Nitrogenous fertilizers and the production of crops and grass

Holmes, W.; Aldrich, D. T. A.

doi:10.1079/pns19570004

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Top-dressing with 70 lb of nitrogen in early spring generally increased herbage production and ryegrass seed yields, but reduced clover flowering. The responses to nitrogen in terms of dry-matter output varied greatly from year to year but were in reasonable agreement with the flndings of other workers reviewed by Holmes and Aldrich (5). The low response to nitrogen in 1959 was associated with the very dry weather experienced in that year and with the high content of clover in the sward following the mild winter.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Wild White Clover Seed Production

Haggar

Holmes

Innes

1963

Grass and Forage Science

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Field experiments on the management of ryegrass/white-clover pastures for seed production were carried out from 1958 to 1961. Replicated trials with ^-acre plots compared continuous grazing, rotational grazing and cutting once at the silage stage of growth as methods of pasture management from April to June. An additional mechanical method, gang mowing, was introduced in 1960 and Hayter mowing was used in 1961. In 1958 to 1960 the treatments were studied with and without the application of 70 lb nitrogen per acre. Clover flower heads per square foot, clover seed and ryegrass seed yields were greatest under continuous grazing, although in some years comparable results were obtained from the mechanical defoliation treatments. There were substantial differences between potential and harvested clover seed yields, the latter ranging from 20% to 75% of the potential yield. The weight of ryegrass seed harvested was highest under continuous grazing and least under the cutting treatments. The nitrogenous fertilizer increased the production of herbage dry matter and of ryegrass seed, but greatly reduced clover seed yields. The results are discussed in relation to the influence of weather on the incidence of flowering and the influence of methods of defoliation on flower-bud emergence. It is concluded that mechanical methods of defoliation can produce yields similar to those obtained under continuous grazing, provided that cutting is carried out at the correct stage of growth.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Wild White Clover Seed Production

Haggar

Holmes

Innes

1963

Grass and Forage Science

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“…Moreover, high efficiency should not be prioritized at the expense of productivity. According to the law of diminishing returns, increases in productivity tend to be smaller with the increase of N amounts resulting in lower efficiency gains [ 51 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen-Use Efficiency, Nitrous Oxide Emissions, and Cereal Production in Brazil: Current Trends and Forecasts

et al. 2015

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The agriculture sector has historically been a major source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere. Although the use of synthetic fertilizers is one of the most common widespread agricultural practices, over-fertilization can lead to negative economic and environmental consequences, such as high production costs, depletion of energy resources, and increased GHG emissions. Here, we provide an analysis to understand the evolution of cereal production and consumption of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in Brazil and to correlate N use efficiency (NUE) with economic and environmental losses as N2O emissions. Our results show that the increased consumption of N fertilizers is associated with a large decrease in NUE in recent years. The CO2 eq. of N2O emissions originating from N fertilization for cereal production were approximately 12 times higher in 2011 than in 1970, indicating that the inefficient use of N fertilizers is directly related to environmental losses. The projected N fertilizer forecasts are 2.09 and 2.37 million ton for 2015 and 2023, respectively. An increase of 0.02% per year in the projected NUE was predicted for the same time period. However, decreases in the projected CO2 eq. emissions for future years were not predicted. In a hypothetical scenario, a 2.39% increase in cereal NUE would lead to $ 21 million savings in N fertilizer costs. Thus, increases in NUE rates would lead not only to agronomic and environmental benefits but also to economic improvement.

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“…Returns". As in most production processes, the use of a given input is subject to the aforementioned "law" (Holmes and Aldrich, 1957), and agricultural production tends to decrease if there is an increasing and excessive addition of just one input. In addition, most farmers are unable to predict harvest yield due to uncontrollable characteristics, so the addition of inputs will always be the maximum judged by them.…”

Section: Nitrogen Demand and Farmers' Inertiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen demand and agro-environmental efficiency in Brazilian cereal production

2023

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This paper aims to analyze the main factors that explain the demand for synthetic nitrogen fertilizers in Brazil, as well as the efficiency of their use. In addition, the research sought to relate the use of fertilizers with nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Demand was estimated using the two-stage least squares method (2SLS). Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was calculated using an agri-environmental index. The results indicated that demand of nitrogen fertilizers is positively affected by the price of cereal, cereal production and the number of fertilizers used in the past harvest. The calculated NUE presented an average value of 53% in the 1994-2018 period, indicating inefficient use of N. Emissions from nitrogen fertilization grew 59% for the same period. The increasing and / or inadequate rates of fertilizer use have resulted in agro-environmental inefficiency, that is, a decrease in NUE and an increase in N2O emissions. Public policies that guarantee more agricultural technical assistance and rational alternative forms of nitrogen use could contribute to optimizing the synthetic doses applied in production, minimizing adverse environmental effects without generating economic losses to farmers and Brazilian agricultural production.

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Nitrogenous fertilizers and the production of crops and grass

Cited by 8 publications

References 9 publications

Wild White Clover Seed Production

Wild White Clover Seed Production

Nitrogen-Use Efficiency, Nitrous Oxide Emissions, and Cereal Production in Brazil: Current Trends and Forecasts

Nitrogen demand and agro-environmental efficiency in Brazilian cereal production

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