Ammonia emission as affected by soil management

• Grant number: 12/18067-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: September 30, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Ciro Antonio Rosolem
• Grantee: Lais Bilia Picoli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas (FCA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The knowledge of the effect of soil management on ammonia emission in a long term can provide the basis to develop production systems that minimize nitrogen losses. The objective of this research is to assess the effect of soil management for soybean in rotation with cover crops and chiseling on ammonia emission as well as to relate plant growth stages and N status with ammonia fluxes. This experiment is being runned since 2003, in a clay Alfisol. The experimental design is a complete randomized block with a split-plot arrangement of treatments with four replicates. The plots consist of winter crops triticale (X Triticosecale) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus), and the subplots consist of spring crops pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), besides chisel plow, made in 2003 and 2009. In summer, soybean (Glycine max) is grown in all subplots. Ammonia emission by crop residues and shoots will be quantified using absorbers made of foam. It will be possible to quantify the seasonal variation and the total amount of ammonia emission. It will be also quantified the dry matter, N-NH4+, N-NO3-, total N, and the N accumulation in the crop residues and plants, besides the yields of sunflower, triticale, and soybean. Results will be subjected to ANOVA and the means will be compared using the LSD test (p=0.05).(AU)