Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Stocks of Different Hawaiian Sugarcane Cultivars

Abstract

Abstracts: Sugarcane has been widely used as a biofuel crop due to its high biological productivity, ease of conversion to ethanol, and its relatively high potential for greenhouse gas reduction and lower environmental impacts relative to other derived biofuels from traditional agronomic crops. In this investigation, we studied four sugarcane cultivars (H-65-7052, H-78-3567, H-86-3792 and H-87-4319) grown on a Hawaiian commercial sugarcane plantation to determine their ability to store and accumulate soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) across a 24-month growth cycle on contrasting soil types. The main study objective establish baseline parameters for biofuel production life cycle analyses; sub-objectives included (1) determining which of four main sugarcane cultivars sequestered the most soil C and (2) assessing how soil C sequestration varies among two common Hawaiian soil series (Pulehu-sandy clay loam and Molokai-clay). Soil samples were collected at 20 cm increments to depths of up to 120 cm using hand augers at the three main growth stages (tillering, grand growth, and maturity) from two experimental plots at to observe total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrates (NO and H-87-4319 (20 kg·m −2 ) appeared to produce more accumulated carbon in both soil types.

Diversifying crop rotations with pulses enhances system productivity

“…We found that the process of crop residue decomposition added additional mineral N to the soil N pools. By contrast, the summerfallow system lost soil N during the postharvest period, whereas the cereal monoculture systems had little or no change in postharvest soil N. The soil N dynamics are complicated 40 , and the quantity of soil N can change with many factors 41,42 . In the present study, the largest change in soil N over the postharvest period occurred in the fall 2007 to spring 2008 period when the summerfallow fields lost 63.9 N kg ha −1 , whereas the fields after pulses increased soil N by 25.3 kg ha −1 , and the fields after wheat increased by 18.5 kg ha −1 .…”

Pseudomonas sp. ST4 produces variety of active compounds to interfere fungal sexual mating and hyphal growth

“…Sugarcane smut disease was first reported in Natal, South Africa, in 1877 (Mcmartin, ), and hereafter quickly spread to countries worldwide, such as Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Tanzania, Mauritius and Rhodesia in Africa (Bock, ; Waller, ; Msechu and Keswani, ; Wada, ; Nzioki and Jamoza, ; Ong'Ala et al ., ), Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Dominican, Jamaica, Louisiana, Hawaii, Colombia in America and also Australia in 1998 (Byther et al ., ; Comstock and Heinz, ; Hoy et al ., ; Victoria et al ., ; Tirado‐Corbalá et al ., ). In China, smut disease greatly influences sugarcane yield and could cause a huge direct economic loss up to five billion Chinese yuan every year (Shen et al ., ).…”