Effect of drying time rye used as cover crop on soil properties, weeds and yield of corn

Abstract

During the last decade, the Pampean Semarid Region showed an increase in cropping area by including soils of low aptitude which, in consequence, became degraded. Cover crops are a tool that can minimize such edaphic degradation and offset the carbon balance. This work's objective was to evaluate the effect of three drying dates (DD) of rye, as cover crop (CC), on water use efficiency (WUE) and biomass production of the CC, soil content of available water and nitrate, and the presence of weeds in and grain yield of a maize successor crop. The field trial was conducted at the Experimental Station INTA Anguil, La Pampa, and the DD assayed for the CC were july, august and september. Results showed that CC biomass production and WUE were higher for drying in August and September as compared to that done in july. Contents of available water and nitrate in the soil profile, as well as maize grain yield, were significantly reduced with the delay of CC drying. There

Effect of Different Fertilizers on Crop Growth, Oil yield and Chemical Composition of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citrates (DC.) Stapf)

“…basis) (59.16 kgha -) was recorded in F3 fertilizer mixture which was the combination of inorganic fertilizer and compost in 1: 1 ratio. Results of the current study are in agreement with Linares et al(2005) who observed that oil content of Cymbopogon citrates (DC.) Stapf positively responded to the application of fertilizers compared to the control.…”

“…He postulated that it was primarily due to the increase in leaf age caused by nitrogen defi ciency. But in contrast, Linares et al, (2005) reported that, diff erences in yield and quality were not found when the crop was fertilized or when it was not.…”

“…Quality of the essential oil mainly infl uenced by its chemical constituents (Linares et al, 2005).Chemical composition of essential oil of Cymbopogon citrates (DC.) Stapf analyzed by Gas chromatography and Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is as follows (Table 06).…”

“…Geraniol,cis -Verbenol and (R) -lavanduly acetate were only identifi ed in essential oil sample extracted from plants which applied combination of inorganic fertilizer and compost in 1: 1 ratio. Linares et al, (2005) reported that the application of any type of fertilizers increases the quality of essential oil of lemongrass.…”

“…The essential oils are natural products obtained from plants. These are formed by heterogeneous and complex volatile mixtures of chemical compounds, with predominance of terpene associated to aldehyde, alcohols and ketone which are deposited in several structures of the plant (Linares et al, 2005). Cymbopogan citrates (DC) Stapf (Lemongrass), belongs to family Poaceae and has acquired a great interest due to its commercially valuable essential oils and it is ranked among the top ten oil bearing crops in the world (Ravinder et al, 2010).…”