An understanding of the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) as affected by farming practices is imperative for maintaining soil productivity and mitigating global warming. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of long-term fertilization on SOC and SOC fractions for the whole soil profile (0-100 cm) in northwest China. The study was initiated in 1979 in Gansu, China and ...

An experimental trial was carried out in the two successive seasons of 2010 and 2011 to investigate the effect of Chitosan, organic (cattle manure and compost) and inorganic fertilizers (NPK) on vegetative growth and productivity of cowpea plants. Chitosan solution was sprayed three times after 30, 45 and 60 days from seed sowing at concentrations of 1, 3 and 5 % until runoff. Data showed that ...

Increasing costs associated with inorganic fertilizer have led to widespread use of broiler litter. Proper land application, typically limiting nutrient loss, is essential to protect surface water. This study was designed to evaluate litter-borne microbial runoff (heterotrophic plate count bacteria, staphylococci, Escherichia coli, enterococci, and Clostridium perfringens) while applying typica...

A field study was initiated in 1992 to investigate the long-term impacts of beef feedlot manure application (composted and uncomposted) on nutrient accumulation and movement in soil, corn silage yield, and nutrient uptake. Two application strategies were compared: providing the annual crop nitrogen (N) requirement (N-based rate) or crop phosphorus (P) removal (P-based rate), as well as a compar...

Th e incorporation of plant biomass (litter/prunned residues) into the soil constitutes an important pathway for nutrient cycling in ecosystems. Th e feasibility of meeting N needs of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) with short-duration pigeon pea fallow was studied in the fi eld in Akure, a humid zone of Nigeria. Th e trials were set up on site where late season pigeon pea – maize intercr...

The general objective of this study was to trace the intensi®cation process on sandy soils in the Birni N'Konni area of south central Niger and to identify the role of traditional and modern inputs. The primary hypothesis is that farmers intensify ®rst using traditional inputs, such as traditional varieties, labor and manure, and turn to modern inputs, like inorganic fertilizer, improved variet...

As part of a major effort to address soil fertility decline in West Africa, a project on balanced nutrient management systems (BNMS) has been implemented in the northern Guinea savanna (NGS) of Nigeria. The project has tested and promoted two major technology packages: a combined application of inorganic fertilizer and manure (BNMS-manure) and a soybean/maize rotation practice (BNMS-rotation). ...

The use of pelletized poultry litter (PPL) as a substitute for inorganic fertilizers is increasingly being encouraged in states like Delaware which have a considerable surplus of poultry litter. However, we know very little about the impacts of PPL on runoff water quality and whether it is an environmentally-sound and sustainable alternative to inorganic fertilizer. To address these questions w...

Treated distillery effluent (TDE) generated through biomethanated distillery effluent was applied to arable land for augmenting agricultural production. The TDE contains considerable amount of organic matter and salt besides its high plant nutrients content. With this background, an attempt was made. Field experiments were conducted to study the long term effect of TDE and inorganic fertilizers...

The influence of salinity on the response of the estuarine teleost, Tilapia guineensis fingerlings to acute toxic effects of inorganic nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) (15: 15: 15) fertilizer was investigated using semi-static bioassay. The toxicity of NPK fertilizer was found to increase significantly with increase in the salinity level from 0.05 %. to 32.4 %o. The 96 hr LC50 value at salin...