391-6 The Effect of Different Nutrient Sources and Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) Harvesting Frequency On Soil Aggregate Stability and Mineral Nitrogen Distribution in the Profile.

See more from this Division: S04 Soil Fertility & Plant Nutrition
See more from this Session: Nutrient Cycling and Management in High Yield Environments: Oral Presentations
Wednesday, October 24, 2012: 11:35 AM
Duke Energy Convention Center, Room 252, Level 2
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Yesuf Mohammed1, William Raun1, Hailin Zhang1, Gopal Kakani1, Randy Taylor2 and Kefyalew Girma Desta3, (1)Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
(2)Bio Systems Agriculture Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
(3)Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Prosser, WA
In Oklahoma, confined animal farming produce tremendous amount of wastes in limited area challenging sustainability of this vital economic sector. Application of animal wastes together with increased harvesting frequency of switchgrass will have practical significance to improve soil structure and minimize nitrate leaching. Therefore, a field experiment was carried out to investigate the effect different nutrient sources and switchgrass harvesting frequency on wet soil aggregate stability and mineral nitrogen distribution in the profile in split plot design with four replications. The treatments included one and two times of harvesting assigned in the main plot. The subplot treatments were check, cattle manure, poultry litter, urea, NPK chemical fertilizer and legume crop planted between switchgrass rows. The result indicated that twice harvesting improved geometric mean diameter as a measure of wet soil aggregate stability and reduce nitrate amount deep in the soil profile than one time harvesting. Poultry litter and cattle manure improved soil structure and also resulted in more available nitrogen close to the root zone than chemical fertilizers thus contributing to minimize potential nitrate leaching. It can be concluded that the use of these animal wastes to improve soil fertility is a win-win situation to promote nutrient recycling and sustain benefit of confined animal farming.

 

See more from this Division: S04 Soil Fertility & Plant Nutrition
See more from this Session: Nutrient Cycling and Management in High Yield Environments: Oral Presentations