Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emission From Soil Under Corn Production Systems.

We evaluated the effects of crop management practices on nitrous oxide emission from soils. Nitrous oxide is a major greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted in agriculture production systems. Therefore, assessing and mitigating the emission from soil is important.  In a field study at Tennessee State University Agricultural Research and Demonstration center, corn was used as the test crop to assess the emission of nitrous oxide from the soil.  Six URAN liquid fertilizer treatments were applied as follows:  1) URAN, two applications;  2)  URAN, four applications;  3) URAN + denitrification inhibitor; 4) URAN + chicken litter in no-till plots; 5)  URAN  in  conventional plots and 6)  URAN + bio-char. Each soil treatment was replicated six times. N₂O and CO₂ were measured using closed chamber method after rainfall event(s) or fertilizer applications or every two weeks which ever was shortest. Soil moisture and temperature was taken in-situ. Soil samples for the determination of soil-NH₄-N and NO_3-N was also taken during gas sampling. Preliminary data indicate that N₂O and CO₂ fluxes were significantly influenced by the agricultural practices especially after rainfall event(s).  However, the URAN + bio-char treated plots exhibited lower nitrous oxide emissions.