Optimizing of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Cattle Manure Fertilizers Application in Winter Wheat Production Using Response-Surface Methodology (RSM)

پژوهشهای زراعی ایران

Article 8, Volume 13, Issue 4 - Serial Number 40, January 2016, Pages 823-839   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/gsc.v13i4.39788

Authors

M Jahan^* ; M Nasiri mahalati; H Khalilzadeh; R Bigonah; S. A. R Razavi

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

Introduction
It is estimated that up to 50 percent of applied nitrogen would drift from agricultural systems as gaseous compounds and other types of activated nitrogen (27 and 46). When applied in high amounts, up to 90% of phosphorous fertilizers could be fixed in soil together with metallic elements as insoluble forms leading to further phosphorus pollution (1). In many crops, low absorption efficiency of fertilizers is the main reason of losses through leaching, volatilization and diffusion of soluble chemical fertilizers which easily released to soil and air. It has been reported that between 18-41 percent of applied nitrogen retain in soil after crop harvesting (Fageria, 2014). Nitrogen losses happens in different ways as ammonium volatilization in lime soils (10-70%), denitrification (9-22%) and leaching (14-40%) (13).
Chemical fertilizers are widely used by farmers due to low costs, easy availability and easy applicability. Chemical fertilizers increase the rate of organic matter decomposition in soil, thus increase the amount of greenhouse gasses such as N, CO2 released in air which aggravate global warning and climate change (2)
This research was aimed to emphasize on optimizing of chemical and organic fertilizer use in winter wheat production in Iran, study the trend of change in different N, P and cattle manure levels and their effects on wheat characteristics and its changes trend also, comparison of the effectiveness of manure by chemical fertilizer related to NUE and yield increase of wheat.
Materials and Methods
By conducting Box-Behnken design, it is possible to obtain the most information from the least operational practices due to distribution of experimental points through treatments confined. The design points were defined based on low and high levels of N (0, 300 kg ha-1), P (0, 200 kg ha-1) and manure (0, 30 tones ha-1) as shown in Table 2. Manure was analyzed for N, P and K content (1.18% of N, 0.29% of P and 1.04% of K). The high and low levels of manure were determined based on nutrient content and local recommendations.
Response of measured variables (y) to experimental factors (X) was estimated by using second order polynomials with interaction (Equation 1):
(1)
Where 0 is constant and i, ij and ii are coefficients for linear, interaction and quadratic terms, respectively.
After simulation, using statistical methods, the result is a second order polynomial which states the estimated of response (yield) as a function of inputs variables. Finally, after optimizing of resulted function and eliminating of low effect terms, using statistical tests and criteria such as, F test, lack of fit test, coefficient of determination (R2), a final function to predict yield and other expected variables was calculated (Equation 2):

(2)
In this function, Y is a dependent variable, X is the independent variable of N fertilizer, X2 is independent variable of P fertilizer, X3 is independent variable of manure, and a0 to a9 are coefficients of function. The equation is functional only in the defined range of input variables and could not predict values out of the range.
The optimized rates of N, P and manure, determined considering 3 scenarios including: economic, environmental and eco-environmental, which seed yield, N loss and NUE and N loss were the main determining factors, respectively.
To obtain optimized levels, response-surface methodology was used. Finally, the fitted values compared to observed values then validity of regression models evaluated by RMSE test (Equation 3) and 1:1 regression line.
(3) RMSE (%)
Results and Discussion
Optimization of nitrogen, phosphorus and manure fertilization were done according to 3 scenarios of economic, environmental and eco-environmental. In economic scenario, wheat seed yield was considered as the main determining factor of optimized resource, thus the result showed by applying of 145.45 kg ha-1 N, 200 kg ha-1 P and 18.48 tones ha-1 manure, it would be attained the seed yield of 6500 kg ha-1 and dry matter yield of 13130 kg ha-1. In eco-environmental scenario, the determining factor for optimizing resource was considered as nitrogen losses. The main objective of this scenario was reduction of environmental hazards resulted from the high rates of using of N, P and possibly manure, so, the economic yield had less importance. According to this scenario N application by 21.21 kg ha-1 with no use of P, plus 16.36 tones ha-1of manure, minimize N losses (0 kg ha-1). Considering the optimized amount of used resource in this scenario, seed yield, dry matter yield and NUE were estimated of 3160 kg ha-1, 11692 kg ha-1 and 9.08 kg DM/kg N, respectively.
Under eco-environmental scenario the main determining factors for optimizing resource, were considered as NUE, N losses and seed yield. As applying of 144.73 and 34.3 kg ha-1 of N and P, respectively, and 30 tones ha-1 of manure, resulted in seed yield of 4031 and dry matter yield of 15311 kg ha-1, respectively, which showed an increase of 36 percent for NUE compared to economic scenario (16.50 vs. 10.49.
Conclusions
The results of this study showed that N and P fertilizers which used for wheat production did not reflect the actual needs of different crops under different agro-climatic areas indeed, as it should be reconsidered. In this experiment, applying of 30 tones ha-1 of manure in eco-environmental scenario caused high availability of N, P and possibly other needed nutrients for plant, finally improved crop productivity. Moreover, trapped and retained nutrients in manure matrix which considered as an ecofriendly and low cost input, which simply preparable locally, improve effectiveness of chemical fertilizer in long term use.

Keywords

ANUE; Box-Behnken design; Eco-Environmental scenario; Nitrogen losses; Seed yield

References

1. Adesemoye, A. O., Torbert, H. A., and Klopper, J. W. 2009. Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria allow reduced application rates of chemical fertilizers. Microbial Ecology 58: 921-929.

2. Akiyama, H., Tsuruta, H., and Watanabe, T. 2000. N2O and NO emission from soils after the application of different chemical fertilizers. Chemosphere- Global Change Science 2: 313-320.

3. Al Imran, M., and Rengel, Z. 2013. Physiology of nitrogen-use efficiency. In: Improving water and nutrient use efficiency in food production system. Rengel, Z. (Ed.). 2013. WILEY-BLACKWELL. ISBN: 978-0-8138-1989-1.

4. Alexandratos, N., and Bruinsma, J. 2012. World agriculture towards 2030/2050: the 2012 revision. Global Perspective Studies Team, FAO Agricultural Development Economics Division.

5. Black, C. A., Evans, D. D., White, J. L., Ensminger, L. E., and Clark, F. E. 1965. Methods of soil analysis. In: page A.L. (Eds.). American Society of Agronomy, p. 1562.

6. Box, G., and Behnken, D. 1960. Some new three level designs for the study of quantitative variables. Technometrics 2: 455-475.

7. Carly, S., Dupre, C., Edu, D., Gaudnik, C., Gowing, D. J. G., Bleeker, A., Diekmann, M., Alard, D., Bobbink, R., Fowler, D., Corcket, E., Mountford, J. O., Vandvik, V. A., Per A., Muller, S., and Dise, N. B. 2010. Nitrogen deposition threatens species richness of grasslands across Europe. Environmental Pollution 158 (9): 2940-2945.

8. Cassidy, E. S., West, P. C., Gerber, J. S., and Foley, J. A. 2013. Redefining agricultural yields: from tonnes to people nourished per hectare. Environmental Research Letters. 8 (2013) 034015 (8pp).

9. Ciampitti, I. A., and Vyn, T. J. 2012. Physiological perspectives of changes over time in maize yield dependency on nitrogen uptake and associated nitrogen efficiencies: A review. Field Crops Research 133: 48-67.

10. Conant, R. T., Berdanier, A. B., and Grace, P. R. 2013. Patterns and trends in nitrogen use and nitrogen recovery efficiency in world agriculture. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 27 (2): 558-566.

11. Davis, J. G., Westfall, D. G., Mortvedt, J. J., and Shanahan, J. F. 2002. Fertilizing winter wheat. Agronomy Journal 84: 1198-1203.

12. Doberman, A., and Cassman, K. G. 2005. Cereal area, yield and nitrogen use efficiency and drives for future nitrogen fertilizer consumption. Science in China 48: 745-758.

13. Dobermann, A., and Cassman, K. G. 2004. Environmental dimension of fertilizer N: what can be done to increase nitrogen use efficiency and ensure global food security? In: Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle: Assessing the Impacts of Fertilizer use on Food Production and the Environment (ed. Mosier AR), pp. 261-278. Island Press, Washington, DC.

14. Emilsson, T., Brendtsson, J. C., Mattsson, J. E., and Rolf, K. 2007. Effect of using conventional and controlled release fertilizer on nutrient runoff from various vegetated roof systems. Ecological Engineering 29: 260-271.

15. Eriksson, L., Johansson, E., Kettaneh-Wold, N., Wikstrom, C., and Wold, S. 2008. Design of Experiments-Principales and Applications. 3rd Edition, UMETRICS Academy, Sweden.

16. Fageria, N. K. 2014. Nitrogen Management in Crop Production. New York: CRC Press. ISBN: 978-1-4822-2283-8.

17. Fageria, N. K., and Baligar, V. C. 2005. Enhancing nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants. Advances in Agronomy, 88: 97-185.

18. FAO Country Profiles for IRAN. 2014. Available at: http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index/en/?iso3=IRN

19. FAO Statistical Yearbook: World Food and Agriculture. 2013. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3107e/i3107e00.htm

20. FAO. 2012. The State of Food and Agriculture 2012 - Investing in Agriculture for a Better Future, FAO, Rome, Italy. Available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/017/i3028e/i3028e.pdf

21. Gastal, F., and Lemaire, G. 2002. N uptake and distribution in crops: an agronomical and ecophysiological perspective. Journal of Experimental Botany 53 (370): 789-799.

22. Hatfield, J. L., and Prueger, J. H. 2004. Nitrogen over-use, under-use, and efficiency. Crop Science 26: 156-168.

23. Hawkesford, M. J., and Barraclough, P. 2011. The Basis of Nutrient Use Efficiency in Crops. WILEY-BLACKWELL, USA. ISBN: 978-0-8138-1992-1.

24. Horwitz, W., and Latimer, G. W. 2005. Official Methods of Analysis. Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC), 18th Edition. Maryland, USA.

25. Hosseini, R., Galeshi, S., Soltani, A., and Kalateh, M. 2012. The effect of nitrogen on yield and yield component in modern and old wheat cultivars. Electronic Iranian Journal of Crop Production 4: 187-199. (in Persian with English abstract).

26. International Fertilizer Industry Association. 2009. Statistics (Online). Assessment of fertilizer use by crop at the global level. Available at: www.fertilizer.org (verified 17 May 2010), Paris, France.

27. Jarvis, S., Hutchings, N., Brentrup, F., Olesen, J. E., and Van Der Hock, K. W. 2011. Nitrogen flows in farming systems across Europe. In: The European Nitrogen Assessment: source, effects and policy perspectives. Sutton, M. A., Howard, C. M., Erisman, J. W., Billen, G., Bleeker, G., Grennfelt, A., Grinsven, H. V., and Grizzetti, B. 2011. Cambridge University Press. Part III, Chapter 10.

28. Kell, D. B. 2012. Large-scale sequestration of atmospheric carbon via plant roots in natural and agricultural ecosystems: why and how. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 367 (1595): 1589-1597.

29. Kramer, P. 1988. Measurement of plant water status: Historical perspectives and current concerns. Irrigation Science 9: 275-287.

30. Kumar, M., and Nanwal, R. K. 2006. Effect of integrated nutrient management on productivity and uptake of N and P in Pearl millet-wheat cropping system. Indian Journal of Fertilizer 2 (4): 49-53.

31. Lawlor, D. W., Lemair, G., and Gastal, F. 2001. Nitrogen, plant growth and crop yield. In: Plant nitrogen. Lea, P. J., and Morot Guardy, J. F. (Eds.). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

32. Lehmeier, C. A., Wild, M., and Schnyder, H. 2013. Nitrogen Stress Affects the Turnover and Size of Nitrogen Pools Supplying Leaf Growth in a Grass. Plant Physiology 162 (4): 2095-2105.

33. Marino, M. A., Mazzanti, A., Assuero, S. G., Gastal, F., Echeverria, H. E., and Andrade, F. 2004. Nitrogen dilution curves and nitrogen use efficiency during winter-spring growth of annual ryegrass. Agronomy Journal 96: 601-607.

34. Mengel, K., and Kirkby, E. H. 2001. Principles of plant nutrition. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston. 849pp. ISBN: 978-1-4020-0008-9.

35. Moraghebi, F., Akbari Famile, M., and Hooshmandfar, A. 2011. The effect of amount and time application of nitrogen on seed protein percentage and ANU of wheat cultivar Pishtaz in Saveh region. Quarterly of Plant and Ecosystem 7 (1-29): 65-76. (in Persian with English abstract).

36. Mosier, A., Syers, J. K., and Freney, J. R. 2013. Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle: Assessing the Impacts of Fertilizer Use on Food Production and the Environment. Island Press, USA. 344 pages. ISBN: 1-55963-710-2.

37. Mosier, A. R., and Syers, J. K. 2004. Nitrogen fertilizer: an essential component of increased food, feed and fibber production in agriculture and the nitrogen cycle: Assessing the impacts of fertilizer use on food production and the environment. Mosier, A. R., Syers, J. K., Freney, J. R., (Eds.) SCOPE, Island Press, Washington DC, USA 65: 3-15.

38. Myers, R. H., and Montgomery, D. C. 1995. Response surface methodology: process and product optimization using designed experiments. John Willey & Sons, New York, USA.

39. Osborne, S. L. 2007. Utilization of existing technology to evaluate spring wheat growth and nitrogen nutrition in South Dakota. Communication in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 38: 949-958.

40. Rathke, G. W., Behrens, T., and Diepenbrock, W. 2006. Integrated nitrogen management strategies to improve seed yield, oil content and nitrogen efficiency of winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.): A review. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 117: 80-108.

41. Raun, W. R., and Johnson, G. V. 1999. Improving nitrogen use efficiency for cereal production. Agronomy Journal 91: 357-363.

42. Schlemmer, M. R., Francis, D. D., Shanahan, J. F., and Schepers, J. S. 2005. Remotely measuring chlorophyll content in corn leaves with differing nitrogen levels and relative water content. Agronomy Journal 97: 106-112.

43. Seiling, K., Brase, T., and Svib, V. 2006. Residual effect of different N fertilizer treatments on growth, N uptake and yield of oilseed rape, wheat and barley. European Journal of Agronomy 25: 40-48.

44. Sparling, G. P., Wheeler, D., Vesely, E. T., and Schipper, L. A. 2006. What is soil organic matter worth? Journal of Environmental Quality 35: 548-557.

45. The Office for data and information technology of the ministry of Jihad Keshavarzi. 2011. Agricultural data, Vol. 1: Crops, year of 2010-2011. Publication of Deputy for Planing, Economic and International, The Office for Data and Information Technology. http://www.maj.ir/Portal/Home/Default.aspx?CategoryID=95a8e7d0-e5f0-4f2d-a241-792106c74dcc (Available On-line at: 9.8.2014).

46. Weligama, C., Sale, P. W. G., Conyers, M. K., Liu, D. L., and Tang, C. 2010. Nitrate leaching stimulates subsurface root growth of wheat and increase rhizosphere alkalization in a highly acidic soil. Plant and Soil 328: 119-132.

47. Wuest, S. B., and Cassman, K. G. 1992. Fertilizer-nitrogen use efficiency of irrigated wheat: II. Partitioning efficiency of preplant versus late-season application. Agronomy Journal 84: 689-694.

48. Zamen, M., and Blennerhassett, J. D. 2010. Effects of the different rates of ureas and nitrification inhibitors on gaseous emissions of ammonia and nitrous oxide, nitrate leaching and pasture production from urine patches in an intensive grazed pasture system. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 136: 236-246.

49. Zhao, D., Reddy, K. R., Kakani, V. G., and Reddy, V. R. 2005. Nitrogen deficiency effects on plant growth, leaf photosynthesis and hyper spectral reflectance properties of sorghum. European Journal of Agronomy 22: 391-403.