The Effect Of Nitrification Inhibitors On Soil Ghg Emissions During Post Harvest Cropping Phase

A 10 g of fresh soil in 100 mL conical flask was incubated under anaerobic condition with an addition of different solutions. The solutions consisted of 1 g/L of chloramphenicol for four treatments, 1) distilled water (Ctrl), 2) glucose of 300 mg C/L (+C), 3) KNO3 of 50 mg N/L (+N), and 4) glucose of 300 mg C/L + KNO3 of 50 mg N/L (+C+N). The flasks were evacuated and flushed four times with N2 to ensure anaerobic conditions, and acetylene (C2H2) gas was added to a final concentration of 10% (10 kPa) in the headspace. Gas was sampled after 24, 36 and 72 h using syringe and directly analysed for N2O concentration by chromatography with ECD. DEA were calculated from the linear increasing of N2O production against the

Bioremediators need to be able to grow in order to remediate the soil of pollutants. The purpose of this research is to determine whether the presence of Stropharia rugoso-annulata in the soil will support and accelerate the growth of ryegrass in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship. If the growth of the ryegrass is accelerated and supported, the combination of the two bioremediators could potentially accelerate the degradation of PAHs in the soil. Techniques such as soil washing, soil flushing, vitrification, etc., exist to remediate contaminated soil. Although, these techniques are effective, they also disturb the natural environment to some degree. Bioremediation is often accomplished in situ resulting in minimal environmental disturbance. This study is being performed because healthy soil is a limited resource that needs to be preserved and replenished. The state of soil can impact the health of humans, animals, and ecosystems, therefore, it’s important to be able to monitor and control the pollutants in

It is commonly argued that Genetically Modified Organisms pose numerous risk to the health of the environment, however compared to current farming practices, Genetically Modified Organisms, pose, if any, a minimal threat to the environment . And in addition to that GMOs have been able to counterbalance the effects caused by traditional farming and others human errors. For example, emission of greenhouses gases been a major concern for scientist, who see levels of gases like Carbon Dioxide on a rapid and the American government, who has the duty to regulate such developments. However, Genetically Modified Organisms have played a significant role in the reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Modified crops need impressively less fuel allocated to themselves in order to be maintained. As well because such crops need less tilling, Carbon Dioxide is allowed to remain trapped in the soil. According to these findings, in 2008, this resulted in 16 billion kilograms of Carbon Dioxide to be removed from the earth’s atmosphere. Not only has GMOs played a significant role in reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, they have also decreased soil erosion. Soil erosion, an issue that is not heavily regarded as

With soil being washed away nearly 10 – 40 times faster than it is being replenished1, every single idea to avert this this crisis needs to be considered. No till farming, a method by which farmers implement a way of growing crops with minimal disturbance to the soil and the soil’s abiotic and biotic components, is a very important idea that is being employed worldwide with notable results. With food prices rising and people turning to their own backyards to grow food, the potential advantages of small scale no till can play a major role in the health and regeneration of our

The bulk of this nitrate comes from fertilizer running off agricultural fields. Scientists warn that a boom in crops such as corn for biofuel will only make matters worse. Last year, U.S. farmers planted more than 90 million acres,

Agriculture Mitigation actions we can take are rethinking the way agriculture is practiced. Finding ways to reduce reliance on chemical and synthetic fertilizers. Creating incentives to promote the use of renewable energy through modern Ag systems. The concern of climate change and the need to shift to more sustainable system has raised to long standing practices, and conservation agriculture. Another form of mitigation is lowering rates of agriculture expansion. Reduction and more efficient use of nitrogenous

By getting rid of the heritage plants, many of the crops lose many of their nutrients which are replaced by an array of toxins and GMO seeds. According to AgMag, big GMO companies like Monsanto, claimed the use of genetically modified crop were going to increase crop yields. Referring to the “agricultural output” (Staff), in other terms, the amount of a crop that was harvested per unit of land. Instead, the crops were not improved and there was a noticeable increase in the use of glyphosate; as known as, “Glyphosate is an herbicide. It is applied to the leaves of plants to kill both broadleaf plants and grasses. The sodium salt form of glyphosate is used to regulate plant growth and ripen fruit” (Ewg) according to the National Pesticide Center. As the graph below shows, the tremendous increase in the use of Glyphosate used on wheat. In the year 1999, there was approximately 4,000 pounds being dumped into the crops. Yet it did not stop there, as in 2009, the amount of glycophase spiraled upwards to an astonishing sixteen thousand

During World War 1 scientists discovered a process which involved taking the nitrogen from the air and turning it into usable ammonia. Most of the ammonia acquired by this process has been used as fertiliser. Upon evaporation, the ammonia proceeds to turning into acid rain. A few attempts have been made to control agricultural nitrogen emissions however, no steps have been taken to regulate agricultural ammonia emissions. Ammonia emissions also come from animal feeding operations. When the ammonia rises into the air and then falls back to the ground, it is broken into nitric and nitrogen acids which can kill plants and fish.

Certain bacteria that live in the soil turn this extra nitrogen into nitrous oxide. Burning fossil fuels. Nitrous oxide usually stays in the atmosphere for about 114 years... and traps about 298 times more heat than the same amount of carbon dioxide (Greenhouse Gases, 2016)."

While watching the video-presentation of Tony Avants’ speech on soils, I came to realize the importance of not only the quality of soil that one begins with, but also the quality of products used to enhance it. He states that there is a common gardening myth that plants do not recognize the difference between chemical and organic fertilizers. While that may be true for plants, the microbes in the soil know the difference and have a preference. They prefer the fertilizers made by nature. It would be easy to add chemicals to increase the Carbon these microbes feed off, but it would be much more cost effective, and better for the environment to use a Carbon-rich compost to fertilize one’s soil.

In the year 2014 37.1 million metric tons of nitrogen was applied to cornfields in the United States.9 161.4 kg/ha was the average amount per acre utilized.9 According to the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research service, applying nitrogen at the proper rate, at the correct time, utilizing suitable methods of application are important factors for nitrogen management.10 According to the United States Geological Survey 52% of nitrogen that flowed into the Gulf of Mexico was the result of corn and soybean agriculture.11 High amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous cause a bloom of algae, that later die and cause this area in the ocean to become hypoxic.12 Phosphorus plays a crucial role in plants. Since it's a component of nucleic acids, phosphorus plays a vital role in plant reproduction. Moderate amount of phosphorus results in higher grain production but too much can harm the crops.

“Methane has been identified as a significant contributor to global warming. It is second to carbon dioxide in contribution to global warming and is said to be 15-20% of all greenhouse gas emissions.” (Yusuf, Noor, Abba, A. Hassan, & Din., 2012, p. 1). The majority of the greenhouse gases emitted in the agricultural sector came from livestock (Yusuf et al., 2012, p. 2). Studies have shown that “cows produce more greenhouse gases than the entire

Around 70% of agricultural land is utilized for some aspects of livestock production (Bonny et al. 2015). It has been evaluated that livestock produce around 18% of every green house gas emissions, including 37% of all methane emissions mainly connected with ruminants (FAO 2009), although, other authors have delivered lower numbers (Pitesky et al. 2009). Livestock production is additionally one of the primary drivers of deforestation, deprivation of wildlife habitats, and an abundant accumulation of nutrients that decrease oxygen in water ways. About 34% of the GHG emission related to livestock production are due to deforestation, 25% are methane emission from abdominal fermentation of ruminants, and 31 % of the emission are related to manure management (FAO 2009). As of now, livestock raised for meat utilize about 30% of terrestrial land and 8% of global freshwater, while creating 18% of global GHG, which is more than the overall transportation region (Tuomisto and de Mattos 2011).

Throughout the years the agricultural industry has had significant developments in the cultivation of crops; some of which include advancements in the knowledge about fertilization. The land in which plants are placed is extremely important when it comes to how well they grow and produce. Through observations one can see that there are certain parts of the world better equipped for certain plants to be raised, which is often due to climate and the nutrients found within the soil. When soil falls short of providing for specific plants that is where fertilizer comes into play, it meets the elemental requirements for the plant to best grow. Some common fertilizers are manure—animal droppings used enrich the land, compost—decayed organic material, or synthetic fertilizers. This being said, as in all things agricultural, there is controversy as to what should be put into food sources due to the possible dangers. Manure being the product of animal waste can create tension in its use and can therefore raise the question as to what is the agricultural benefit in the use of manure and how does it aid plant production and growth?

In our society one of the most prevalent problems facing the human race is the future of food, how we plan to sustain the bodies of our future generation. Many corporations have already started to genetically modify food so that they can be able to return more of a profit or grow bigger, better crops. They also commonly use pesticides and other chemicals in the process of growing their crops to better benefit their business plan. However, since these corporations have been so focused on gaining the upper hand in the industry many of them have thrown old methods of farming out the door there has been much debate over whether or not these crops are truly better for the human body. Another major concern over new farming methods and the advances in agricultural technology is if these corporations can destroy the many ecosystems of our earth just to be able to one up the competition. This is a pressing matter due to the fact that as stated by Usman Chohan, who is involved in finding sustainable agriculture methods for the future and was invited to Pakistan Agricultural Research Council site at Fatehjang to analyze their sustainability initiative “sustainable solutions are at the heart of our efforts to satiate our developmental needs whilst minimizing our ecological footprint in the years to come.” (Chohan, 2014). My question that I will be investigating is, how can agricultural processes of today be altered to be more environmentally sustainable yet still