There is a long history of potassium (K) fertilization research in the North-Central Region. Sustained Iowa field research efforts have focused on developing soil-test K (STK) interpretation and studying the effect of K fertilization strategies on grain yield and STK. Because of changes in the soil-test K method used in Iowa, information published over time should be evaluated separately. Publi...

On a Flemish sandy loam soil, cut and grazed swards were compared at different levels of mineral nitrogen (N) fertilization. Economically optimal N fertilization rates were 400 (or more) and 200 kg N ha yr on cut and grazed swards respectively. Considering the amounts of residual soil nitrate-N in autumn, these N rates also met the current Flemish legal provisions, i.e. no more than 90 kg ha ni...

The amount of wood ash produced in power plants is increasing with increasing use of forest biomass in energy production. Wood ash can be recycled as fertilizer especially in boreal peatland forests naturally rich in nitrogen. Improved nutrient availability and increases in soil pH can enhance microbial activities, decomposition of organic matter and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. We studied t...

Ammonia oxidation by microorganisms is a rate-limiting step of the nitrification process and determines the efficiency of fertilizer utilized by crops. Little is known about the dynamic response of ammonia-oxidizers to different fertilization regimes in a wheat-rice rotation system. Here, we examined ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) communities across eight representative stag...

The endemic tree Acacia koa is used to reforest abandoned agricultural lands in Hawaii. Growth may be constrained by soil infertility and toxic concentrations of aluminum (Al) and manganese (Mn) in acidic Oxisols and Ultisols. The effects of phosphorus (P) fertilization at time of planting, soil type, and seed source on koa growth were studied for three years. Phosphorus, applied as triple supe...

Nitrogen use efficiency and life cycle of root nodules in alfalfa after different mineral fertilization and soil cultivation practices were studied. Field trial was conducted in the Institute of Forage Crops, Pleven, Bulgaria on leached chernozem subsoil type and no irrigation. The next treatments were tested: i) for fertilization as follows: N0P0K0 (control); N60P100K80 (an accepted technology...

Cultural methods such as crop fertilization can affect susceptibility of plants to insect pests by altering plant tissue nutrient levels. Research shows that the ability of a crop plant to resist or tolerate insect pests and diseases is tied to optimal physical, chemical and mainly biological properties of soils. Soils with high organic matter and active soil biology generally exhibit good soil...

Acid deposition during the 20th century caused widespread depletion of available soil calcium (Ca) throughout much of the industrialized world. To better understand how forest ecosystems respond to changes in a component of acidification stress, an 11.8-ha watershed was amended with wollastonite, a calcium silicate mineral, to restore available soil Ca to preindustrial levels through natural we...

Based on the regional difference in soil fertility,the nutrient uptake of crop,the nutrient supplying capacity of soil and the response of fertilizers,etc.,this study took the 81th regiment of the 5th agricultural division in Xinjiang Bingtuan as the training and cooperative region,and established the information system of soil nutrients for cotton fields and recommendation model of fertilizati...

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the comments of Dr. Powlson and his colleagues (Powlson et al., 2010) and to further elaborate a critical but often overlooked aspect of synthetic N fertilizer usage in response to the world’s growing demands for food, fi ber, and energy. Th e work reported by Khan et al. (2007a) and Mulvaney et al. (2009) was undertaken to evaluate how synthetic N fe...