Winter Wheat Straw Decomposition under Different Nitrogen Fertilizers

Abstract

The climate changes and increased drought frequency still more frequent in recent periods bring challenges to management with wheat straw remaining in the field after harvest and to its decomposition. The field experiment carried out in 2017–2019 in the Czech Republic aimed to evaluate winter wheat straw decomposition under different organic and mineral nitrogen fertilizing (urea, pig slurry and digestate with and without inhibitors of nitrification (IN)). Treatment Straw 1 with fertilizers was incorporated in soil each year the first day of experiment. The Straw 2 was placed on soil surface at the same day as Straw 1 and incorporated together with fertilizers after 3 weeks. The Straw 1 decomposition in N treatments varied between 25.8–40.1% and in controls between 21.5–33.1% in 2017–2019. The Straw 2 decomposition varied between 26.3–51.3% in N treatments and in controls between 22.4–40.6%. Higher straw decomposition in 2019 was related to more rainy weather. The drought observed mainly in 2018 led to the decrease of straw decomposition and to the highest contents of residual mineral nitrogen in soils. The limited efficiency of N fertilisers on straw decomposition under drought showed a necessity of revision of current strategy of N treatments and reduction of N doses adequately according the actual weather conditions.

Maize Straw Return and Nitrogen Rate Effects on Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Performance and Soil Physicochemical Characteristics in Northwest China

“…In this study, nitrogen treatments with straw significantly increased soil organic carbon content and porosity, whilst decreased bulk density compared to treatments without straw at the same N rate. This result is in agreement with previous studies, which indicated that straw return reduced soil bulk density [73,74], and increased soil porosity [75,76] and organic carbon content [51,77,78]. Treatments with straw may reduce soil erosion partly due to their low soil bulk density and high porosity [79].…”

“…Straw return and nitrogen enrichment play a significant role in improving the physicochemical properties of soils [22,51,71,72]. In this study, nitrogen treatments with straw significantly increased soil organic carbon content and porosity, whilst decreased bulk density compared to treatments without straw at the same N rate.…”

“…This could explain why the plants without straw showed better vegetative growth in the first season than those with straw at the lower N rate (0 and 75 kg ha −1 ). Nitrogen enrichment after straw return facilitates decomposition rate [51]. Plants from HN + S treatment produced the best vegetative growth, probably due to their high leaf CC, PAR, and LAI, which might have increased the production of assimilate for growth and development of potato.…”

“…Soil N concentration affects the C:N ratio of the soil, which regulates the balance between immobilization and mineralization of nutrients [24]. Nitrogen enrichment after straw return facilitates decomposition rate [51]. Moreover, Prescott [32] reported that N enrichment stimulates the decomposition of plant residues with low lignin content (<12%), while it slows decomposition of residues with high lignin content (>18%).…”

Effect of Tillage System and Organic Matter Management Interactions on Soil Chemical Properties and Biological Activity in a Spring Wheat Short-Time Cultivation

“…The enrichment of the soil environment with organic matter originating from crop residues left on the surface is a reasonable and environmentally desirable activity. Cereal straw, as a valuable source of organic carbon, can significantly increase its amount in soil [3,57]. In soil supplemented for 18 years with straw in a dose of 12 t ha −1 , the amount of carbon was 1/3 higher annually than that found in the soil without the addition of this material [58].…”