are nearly ubiquitous and offer a ready capability for providing additional support for existing extension advice. In this study, we used an Android-based smartphone application, in conjunction with commercially-available Quantofix test strips, to analyze soil samples with a goal of providing specific fertilizer recommendations. The app transforms the smartphone into a portable reflectometer, relating the reaction color of the test strips to the concentration of soil nutrients available. A 6-month long field study involving two growing seasons of vegetables was conducted in a suburban area of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China to evaluate the accuracy and precision of smartphone-mediated soil analysis. Results obtained via the smartphone correlated well with the yield response of the common green vegetable Ipomoea aquatica (water spinach) and could be applied in calculations of necessary off-farm inputs throughout the open-field vegetable growing season. Together, the smartphone and test strip in combination were shown to offer an acceptable screening tool for soil nutrient concentration assessment with the potential to result in substantial monetary savings and reduction of nutrient loss to the environment

The Case Study on Soil Fauna Diversity in Different Ecological System in Shilin NationalPark, Yunnan, China

Predhodno sta bili preučevani razporeditev in raznovrstnost talne favne v vrsti degradiranih ekosistemov v narodnem parku Shilin. Ti ekosistemi vključujejo pet tipov rastlinskega pokrova: 1. naravno grmišče, 2. umetno nasajen cipresov gozd, 3. naravni travnik, 4. drugotni travnik, 5. golo rdečo prst. Na vsakem izmed njih je bila talna favna nabrana s kvadrata velikosti 1 krat 1 m. Živali so bile nabrane ročno ali pa izločene s pomočjo segrevanja. V talni favni so prevladovale acarina, collembola, nematoda, coleoptera in opistopora. Toda razmeroma pogoste so bile tudi skupine enchytraeidae, araneida, lepidoptera in diptera. Indeks raznovrstnosti H je manjši od 1,5 in se močno znižuje vzporedno z degradacijo rastlinstva. V kraških prsteh so med najpogostejšimi parholaspidae. Biomasa trhypochthoniidae in ologamasidae je najbolj zgoščena v naravnem grmišču in kaže veliko občutljivost teh skupin na degradacijo rastlinstva. Razmerje biomase acarina v primerjavi s collembola je v razponu 0.7 do 1.5, kar je veliko odstopanje od podatkov za naravne prsti podobnih geografskih širin, znanih iz literature. Majhna biomasa talne favne in manjša raznovrstnost kažeta, da se habitati v preučevanih prsteh slabšajo in se torej slabša tudi zdravje celega ekosistema. Izsledki tudi kažejo na ranljivost talne favne v prsteh z vidika sonaravnega razvoja parka Shilin.A preliminary study of the distribution and diversity of soil fauna in a sequence of ecosystem degradation in the Shilin National Park, Yunnan, China has been made. The degraded ecologic system includes 5 types of vegetation cover: (1) natural bush; (2) human planted cypress forest; (3)natural grass; (4)secondary grass and (5) bared red earth. A quadrate of 1m×1m in each eco-tessera was sampled for soil fauna collection. The animals were obtained either by picking up or by heat-removing. The soil fauna were dominated by Acarina, Collembola, Nematode, Coleoptera,and Opistopora in these soils. However, Erchytraeidae, Araneida, Lepidoptera and Diptera were also common groups. The diversity index H turned to be less than 1.5, drastically decreasing with the vegetation degradation trend. In the karst soils, Parholaspidae was one of the most populous among the mites. The biomass of Trhypochthoniidae and Ologamasidae was very concentrated in the natural bush ecosystem, showing high sensitivity of mites to vegetation degradation. The biomass ratio of Acarina to Collembola in the studied soils ranged from 0.70 to 1.50, which was in great discrepancy to the results reported of the natural soils at similar latitude. The small soil fauna biomass and less diversity indicated that the studied soil was in a state of deterioration of soil fauna habitats and, in turn, the soil ecosystem health. The results also evidenced that the soil fauna in the karst soil was definitely vulnerable as regarded to the sustainable development of the Shilin Park

Perspectives on studies on soil carbon stocks and the carbon sequestration potential of China

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Effect of Sugarcane Pressmud Biocompost on Dry Matter Yield and Nutrient Uptake in Maize

An experiment was conducted to determine the nutrient contents and manurial value of  biocompost, collected from Matiari Sugar Mill, Matiari and analyzed for macro nutrients N, P and K. The biocompost was evaluated in a pot experiment on maize crop  with eight treatments in factorial combinations of two rates of biocompost (0 and 10 tons ha-1) and four fertilizer treatments (0-0-0, 150-0-0, 150-75-0 and 150-75-60 kg ha-1 N, P and K) . The treatments were replicated three times in a randomized complete block design and maize was grown for 7 weeks. The soil was a clay loam (31% clay) with EC 0.35 dSm-1, pH 7.87, low in organic matter (0.80%) and Olsen P (7.0 mg kg-1) and high in NH4OAC-K (320 mg kg-1). The nutrient contents of biocompost were 1.8% N, 1.83% P and 0.9% K. Results revealed that there were pronounced positive effects of addition of biocompost, as well as N on plant height and dry weights of maize. Plant analysis data showed that the effect biocompost and mineral fertilizers was non-significant with respect to N, P and K contents. Soil analytical data showed that the EC values of post harvest samples increased with the application of biocompost while pH was not affected. Soil organic matter, Olsen P and NH4OAC-K increased significantly with the application of biocompost. Fertilizer application also increased Olsen P and NH4OAC-K contents in soil. The results of this study showed that biocompost can be used along with mineral fertilizers to increase maize growth and dry matter yield. Keywords: Maize, Dry matter yield, Pressmud Biocompost

Does metal pollution matter with C retention by rice soil?

Date of Acceptance: 17/07/2015 The research work was supported by the China Natural Science Foundation under a grant number of 40830528 and of 40671180. P.S. is a Royal Scoiety-Wolfson Research Merit Award holder and was supported by additional travel funds from a UK BBSRC China Partnership Award. P.S.’s contribution was supported by the UK-China Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (SAIN). D.C. was supported by an additional travel and collaboration funding from the China Ministry of Education under a “111” project.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Evaluation of four modelling approaches to estimate nitrous oxide emissions in China’s cropland

This work was financially supported by China Natural Science Foundation under a grant number 41501569 and “the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities” under a grant number KJQN201673. This work was also supported by Department of Science and Technology of Jiangsu province under a grant number BK20150684. This work also contributes to the activities of NCircle - a BBSRC-Newton Funded project (BB/N013484/1). The first author thanks the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for funding to support study at University of Aberdeen, UK.Peer reviewedPostprin

Estimating ammonia emissions from cropland in China based on the establishment of agro-region-specific models

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was financially supported by Natural Science Foundation of China under a grant numbers 41877546 and U1612441, and a BBSRC-Newton Funded project (BB/N013484/1). This work also contributes to the activities of Top-notch Academic Programs Project of Jiangsu Higher Education Institution of China (PPZY2015A061), and Program for Student Innovation through Research and Training (1913A22).Peer reviewedPostprin

Modelling greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation potentials in fertilized paddy rice fields in Bangladesh

The work was supported by Bangabandhu Fellowship on Science and ICT project, Ministry of Science and Technology, People’s Republic of Bangladesh. We are grateful to the model developers at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America, for sending us the new methane version of the DayCent model.Peer reviewedPostprin