Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application on seed yield, N uptake, and seed quality of Camelina sativa

Abstract

B. 2014. Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application on seed yield, N uptake, and seed quality of Camelina sativa. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 35Á47. Camelina [Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz] is a new crop to western Canada, and research information on its response to nitrogen fertilizer is lacking. Two field experiments were conducted from 2008 to 2010 in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada, to determine the effect of N fertilizer application on camelina plant establishment, seed and straw yield, total N uptake in seed and straw, seed oil and protein concentration, N fertilizer use efficiency (NFUE) and percent recovery of applied N (%NR) in seed. Nitrogen fertilizer rates ranged from 0 to 160 kg N ha (1 in exp. 1 and from 0 to 200 kg N ha (1 in exp. 2. There was generally no detrimental effect of high N rates on plant establishment, with the exception of 1 site-year in which there was a slight linear decline in plant density as N rate increased. Seed yield, total N uptake in seed, NFUE and %NR responded to applied N rates at most site-years. Seed yield and total N uptake in seed usually increased while seed NFUE and %NR decreased with increasing N rate. Response trends of yield and total N uptake of straw to applied N were similar to that of seed at the corresponding site-years. Seed oil concentration decreased while protein concentration increased with increasing N rate. In exp. 1, fertilizer rates were not high enough to attain a maximum seed yield; however, maximum seed yields of 2013 kg ha (1 were achieved at an N rate of 170 kg N ha (1 in exp. 2. In conclusion, camelina responded to fairly high rates of applied N similar to responses reported for Brassica juncea on the Canadian prairies.

Effect of nitrogen fertilization on camelina seed yield, yield components, and downy mildew infection

“…Visual observations by Wysocki et al (2013) indicated that most of the increase in seed yield in camelina was due to the increase in number of pods plant −1 . Applied N rates had no significant effect on plant density (Malhi et al 2014), but our findings showed that plant density was negatively correlated with applied N rates (Fig. 2).…”

“…N on the Canadian prairies (Malhi et al 2014) and 185-300 kg ha −1 N in Chile (Solis et al 2013). Camelina has usually been considered a low-input crop, which was likely due to the fact that it was grown in areas where camelina did not exhibit high yield potential (Solis et al 2013).…”

“…The optimum N rate for the highest yield ranged from 120 to 160 kg ha −1 N in eastern Canada (Jiang et al 2013). The maximum seed yield was achieved at a rate of 170 kg ha −1 N on the Canadian prairies (Malhi et al 2014). In general, there are many inconclusive and somewhat contradictory results in reference to N application in camelina production in different areas of the world.…”

False flax (Camelina sativa L.) as an alternative source for biodiesel production

“…The oil content in summer false flax seeds amounted to 40.9% while that of winter false flax was lower (38.9%) ( Table 2). Although many authors (Agegnehu, Honermeier, 1996;Malhi et al, 2014) have reported that nitrogen fertilization reduced oil content in false flax seeds, our research findings did not validate this proposition, since in our study the nitrogen fertilizer rates applied did not result in a significant oil content reduction.…”

“…Plant height, seed yield, oil content, total plant N and seed protein all responded to applied nitrogen rate (Urbaniak et al, 2008). It has been suggested that the seed yield of false flax and the magnitude of yield response to applied nitrogen can vary with soil type, its fertility and climatic conditions (Szczebiot, 2002;Rathke et al, 2006;Malhi et al, 2014). Solis et al (2013) showed that false flax, usually regarded as a low-input crop, may respond to high N fertilization rates when grown in the environmental conditions that maximize seed yield potential.…”