Maize response to localized mineral or organic NP starter fertilization under different soil tillage methods

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2022.126534Get rights and content

Highlights

  • No difference in grain yield was observed between strip tillage and plowing.

  • Strip tillage delayed the early growth of maize, compared to plowing.

  • In-band injected digestate led to moderate advantages on maize early development.

  • Both organic and mineral NP starter fertilizations increased the grain yield.

  • Strip tillage only increased the risk of deoxynivalenol contamination.

Abstract

An early maize (Zea mays L.) sowing date plays a key role in increasing the grain yield, especially in a temperate climate. The adoption of reduced tillage techniques, such as strip tillage (ST), can decrease cultivation costs, compared to plowing (PLOW), but might also reduce the crop early development rate as a result of lower soil temperatures. Therefore, farmers often adopt starter fertilizations when sowing maize, in order to improve the early-season nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency and plant development. The aims of this study were to assess the effects of the adoption of ST, compared to PLOW, and a starter fertilization with deep-injected digestate (DIG) or sub-surface placed diammonium phosphate (DAP), compared to an unfertilized treatment (NT) on the early growth, grain yield and grain qualitative and sanitary traits of maize. Field experiments were carried out in NW Italy over the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons on two different soils. ST determined cooler soil conditions at both sites, compared to PLOW, thus resulting in lower NDVI values due to both slower plant development and lower final crop density. The starter fertilization with DAP recorded the best early vigor and canopy development, expressed as plant height in both sites and for both tillage techniques, while the DIG values were intermediate between the DAP and NT treatments. Although the effects on the early vigor of maize differed between the experimental sites, displaying more pronounced differences in the finer-textured soil, ST on average delayed the flowering (+2.2 days) and consequently delayed the moisture dry down process (+1.2% grain moisture content at harvest), compared to PLOW. The starter fertilization with DIG or DAP led to an earlier flowering, compared to NT (−2.6 and −4.6 days, respectively). The grain yield was not affected by the tillage system, as the plants in ST compensated for the lower plant density with an increased ear length (+1.5%). Instead, DIG and DAP recorded similar and higher grain yields (+1.8 and +1.6 Mg ha−1) than NT. DIG application led to a higher grain protein content and lower level of fumonisin contamination than the other treatments, while ST determined higher deoxynivalenol values than PLOW. The combination of ST and DIG as a starter fertilization can help maintain the production level and the grain quality, compared to conventional techniques that involve the use of mineral fertilizers and plowing, thereby leading to a higher sustainability of the maize cropping system.

Introduction

Maize (Zea mais L.) is the crop with the largest global production, and it is used for both food and feed as well as for industrial or energy purposes. Early planting plays a key role in achieving the full potential yield in temperate growing areas as it leads to an increase in the length of both the vegetative period and the reproductive phase (Waqas et al., 2021), thus promoting higher yields and higher resource use efficiencies. Farmers sow maize early to escape heat and drought stress during the reproductive phase (Waqas et al., 2021) obtaining an early development and an earlier flowering, which in turn leads to a higher radiation interception and a greater number of kernels per surface unit and a faster growth rate during ripening (Sacks and Kucharik, 2011, Islam et al., 2015), an increase in grain yield (Salvagiotti et al., 2013) and a lower mycotoxin content (Blandino et al., 2009a). In addition to the sowing time, other crop practices, such as tillage and use of starter fertilization, could also have direct influence on the maize ability to overcome a delayed development in early stages, when low-temperature stress may occur, thus yielding earlier flowering and associated benefits.

Although the adoption of no tillage or minimum tillage has also increased globally for maize (Kassam et al., 2019), these techniques are still a matter of concern since they have cooler temperatures and higher moisture contents in the early crop growth stages (Blanco-Canqui and Ruis, 2018). All these conditions may negatively influence the critical phase of crop establishment, and may result in a delay in emergence and slower early growth (Licht and Al-Kaisi, 2005). One strategy to overcome this problem is to apply tillage to only a part of the surface, which could help to reduce the adverse effects of no-tillage, and maintain most of its positive characteristics. With this technique, a narrow strip is tilled and prepared as a seedbed with a single passage that also includes the displacement of previous crop residues and the incorporation of fertilizers. The limited tilled areas in the strip tillage (ST) are associated with warmer soil temperatures and lower bulk densities than no-tillage (Celik et al., 2013). Licht and Al-Kaisi (2005) reported an increase of 1.2–1.4 °C when the soil was strip-tilled, compared to no-tillage, and the plant emergence rate was similar to a chisel plowed treatment. On a sandy loam soil subjected to moldboard plowing or strip-tillage, Vyn and Raimbault (1992) also recorded the same maize plant density. Many studies have evaluated the effects of conventional, strip- and no-tillage techniques on maize yield. Liu and Wiatrak (2012) reported that the maize yield was similar under plowing and ST, but significantly lower under no-tillage, in a loamy sand soil in a dryland rain-fed environment. Conversely, Vyn and Raimbault (1992) recorded a 10–12% reduction in grain yield under ST in Ontario (Canada), compared to plowing, in both silty loam and clayey loam soils. Some authors have instead found an increase in yield under strip tillage, compared to a conventional system. In tropical growing areas, Mullins et al. (1998), for example, observed a yield increase of 16% of silage and 43% of grain in maize for silage and grain production cropping systems, respectively. Furthermore, in terms of economic costs and profitability, farmers who adopt ST have a 34% greater net return than those who apply conventional tillage (i.e. plowing followed by secondary tillage), mainly due to the reduced number of operations, and the consequent reduced time consumption, fuel consumption and machinery investment costs (Morris et al., 2010, Deleon et al., 2020). Moreover, the reduced number of preparatory operations could favor early sowing dates, thereby guaranteeing an optimal timeliness in crop establishment (Morris et al., 2010). However, the occurrence of previous crop residues on the soil surface as a result of reduced tillage is a critical key factor in the inoculum production of fungal species, and an accumulation of mycotoxins has been observed in wheat and other winter cereals (Blandino et al., 2012). Nevertheless, the role of reduced tillage on the content of such contaminants in maize grain is still unknown.

On the other hand, the initial growth of maize could benefit from localized fertilization. The precise placement of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) fertilizers at sowing as a starter fertilization is a common practice used by maize farmers to improve the early-season nutrient uptake and early development of the plant, but also the total nutrient use efficiency, and to achieve adequate yields, in particular in regions where early temperatures are suboptimal for maize growth (Nkebiwe et al., 2016, Quinn et al., 2020). Many studies carried out under plowing conditions have reported benefits for the early growing of maize due to the synergism of P with N, especially as ammonium (NH4+), if supplied in sub-surface bands near the seed furrows. The main benefits include lateral and fine root proliferation (Jing et al., 2010, Ma et al., 2013), increased P and micronutrient availabilities, due to a lower rhizosphere pH following NH4+ uptake (Jing et al., 2012, Ma et al., 2014), and boosting of early crop development (Osborne, 2005, Ma et al., 2015). Positive effects have also been found in soils with a medium or high available P content (Blandino et al., 2022; Kaiser et al., 2016). In a context of sustainable agriculture, inspired by circular economy principles, i.e., nutrient recycling and recovery to avoid waste creation, manufactured P and N fertilizers could be replaced by animal manures or other organic materials. Animal manures are historically used for crop fertilization purposes in regions characterized by an integrated livestock-mixed agriculture, but their repeated supply often causes an enrichment of the soil P status, due to the lower N/P ratios of manures than that of plants, with possible threats to the quality of freshwater (Borda et al., 2011). Although the organic P fraction contained in manures is not immediately available for plant uptake, soluble organic phosphate compounds and organic acids are released after mineralization. These molecules prevent P fixation in soil and result in greater concentrations of available P (Laboski and Lamb, 2003). A review by Kratz et al. (2019) showed that farmyard manure and slurry contain a large amount of easily soluble P, thus displaying a medium-to-high P fertilizing value compared to mineral fertilizers. This was also observed for biogas digestates, which often contain animal manures as the main or co-substrate for digestion. Furthermore, Battaglia et al. (2021) demonstrated that manure injection is also compatible with both no- and minimum-tillage, if associated with precision auto-guidance systems which allow a simultaneous injection below the future seed rows with the tillage operation (Tauchnitz et al., 2018). The adoption of liquid manure injection along seed rows as a starter fertilization to replace mineral fertilizers can help increase the sustainability of agriculture and implement fertilization best management practices based on the 4Rs principles (right nutrient source, right rate, right time and right place).

The effects of the liquid manure injection in a band close to maize rows as an alternative N and P source to replace mineral starter fertilizers on the soil macro- and micronutrient availability and consequently on the nutrient use efficiency and on the final yield of maize silage have been tested in several studies carried out in Germany (Westerschulte et al., 2018, Federolf et al., 2016, Federolf et al., 2017), Denmark (Pedersen et al., 2020a), the Netherlands (Schröder et al., 2015), the USA (Battaglia et al., 2021) and Canada (Hunt and Bittman, 2021). However, no studies have evaluated the effects of manure injection and its combination with reduced tillage techniques on maize grain yield. None of the aforementioned studies included measurements of the early growth of plants or the date of flowering, the associated grain yield or the qualitative benefits; thus, the effects of starter fertilization of manure injection in band, particularly in a minimum tillage context, therefore still remain unclear.

The objective of the present study has been to quantify the effects of the adoption of ST, compared to plowing, and of localized fertilization at sowing with biogas raw digestate or mineral NP fertilizer, on the early development, growth, yield and sanitary traits of maize, in two different kinds of soils, under the hypothesis that a localized manure distribution could efficiently surrogate mineral NP fertilizers in promoting the early growth of maize, in particular in a context of reduced tillage techniques.

Section snippets

Study sites

The study was performed in field experiments at Carmagnola (44°23′N, 7°40′E) and Poirino (44°56′N, 7°51′E), in North-West Italy, during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons. Both soils lie in a plain area which is intensively cultivated. The soil texture was loamy silt at both locations, but the soil at Carmagnola was richer in sand and poorer in clay than the Poirino soil (Table 1). The soil pH was medium alkaline (8.1) at Carmagnola and slightly acid (6.3) at Poirino. The available P content (

Weather and soil conditions

The two growing seasons showed slightly different meteorological trends for both rainfall and temperature (expressed as GDDs in Table 2). June 2019 had less rainfall than June 2020, which was the wettest month of the 2020 growing season. The wettest month in 2019 was July and was concurrent with the maize anthesis stage. The 2019 growing season was characterized by cooler temperatures during April and May, while June was warmer, thus resulting in similar cumulative GDDs for the two growing

Discussion

The adoption of the two tested tillage techniques and starter fertilization with deep-injected DIG or sub-surface placed DAP, did not show on average any differences in terms of grain yield. However, important differences were recorded for the early plant development.

Conclusion

This study has provided useful information on how tillage techniques and starter fertilization strategies, based on the placement of N and P in bands at specific distances from seed rows, affect maize emergence, early plant growth, yield components, as well as qualitative and sanitary grain traits. Our findings highlighted the suitability of the adoption of the ST technique in different soils, especially when conjugated with a proper starter fertilization management performed with digestate or

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Michela Battisti: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft. Laura Zavattaro: Supervision, Funding acquisition, Writing – review & editing. Luca Capo: Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing. Massimo Blandino: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Massimo Blandino reports financial support was provided by KWS Italia S.p.A. and Regione Piemonte.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Alessandro Zappino, Federica Vichi, Matteo Moretto, Marco Betta, Giovanni Matranga, Sara Martinengo and Francesca Vanara for their precious help and cooperation in the field work and laboratory facilities. We also thank the anonymous reviewers who helped us improve the manuscript. The research has been conducted thanks to the financial support of the KWS Italia S.p.A, Italy . Michela Battisti was partially supported by Regione Piemonte, Italy (Ph.D. grant).

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