The effect of soil tillage system on the nitrogen uptake, grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of spring barley in a cool Atlantic climate

Abstract

SUMMARYField experiments were conducted between 2009 and 2011 in Ireland to compare the effects of soil tillage systems on the grain yield, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and nitrogen (N) uptake patterns of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare) in a cool Atlantic climate. The four tillage treatments comprised conventional tillage in spring (CT), reduced tillage in autumn (RT A), reduced tillage in spring (RT S) and reduced tillage in autumn and spring (RT A+S). Each tillage system was evaluated with five levels of fertilizer N (0, 75, 105, 135 and 165 kg N/ha). Grain yield varied between years but CT had a significantly higher mean yield over the three years than the RT systems. There was no significant difference between the three RT systems. Tillage system had no significant effect on the grain yield response to fertilizer N. As a result of the higher yields achieved, the CT system had a higher NUE than the RT systems at all N rates. There was no significant difference in NUE between the three RT systems. Conventional tillage had significantly higher nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUpE) than RT A and a significantly higher nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUtE) than all three RT systems. Crop N uptake followed a similar pattern each year. Large amounts of N were accumulated during the vegetative growth stages while N was lost after anthesis. Increased N rates had a positive effect on N uptake in the early growth stages but tended to promote N loss later in the season. The CT system had the highest N uptake in the initial growth stages but its rate of uptake diminished at a faster rate than the RT systems as the season progressed. Tillage system had an inconsistent effect on crop N content during the later growth stages. On the basis of these results it is concluded that the use of non-inversion tillage systems for spring barley establishment in a cool oceanic climate remains challenging and in certain conditions may result in a reduction in NUE and lower and more variable grain yields than conventional plough-based systems.

Effects of tillage and crop rotation on yield and quality parameters of durum wheat in Tunisia

“…In addition, Alvarez and Steinbach (2009) reported that the effect of tillage on yield parameters depends on the crop. In a cool Atlantic climate, the variability of winter wheat grain yield under different tillage system was dependent on the rainfall and temperature of the year (Brennan et al, 2014). Minerals in plants play a major role for the maintenance of certain physicochemical processes, which are essential to life.…”

“…The effects on grain yield have ranged from an increase, a decrease or no change (Hao et al, 2001). This effect depends on weather conditions and crop sequence used, rainfall during crop establishment and on the interaction between many others parameters (Brennan et al, 2014;Ercoli et al, 2017). Furthermore, no tillage is recognized to improve soil physico-chemical properties, soil moisture, soil organic matter and biological processes (Ben-Hammouda et al, 2005;Alvarez and Steinbach, 2009).…”

Effects of Different Water Supply and Corm Planting Density on Crocin, Picrocrocin and Safranal, Nitrogen Uptake and Water Use Efficiency of Saffron Grown in Semi-Arid Region

“…Nitrogen concentration (g kg -1 ) in daughter corms (plus corm tunics) and aerial part was measured based on Kjeldal method (AOAC, 2000). On the basis of dry stigma and daughter corms yields, nitrogen acquisition efficiency (NAE) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) were calculated using the following equations (Brennan et al, 2014;Koocheki and Seyyedi, 2015): NAE (%) = (Nt / Na) × 100 NUES (g g -1 ) = SY / Na NUEC (g g -1 ) = CY / Na Where: Nt is g N in the total plant m -2 , Na is g N applied m -2 , SY is g dry stigma yield m -2 , and CY is g daughter corms yield m -2 .…”

Fate of 15N-fertilizers in the soil-plant system of a forage rotation under conservation and plough tillage

“…Most of the world surface under conservation tillage (95 x 10 6 ha) is concentrated in North (47%) and South America (39%), followed at distance by Australia (9%) and with less than 0.05% in Europe, where there is still much scepticism about the suitability of conservation agriculture for the European climate conditions and cropping systems (Brennan et al, 2015;Brennan et al, 2014;Stagnari et al, 2010;Van Den Bossche et al, 2009). In the Spanish temperate humid zone, the most common rotation under conservation tillage is the maize-Italian ryegrass due to the economic and timeliness advantages without detrimental effect on yields (Bueno et al, 2007), as also reported for other Atlantic climates (Hansen et al, 2011).…”