Biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) in Brachiaria pastures: A novel strategy to improve eco-efficiency of crop-livestock systems and to mitigate climate change

Moreta, Danilo; Arango, Jacobo; Sotelo, Mauricio; Vergara, Daniel; Rincón, Álvaro; Ishitani, Manabu; Castro, Aracely; Miles, John W.; Peters, Michael; Tohmé, Joe; Subbarao, G. V.; Rao, Idupulapati M.

doi:10.17138/tgft(2)88-91

Cited by 47 publications

(44 citation statements)

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“…Even when no N fertilizer was applied grain yields kept up with the commonly found range of 3.0-4.5 t ha −1 for the Colombian Eastern Plains . This is in line with observations by Moreta et al (2014), who showed higher maize grain yields on a previous Bh pasture field compared to those on a previous maize-soybean rotation or on a converted native savanna field. Long-term pasture use (Bh) was likely to have enhanced the soil organic matter content compared to the control (M) field.…”

Section: Residual Effect Of Bh On Maize Crop Performancesupporting

confidence: 92%

Residual effect of BNI by Brachiaria humidicola pasture on nitrogen recovery and grain yield of subsequent maize

et al. 2017

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Background and Aims The forage grass Brachiaria humidicola (Bh) has been shown to reduce soil microbial nitrification. However, it is not known if biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) also has an effect on nitrogen (N) cycling during cultivation of subsequent crops. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the residual BNI effect of a converted long-term Bh pasture on subsequent maize (Zea mays L.) cropping, where a long-term maize monocrop field (M) served as control. Methods Four levels of N fertilizer rates (0, 60, 120 and 240 kg N ha −1 ) and synthetic nitrification inhibitor (dicyandiamide) treatments allowed for comparison of BNI effects, while 15 N labelled micro-plots were used to trace the fate of applied fertilizer N. Soil was incubated to investigate N dynamics. Results A significant maize yield increase after Bh was evident in the first year compared to the M treatment. The second cropping season showed an eased residual effect of the Bh pasture. Soil incubation studies suggested that nitrification was significantly lower in Bh soil but this BNI declined one year after pasture conversion. Plant N uptake was markedly greater under previous Bh compared with M. The N balance of the 15 N micro-plots revealed that N was derived mainly (68-86%) from the mineralized soil organic N pool in Bh while plant fertilizer N recovery (18-24%) was not enhanced. Conclusions Applied N was strongly immobilized due to long-term root turnover effects, while a significant residual BNI effect from Bh prevented re-mineralized N from nitrification resulting in improved maize performance. However, a significant residual Bh BNI effect was evident for less than one year only.

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Section: Residual Effect Of Bh On Maize Crop Performancesupporting

confidence: 92%

Residual effect of BNI by Brachiaria humidicola pasture on nitrogen recovery and grain yield of subsequent maize

et al. 2017

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“…B . humidicola produces biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) in soil, which also reduces N 2 O emissions [24, 84, 85]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate-Smart Livestock Systems: An Assessment of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Nicaragua

Gaitán¹,

Läderach²,

Graefe

et al. 2016

PLoS ONE

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Livestock systems in the tropics can contribute to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon accumulation. We quantified C stocks and GHG emissions of 30 dual-purpose cattle farms in Nicaragua using farm inventories and lifecycle analysis. Trees in silvo-pastoral systems were the main C stock above-ground (16–24 Mg ha-1), compared with adjacent secondary forests (43 Mg C ha-1). We estimated that methane from enteric fermentation contributed 1.6 kg CO2-eq., and nitrous oxide from excreta 0.4 kg CO2-eq. per kg of milk produced. Seven farms that we classified as climate-smart agriculture (CSA) out of 16 farms had highest milk yields (6.2 kg cow-1day-1) and lowest emissions (1.7 kg CO2-eq. per kg milk produced). Livestock on these farms had higher-quality diets, especially during the dry season, and manure was managed better. Increasing the numbers of CSA farms and improving CSA technology will require better enabling policy and incentives such as payments for ecosystem services.

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“…In addition, agro-pastoral systems based on the rotation of annual crops and perennial forage grasses such as Brachiaria spp. will likely exploit the high BNI-capacity of these pasture grasses and reduce soil nitrifier activity, enhance soil-N retention, and increase fertilizer-N recovery and yield of food crops with low BNI-capacity [30,40,95]. Incorporating nitrification inhibiting plant tissues [68][69][70] (for example, isothiocyanates found in some Brassicaceae family members show inhibitory effect on soil nitrification) into soil systems (similar to green manure application) could be one of the ideas need to be tested to control nitrification as part of cropping systems approach.…”

Section: Deploying Bni Function In Production Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Suppression of soil nitrification by plants

et al. 2015

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Nitrification, the biological oxidation of ammonium to nitrate, weakens the soil's ability to retain N and facilitates N-losses from production agriculture through nitrate-leaching and denitrification. This process has a profound influence on what form of mineral-N is absorbed, used by plants, and retained in the soil, or lost to the environment, which in turn affects N-cycling, N-use efficiency (NUE) and ecosystem health and services. As reactive-N is often the most limiting in natural ecosystems, plants have acquired a range of mechanisms that suppress soil-nitrifier activity to limit N-losses via N-leaching and denitrification. Plants' ability to produce and release nitrification inhibitors from roots and suppress soil-nitrifier activity is termed 'biological nitrification inhibition' (BNI). With recent developments in methodology for in-situ measurement of nitrification inhibition, it is now possible to characterize BNI function in plants. This review assesses the current status of our understanding of the production and release of biological nitrification inhibitors (BNIs) and their potential in improving NUE in agriculture. A suite of genetic, soil and environmental factors regulate BNI activity in plants. BNI-function can be genetically exploited to improve the BNI-capacity of major food- and feed-crops to develop next-generation production systems with reduced nitrification and N2O emission rates to benefit both agriculture and the environment. The feasibility of such an approach is discussed based on the progresses made.

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Biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) in Brachiaria pastures: A novel strategy to improve eco-efficiency of crop-livestock systems and to mitigate climate change

Cited by 47 publications

References 2 publications

Residual effect of BNI by Brachiaria humidicola pasture on nitrogen recovery and grain yield of subsequent maize

Residual effect of BNI by Brachiaria humidicola pasture on nitrogen recovery and grain yield of subsequent maize

Climate-Smart Livestock Systems: An Assessment of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Nicaragua

Suppression of soil nitrification by plants

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