Organic nitrogen fertilizers influence nutritional value, water use efficiency, and nitrogen dynamics of drip irrigated lettuce and sweet corn

2016 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Farmers usually rely on off-farm sources (fish emulsion, feather meal, blood meal) for the additional N needed during the growing season, and they are willing to pay the extra shipping cost. However, there is another fertilizer option being developed that could allow farmers to produce N on-farm, which is cyanobacteria, formerly known as the blue green algae. The general objectives of this study were to assess effects of organic N fertilizer application and N rates on nutritional value, water use efficiency, N dynamics of sweet corn and lettuce. A two-year field study was conducted in the summers of 2013 and 2014 at the Colorado State University Horticulture Research Center, Fort Collins, CO. The fertilizers used in this study were blood meal, feather meal, fish emulsion, and cyano-fertilizer. Both fish emulsion and cyano-fertilizer were supplied in four split applications over the growing season through drip irrigation, while the blood meal and feather meal were subsurface banded prior to planting. Lettuce and sweet corn were used as an indicator to evaluate effects of organic nitrogen (N) fertilizers on nutritional value, water use efficiency, and N dynamics. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of different types of organic N fertilizer on nutritional value; β-carotene, iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), marketable yield, water use efficiency (WUE), residual soil nitrate-N, N content, and N use efficiency (NUE) of horticultural crops, particularly lettuce and sweet corn. All fertilizer treatments in 2013 increased β-carotene concentration in leaf tissue compared to control, while only fish emulsion had a higher β-carotene concentration compared to other treatments in 2014. The high indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) applied in the fish emulsion treatment could have increased β- carotene concentration in lettuce in both years. Amount of IAA applied in the fish emulsion treatment was positively correlated with β-carotene concentration in both years. A significant negative correlation was found between marketable yield and β-carotene concentration in leaf tissue in 2014. High salicylic acid (SA) applied in the cyano-fertilizer treatment had a higher total leaf area compared to other fertilizers in both years. In lettuce, the blood meal treatment had a lower leaf Fe and Zn concentrations than other fertilizer treatments at 112 kg N ha-1. The cyano-fertilizer treatment had a higher leaf Fe concentration at 56 kg N ha-1. Leaf N concentration was positively correlated with Leaf Fe and Zn concentrations. Amount of NO3- -N applied in organic N fertilizers was negatively correlated with leaf Fe concentration. The cyano-fertilizer, fish emulsion, and blood meal treatments increased Fe concentration in sweet corn compared to feather meal. Amount of NO3- -N, Fe, and Zn applied in organic N fertilizers were positively correlated with kernel Fe concentration, while amount of NH4+ -N applied was negatively correlated with kernel Fe concentration. There was no N rate or treatment effect on leaf and kernel N concentrations in sweet corn. The amount of phytohormone, Ca, and Fe applied in organic N fertilizers may have affected field water use efficiency (fWUE), instantaneous water use efficiency (iWUE), kernel number, and leaf gas exchange components of sweet corn. Cyano-fertilizer apparently had a higher WUE, likely due to the high amount of SA applied. A positive relationship was observed between the amount of SA applied with iWUE and fWUE. The amount of Fe applied in organic N fertilizers had a positive correlation with leaf VPD and transpiration rate. The amount of Ca applied in the feather meal treatment may have contributed to increasing leaf temperature and decreasing net photosynthetic rate. The amount of NH4+ -N and Ca applied in the feather meal treatments were negatively correlated with both iWUE and fWUE. N rate effect was only observed in lettuce marketable yield and NUE in both years. Blood meal and feather meal fertilizers with higher percentage of N applied as NO3- -N compared to other fertilizer treatments had a higher residual soil NO3- -N concentration in 2013. Greater residual soil NO3 - -N was observed in the 0-30 cm depth compared to the 30-60 cm depth in 2014. Organic growers could achieve higher marketable yield and NUE when applying fertilizers at rates between 28 kg N ha-1 and 56 kg N ha-1 compared with 112 kg N ha-1. In sweet corn, the feather meal and fish emulsion treatments had a higher residual soil NO3- -N compared with other treatments. The fish emulsion, cyano-fertilizer, and blood meal had a higher leaf and kernel N contents and NUE compared with feather meal at 56 kg N ha-1. The cyanofertilizer treatment had a higher marketable ear yield and NUE compared with other treatments at 112 kg N ha-1 in 2014. The amount of C inputs and crop species may have affected soil permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC) concentration in a single season study. Soil POXC concentration was higher in the cyanofertilizer treatment compared to the control treatment in sweet corn, while the opposite trend was found in lettuce. Depth effect was observed in soil POXC concentration at 0-30 cm compared to 30-60 cm in lettuce. Soil POXC concentration was higher at 112 kg N ha-1 compared to 56 kg N ha-1 in sweet corn, but there was no N rate effect in lettuce. Greater soil POXC concentration and marketable ear yield of sweet corn were observed in the cyano-fertilizer treatment compared to others at 112 kg N ha-1. Overall, our results indicate that organic N fertilizer, particularly cyano-fertilizer influenced soil POXC concentration over a short-term growing season of horticultural crops

Effects of cyanobacterial fertilizers compared to commonly-used organic fertilizers on nitrogen availability, lettuce growth, and nitrogen use efficiency on different soil textures

2013 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Nitrogen plays a crucial role in synthesis of amino acids and proteins, plant growth, chlorophyll formation, leaf photosynthesis, and yield development of lettuce. Generally, organic farmers use composted manure, legume cover crops, and off-farm fertilizers such as fish emulsion to meet the nitrogen (N) demand of crops. However, the nutrient composition of off-farm fertilizers such as composted manure and fish emulsion varies widely depending on animal species and often have higher transportation costs. Therefore, an evaluation of the application of cyanobacteria in comparison to the commonly-used organic fertilizers was conducted as an alternative potential N biofertilizer. The laboratory soil incubation and greenhouse studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of N availability from potentially mineralizable N on different types of soil textures. Then, a greenhouse study was conducted to assess the effect of N availability from cyanobacterial fertilizers compared to the commonly-used organic fertilizers on lettuce growth, fertilizer recovery and lettuce root response on N use efficiency. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is a shallow-rooted crop and requires an extensive amount of N fertilizer to produce yield. The aims of the soil incubation study were to determine the rates of mineralization for different organic fertilizers, influence of soil texture on N mineralization, and to evaluate changes in soil microbial biomass from fertilizer application to sandy and clayey soils. In this study, N mineralization potential of cyanobacterial fertilizers were compared with traditional organic fertilizers in two soils with contrasting textures in a laboratory incubation study at constant temperature (25 degrees C) and moisture content (60% water-filled pore space) for 140 days. Soils were destructively sampled over the course of 140 days and analyzed for NH4+-N, and NO3--N, soil microbial biomass C, soil organic C, and soil total C and N. In both soils, soil NH4+-N was the highest at day 56 and decreased from day 56 to 140 due to its conversion to soil NO3--N. Compost treatment significantly increased soil microbial biomass C (207.5 mg C kg-1 soil) compared to fish emulsion (115.42 mg C kg-1 soil) in sandy soil. The N availability was 9% greater from fish emulsion than liquid cyanobacteria, and 6% greater from solid cyanobacteria than compost in sandy soil. The fish emulsion treatment showed 5% higher N availability compared to the solid and liquid cyanobacterial fertilizers. In the greenhouse study, percentage fertilizer recovery (PFR) was quantified to assess the efficiency of N uptake by lettuce to produce yield. A greenhouse study was conducted for 63 days to evaluate cyanobacterial and traditional organic fertilizers application on lettuce N response. Total leaf area, fresh yield, leaf dry weight, and leaf total N content were measured at the end of the greenhouse study. Total N uptake in lettuce tissue and PFR were calculated based on the analyses results. Soil applied fish emulsion recorded significantly higher fresh yield at 112 kg N ha-1 (147 g) compared to 56 kg N ha-1 (117 g) in clayey soil relative to sandy soil. Soil-applied liquid cyanobacteria recorded significantly higher yield compared to composted manure by 58%. Solid cyanobacteria recorded significantly higher total N uptake at 56 kg N ha-1 compared to 112 kg N ha-1 in clayey soil. In conclusion, soil applied fish emulsion treatment recorded higher PFR (99%) than soil applied composted manure (44%) at 56 kg N ha-1 on clayey soil. Soil applied fish emulsion has significantly higher PFR (57%) compared to the combination soil and foliar fertilizer (FFCom and FLScyb) at 56 kg N ha-1 in sandy soil. Nitrogen is also acquired from the soil by the plant roots. In the greenhouse study, root response to N fertilization was assessed to determine the efficiency of N uptake by lettuce to produce yield. A greenhouse study was conducted for 63 days to evaluate cyanobacterial and traditional organic fertilizers application on lettuce root response. Root: shoot ratio, root dry weight, root surface area, and root length density were measured at the end of the greenhouse study. Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was calculated based on the analyses results. There was no significant difference observed in root dry weight. The composted manure (Com) treatment recorded significantly higher root: shoot ratio at 56 kg N ha-1 while foliar and soil applied liquid cyanobacteria (FLScyb) treatment recorded lower root: shoot ratio at 112 kg N ha-1. The foliar applied fish emulsion and soil applied composted manure (FFCom) treatment recorded the highest root surface area compared to other treatments at 112 kg N ha-1 on clayey soil . The FLScyb treatment recorded higher root surface area compared to the Com treatment at 112 kg N ha-1 on sandy soil. The fish emulsion (Fish) treatment recorded higher root length density at 112 kg N ha-1 on clayey soil while FLSCyb recorded higher root length density on sandy soil at 112 kg N ha-1 compared to the Fish and solid cyanobacteria (Scyb) treatments. In conclusion, the Fish treatment recorded 35 % higher NUE at 56 kg N ha-1 on clayey soil while Scyb treatment has significantly 24% higher NUE compared to Com treatment at 56 kg N ha-1 in sandy soil. Overall, the soil applied fish emulsion treatment recorded higher percentage fertilizer recovery and NUE compared to the solid and liquid cyanobacterial fertilizers at 56 kg N ha-1 on clayey soil. However, the combined soil and foliar cyanobacterial fertilizer and soil applied solid and liquid cyanobacterial fertilizers recorded higher percentage fertilizer recovery and NUE at 56 kg N ha-1 compared to the composted manure which correspond to lettuce yield component which was higher in fish emulsion compared to the composted manure

Greenhouse gas emissions from solid and liquid organic fertilizers applied to lettuce

Improper application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer and environmental factors can cause the loss of nitrous oxide (N2O) to the environment. Different types of fertilizers with different C/N ratios may have different effects on the environment. The focus of this study was to evaluate the effects of environmental factors and four organic fertilizers (feather meal, blood meal, fish emulsion, and cyano-fertilizer) applied at different rates (0, 28, 56, and 112 kg N ha−1) on N2O emissions and to track CO2 emissions from a lettuce field (Lactuca sativa L.). The study was conducted in 2013 and 2014 and compared preplant-applied solid fertilizers (feather meal and blood meal) and multiple applications of liquid fertilizers (fish emulsion and cyano-fertilizer). Three days a week, N2O and CO2 emissions were measured twice per day in 2013 and once per day in 2014 using a closed-static chamber, and gas samples were analyzed by gas chromatography. Preplant-applied solid fertilizers significantly increased cumulative N2O emissions as compared with control, but multiple applications of liquid fertilizers did not. Emission factors for N2O ranged from 0 to 0.1% for multiple applications of liquid fertilizers and 0.6 to 11% for preplant-applied solid fertilizers, which could be overestimated due to chamber placement over fertilizer bands. In 2014, solid fertilizers with higher C/N ratios (3.3–3.5) resulted in higher CO2 emissions than liquid fertilizers (C/N ratio, 0.9–1.5). Therefore, organic farmers should consider the use of multiple applications of liquid fertilizers as a means to reduce soil greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining high yields

Determination of cation exchange capacity of natural zeolite: a revisit

Natural zeolite has been widely used as an ion exchanger since the 1950s. The purpose of this study was to quantify the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of natural zeolite from different locations (Bayah and Cikembar in West Java, Indonesia) based on particle sizes of 0.15 and 0.079 mm, using different displacement solutions of 0.5M cesium chloride (CsCl) and 0.5 M potassium chloride (KCl). Higher CEC was observed in Cikembar100 compared to Bayah100 due to its higher surface area (31%) and total pore volume (11%) compared to Bayah100. Cikembar100 had 11% higher clinoptilolite mineral content compared to Bayah 100. The low CEC measured for Bayah100 and Bayah200 may be due to the lower percentage purity of the clinoptilolite mineral content in those samples. The natural zeolite samples displaced with 0.5M CsCl had 6% higher CEC compared to 0.5M KCl, which means that Cs+ had more strength compared to K+ in displacing NH4+ into the solution from the nanocavity site of the zeolitic framework into the solution. In both displacement solutions (0.5M CsCl and KCl), Cikembar100 had 10% more net negative charge compared to Bayah100 due to its isomorphous substitution properties in natural zeolite. Isomorphous substitution in natural zeolite affects its negative charge and the capacity to retain NH4+ in the zeolitic framework, thus increasing its CEC and making natural zeolite with the particle size of 0.079 mm (Cikembar100) a promising material for cation removal, particularly Cs from aqueous solution

Gaseous nitrogen losses from tropical soils with liquid or granular urea fertilizer application

Gaseous loss of N leads to lower nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of applied urea and N content of the soil. This laboratory study was conducted to compare the nitrogen losses from two tropical soil series (Bungor sandy clay loam and Selangor clay) incubated with either liquid urea (LU) or granular urea (GU) at 0, 300, 400, or 500 mg/kg of soil for thirty days. The NH3 volatilization, N2O emission, and N content in the soils were measured throughout the incubation period. For the same application rate, the total NH3 volatilization loss was higher in GU-treated soils than the LU-treated soils. NH3 volatilization loss continued up to the 15th day in the Selangor soil, while in the Bungor soil series it continued up to the 26th day. Higher amounts of N2O emissions were recorded in GU-treated soils than the LU-treated soils, and N2O emission increased with increasing rate of GU and LU applications in both soils. The N2O emission was higher only in the first few days and then tapered off at the seventh and eighth day in Bungor and Selangor soil series, respectively. The total N2O emission was higher in the Selangor soil series than that of Bungor soil series. The total N content that remained in the LU-treated soils after 30 days of incubation was higher than the GU-treated soils. The total N loss from applied urea was higher in the sandy clay loam Bungor soils than that of clayey Selangor soil series. The results suggest that the LU may be a better N fertilizer source than GU due to lower N loss from NH3 volatilization and N2O emission

Organic fertilizer source and application method impact ammonia volatilization

Ammonia (NH3) volatilization from fertilizer applications reduces efficiency and poses environmental hazards. This study used semi-open static chambers to measure NH3 volatilization from organic fertilizers (feather meal, blood meal, fish emulsion, cyano-fertilizer) to evaluate the impacts of fertilizer source, application method, and rate on NH3 volatilization. In 2014, two application rates (28 and 56 kg N ha−1) were applied to lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Solid fertilizers (feather meal, blood meal) were preplant applied in a subsurface band, whereas liquid fertilizers (fish emulsion, cyano-fertilizer) were applied weekly through drip irrigation beginning two weeks after transplanting. In 2015, a single application rate (28 kg N ha−1) was applied to cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Solid fertilizers were applied in either subsurface or surface bands. There was a significant difference in NH3 volatilization among fertilizers, but there was little difference between application rates. Liquid fertilizers had lower NH3 emissions than solid fertilizers due to their timing and placement. In 2014, blood meal at 56 kg N ha−1 and feather meal at both rates had the highest NH3 fluxes. In 2015, surface-banded blood and feather meal had the highest NH3 fluxes. Fertilizer decisions for organic systems should consider NH3 emission losses and practices for their reduction

Cytotoxicity and anticancer activity of Donkioporiella mellea on MRC5 (normal human lung) and A549 (human lung carcinoma) cells lines

Polypores are mushrooms which are rich in bioactivities and for generations, they have been widely used as herbal remedies. Despite their significant importance in treatments of various health issues, only a few local species have been reported for their pharmacological potentials. The present study was carried out to establish cytotoxicity potentials of Donkioporiella mellea, a local polypore species collected from forested areas in Malaysia at cellular levels on normal human lung (MRC5) and human lung carcinoma (A549) cell lines. Survival and inhibition rates were analyzed by 3-(4, 5)-dimethylthiahiazo (-z-y-l)-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide (MTT) while monitoring changes on cellular shapes by inverted phase contrast microscopy. Survival rates of MRC5 cells were observed to be significantly higher than A549 after treatments with various concentrations of polypore extracts. MRC5 cells showed excellence in survival performance when treated with hot and cold aqueous extracts. Cold aqueous extract showed higher cytotoxicity activities compared to hot aqueous extract () with inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 414.29 μg/ml and >1000 μg/ml, respectively. Treatments with tamoxifen as a control exhibited necrotic features in both cell lines. The results suggest that D. mellea possesses pharmacological potentials that can be utilized for human consumption as a new bioresource alternative, thus encouraging research advancement in mycological and nutraceutical studies

Effects of Gliricidia sepium residue vermicompost on the yield and dry matter biomass of organic choy sum mustard

As the population grows and resource consumption increases, waste management has become a significant environmental challenge. A more sustainable approach to waste management is essential to maximize the recovery of materials acquired from nature. Vermicomposting is one of the answers to sustainable waste management. A study was conducted to determine the viability of vermicomposting Gliricidia sepium leaves and office scrap paper with matured compost as feedstock and to determine the vermicompost characteristics and suitability as potting mixtures for vegetable cultivation. The choy sum mustard was selected as the test crop. The plants were grown in the pots in a netted nursery in Serdang, Selangor. Treatments were mixtures of vermicompost to soil ratio by volume: control (0% no vermicompost), T1 (20% vermicompost), T2 (40% vermicompost), T3 (60% vermicompost), T4 (80% vermicompost) and T5 (100% vermicompost). Physicochemical properties of the potting media mix were determined and compared to an established growth media concentration and other ASEAN standards. Crop growth was evaluated by measuring plant height, the number of petioles, and fresh and dry weights at harvest. A significant improvement in the physicochemical properties of the media was observed, where the optimum ratio of potting media was 60% to 80% (T3 & T4). The number of petioles was 20-46% higher, plants were 39-46% taller, and dry matter accumulation was three-fold higher than controls. Crop yields were 200% higher in media treatments consisting of 60-80% vermicompost. In conclusion, G. sepium based vermicompost could be used in media mixtures for potting plants