Plant, Soil and Environment, 2018 (vol. 64), issue 7

Effects of micro-nano bubble aerated irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer level on tillering, nitrogen uptake and utilization of early riceOriginal Paper

Honghui SANG, Xiyun JIAO, Shufang WANG, Weihua GUO, Mohamed Khaled SALAHOU, Kaihua LIU

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):297-302 | DOI: 10.17221/240/2018-PSE  

In order to clarify the response characteristics of tillering and nitrogen (N) uptake and utilization under micro-nano bubble aeration irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer level, the nitrogen uptake and utilization characteristics, tillering and yield of early rice under different irrigation methods and nitrogen levels were investigated. The results showed that micro-nano bubble aerated irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer have substantial influence on tillering of early rice, and the effect of N fertilizer was greater than the effect of oxygen. Nitrogen accumulation increased by 6.75-10.79% in micro-nano bubble aerated irrigation treatment compared with...

Impact of different tillage management on soil and grain quality in the Anatolian paddy rice productionOriginal Paper

Anil ÇAY

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):303-309 | DOI: 10.17221/277/2018-PSE  

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of conventional tillage (CT) and two different reduced tillage methods (RT1 and RT2) on some soil properties, grain yield and post-harvest grain quality during paddy rice production in the semi-arid Mediterranean conditions for two years. According to the results, soil bulk density was higher in CT with 1.46 and 1.47 g/cm3, respectively for both years. Ntot in RT1 was determined to be higher at a significant level with an average of 0.135%. The lowest soil organic carbon was found in the CT yearly as 2.91% and 2.50%. Penetration resistance did not exceed the limit value of 2-3 MPa in any method...

Pre-anthesis development of winter wheat and barley and relationships with grain yieldOriginal Paper

Milan MIROSAVLJEVIĆ, Vojislava MOMČILOVIĆ, Ivana MAKSIMOVIĆ, Marina PUTNIK-DELIĆ, Novo PRŽULJ, Nikola HRISTOV, Novica MLADENOV

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):310-316 | DOI: 10.17221/202/2018-PSE  

The aim of this study was to improve understanding of (1) the effect of genotypic and environmental factors on pre-anthesis development and leaf appearance traits of barley and wheat; (2) the relationship of these factors with grain yield, and (3) the differences between these two crops across different environments/sowing dates. Therefore, trials with six two-row winter barley and six winter wheat cultivars were carried out in two successive growing seasons on four sowing dates. Our study showed that the observed traits varied between species, cultivars and sowing dates. In both growing seasons, biomass at anthesis and grain yield declined almost...

Influence of weather conditions on the physicochemical characteristics of potato tubersOriginal Paper

Olga ESCUREDO, Ana SEIJO-RODRÍGUEZ, M. Shantal RODRÍGUEZ-FLORES, Montserrat MÍGUEZ, M. Carmen SEIJO

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):317-323 | DOI: 10.17221/144/2018-PSE  

Physicochemical properties of the tuber as a commercial product differ according to environmental conditions of the area and the growing season. The knowledge about how weather affects these characteristics, allows estimating the correct selection of the cultivars in order to obtain the highest yields or desired physicochemical qualities. In this sense, the effect of the main meteorological factors on the physicochemical characteristics (size, texture, dry matter, soluble solids, phenols, flavonoids, carotenoids and inhibitor concentration (IC₅₀)) of 8 potato cultivars growing in A Limia (North-West Spain) was analysed. The study was conducted...

Effect of using selected growth regulators to reduce sunflower stand heightOriginal Paper

Tomáš SPITZER, Jan BÍLOVSKÝ, Jan KAZDA

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):324-329 | DOI: 10.17221/213/2018-PSE  

Influence of plant growth regulators chlormequat chloride, chlormequat chloride + ethephon, ethephon, and mepiquat chloride + prohexadione-Ca + pyraclostrobin + ammonium sulphate (BAS67800F + BAS00800D) on decreasing sunflower height was evaluated. It was determined that sunflower height can be reduced by as much as 30 cm. In the case of BAS67800F + ammonium sulphate, there was a slight difference between application at BBCH 31-33 and BBCH 50-51, whereas for ethephon better application time was at BBCH 50-51. For chlormequat chloride, application at BBCH 31-33 was better, but height reduction did not endure until harvest. Flower head diameter shortly...

Wheat straw mulching with fertilizer nitrogen: An approach for improving soil water storage and maize crop productivityOriginal Paper

Kashif AKHTAR, Weiyu WANG, Ahmad KHAN, Guangxin REN, Muhammad Zahir AFRIDI, Yongzhong FENG, Gaihe YANG

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):330-337 | DOI: 10.17221/96/2018-PSE  

Field studies using wheat straw mulching effects on soil water storage and maize development were conducted in China. The studies contained four treatments during three years (2014-2016): CK (no straw and no nitrogen); N (no straw mulching with 172 kg N/ha); HS + N (half straw mulching at the rate of 2500 kg/ha with 172 kg N/ha), and FS + N (full straw mulching at the rate of 5000 kg/ha with 172 kg N/ha). The FS + N treatment significantly increased soil water storage in a drought period during crop growth stages and promoted plant growth along with increased evapotranspiration. The FS + N treatment increased the soil water storage (26.5, 19.9 and...

Fertilizer impacts on soil aggregation and aggregate-associated organic componentsOriginal Paper

Zhanhui ZHAO, Congzhi ZHANG, Jiabao ZHANG, Changhua LIU, Qicong WU

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):338-343 | DOI: 10.17221/195/2018-PSE  

A 5-year (2012-2016) field experiment was conducted to investigate the impacts of different fertilizer treatments (no fertilizer, mineral and organic fertilizer) on organic carbon and soil water-stable aggregates in a North China Plain Vertisol. Compared with no fertilizer (control), single mineral fertilizer did not significantly (P < 0.01) affect organic carbon content or aggregate mass proportion in bulk soil. Small and large macroaggregate mass proportions increased, but applying organic manure significantly decreased the silt + clay fraction and microaggregates. Organic manure amendment significantly enhanced organic carbon concentrations...

Leaching is the dominant route for soil organic carbon lateral transport under crop straw addition on sloping croplandsOriginal Paper

Keke HUA, Bo ZHU

Plant Soil Environ., 2018, 64(7):344-351 | DOI: 10.17221/139/2018-PSE  

Few field data sets are available that systematically measure soil organic carbon (SOC) transport via surface runoff, leaching and soil erosion under crop straw applications. Therefore, organic carbon (C) loss fluxes via the three routes were simultaneously observed from 2010 to 2012 based on a crop straw addition experiment. This study included three treatments: CK (no fertilizer); RSD (crop straw addition) and RSDNPK (crop straw addition combined with mineral fertilizers). As compared with CK treatment, annual dissolved organic C (DOC) loss caused by surface runoff under RSD and RSDNPK treatments decreased significantly (P < 0.05) by...