342-15 Nitrous Oxide Emissions in Long Term Cropping Systems.

See more from this Division: ASA Section: Agronomic Production Systems
See more from this Session: Agronomic Production Systems: III

Wednesday, November 18, 2015: 11:45 AM
Minneapolis Convention Center, M101 A

Alexandra Marie Knight1, S. Chris Reberg-Horton2, Wesley J. Everman1, Shuijin Hu3, David L. Jordan4 and Nancy Creamer5, (1)North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
(2)Crop Science, NC State University, Raleigh, NC
(3)Department of Plant Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
(4)Crop Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
(5)NC State University, Raleigh, NC
Abstract:
Agriculture accounts for a large portion of land use worldwide.  In the U.S. specifically, the World Bank indicated that agriculture accounts for roughly 45% of land use.  Agriculture is estimated to contribute greatly to the output of one of the main greenhouse gases, nitrous oxide, which is suspected of contributing to climate change, contributing an estimated 59 percent to emissions. These large percentages are suspected to partially be due to one-third of nitrogen applied to cropping systems being utilized by the system while the additional two-thirds are lost to the environment.  With different agricultural practices contributing to these greenhouse gas emissions, finding how various production practices contribute to greenhouse gas emissions will help in the recommendation of best management practices to minimize gas emissions by agriculture in the southeastern U.S.  Field studies were conducted in 2013, 2014, and 2015 at the Center for Agricultural Farming Systems at the Cherry Research Farm in Goldsboro, NC.  Long-term plots of conventional no-till, conventional-tillage, conventional crop-hay, organic tillage, organic minimal tillage, and organic crop-hay systems were used to measure the flux of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4, and N2O, 24 to 48 hours after ~1.25 cm or more of rainfall, following USDA-ARS GRACEnet Project Protocols.  Repeated measures models were used to compare systems and tillage.  Preliminary results indicated that tillage plays a significant role in gas emissions in cropping systems.

See more from this Division: ASA Section: Agronomic Production Systems
See more from this Session: Agronomic Production Systems: III