A water‐nutrient management method was designed to prevent plant‐water and nutrient stresses while maximizing the available soil water storage to accommodate rainfall. This method minimized the need for the soil as a storage reservoir for water and nutrients by frequently irrigating a portion of the root zone with small amounts of water and nutrients. The optimal range of soil matric potential, based on soil oxygen diffusion rate, soil strength, water desorption characteristics, and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity was used to determine high‐frequency irrigation criteria for sweet corn (Zea mays L.). Trickle‐irrigated plots yielded 12 and 14% more corn than did the furrow‐ and sprinkler‐irrigated plots. When fertilizers were broadcast and banded, soil NO3‐N profiles measured near the end of the growing season showed that, compared to furrow and sprinkler irrigation, trickle irrigation reduced NO3‐N losses from the root zone.Optimal ear yield was produced with high‐frequency trickle irrigation when the soil matric potential at the 15‐cm soil depth was controlled at about −0.2 bar and plants were fertilized with 168 kg/ha each of N and K. Ear yield for this treatment was 66% higher than that for nonirrigated corn fertilized at the same rate. Soil NO3‐N did not accumulate in the profile with depth and time in plots fertilized at the 168‐kg/ha rate, but did accumulate in plots fertilized with 336 kg/ha. Generally, plots trickle‐irrigated with fertilizer solution had a higher soil NO3‐N content on the row than 50 cm from the row.The results of this research indicate that water use efficiency, N‐use efficiency, and N leaching can be controlled in sandy soils when N and K are applied with high‐frequency trickle irrigation systems and N and K rates are adjusted to maintain an optimal N‐level in corn plants.
The effects of mulch and clean tillage methods on runoff, erosion, soil properties and crop yields were studied over a period of 10 years. Corn was grown each summer following wjnter cover crops of vetch and rye mixed and crimson clover. Mulch tilled land"was prepared for planting corn by disk-harrowing, and by disk-harrowing plus loosening the soil with a springtooth tiller. A disk or mold board plow was used to prepare the turn-plowed treatments.Runoff and erosion were reduced considerably under mulch tillage. The degree of aggregation of the mulch tilled soil increased more rapidly than that of the turn-plowed soil. The vetch and rye cover crop caused greater improvement in degree of aggregation than the crimson clover. Soil aggregation of the clean tilled crimson clover treatment decreased during the test. Soil aggregation of the clean tilled soil without a cover crop decreased significantly.Organic matter content of the vetch and rye mulch-tilled soil increased significantly. The organic matter content of the vetch .and rye mulch tilled soil was significantly greater than that of either the vetch and rye clean tilled or the clean-tilled without a cover crop. The organic matter content of the cleantilled soil without a cover crop did not change materially.The total nitrogen contents of all the soils with cover crop treatments, except the clean tilled crimson clover, increased significantly during the test. The nitrogen contents of the mulchtilled soils were significantly greater than those which were clean-tilled with cover crop treatments. There was no appreciable change in the total nitrogen content of the clean tilled soil without a cover crop. The differences between corn yields of all treatments for all years, except 1950, were not significant. The average corn yields of all treatments were approximately equal.
Management of oat straw residues and tillage practices for soybean production in an oat‐soybean rotation were studied. The effects of tillage practices on soybean yields were not significant. Burning the oat straw before planting soybeans had no significant effect on yields. Fertilization of soybeans after growing the oats did not increase bean yields. Tillage and residue management had no marked influence on soil temperatures and available moisture. Soybean stands were somewhat larger if the oat straw was burned or moved from the seed zone. Properties of the lister‐plant‐tilled and disk‐harrow‐tilled soils were more favorable for soybean growth than those of the turnplow‐tilled soils, although this was not reflected in soybean yields.
Sweet corn (Zea mays L.) is generally grown in rows spaced about 100 cm apart. Trickle irrigating this type of row configuration is inefficient and costly because one irrigation tube must be installed on each row. The objectives of this research were to determine the influence of trickle irrigation; wide bed, “twin‐row” spacing; and trickle N and K fertilization rates on the yield and quality of sweet corn. The twin rows, 35 cm apart, were positioned on wide beds, spaced 165 cm from center to center. A single trickle irrigation tube was placed between the twin rows of corn, providing water and nutrients simultaneously to both rows. Sweet corn was fertilized daily with seasonal applications of 28, 56, 168, and 336 kg/ha of N and K. Plant height, ear yield, and biomass production increased with N and K rates ranging from 0 to 168 kg/ha, but were not affected by the twin‐row bed spacing nor by fertilizing with 336 kg/ha each of N and K.
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