Maize response to localized mineral or organic NP starter fertilization under different soil tillage methods
Graphical Abstract
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).
References (66)
- et al.
No-tillage and soil physical environment
Geoderma
(2018) - et al.
Effect of plant density on toxigenic fungal infection and mycotoxin contamination of maize kernels
Field Crops Res.
(2008) - et al.
The synergistic effect of nitrogen and phosphorus starter fertilization sub-surface banded at sowing on the early vigor, grain yield and quality of maize
Eur. J. Agron.
(2022) - et al.
Integrated strategies for the control of Fusarium head blight and deoxynivalenol contamination in winter wheat
Field Crops Res.
(2012) - et al.
Strip tillage width effects on sunflower seed emergence and yield
Soil Tillage Res.
(2013) - et al.
Enhanced nutrient use efficiencies from liquid manure by positioned injection in maize cropping in northwest Germany
Eur. J. Agron.
(2016) - et al.
Grain corn responses to five tillage methods under different european corn borer infestations
Agric. Ecosyst. Environ.
(1990) - et al.
Nutrient seed priming improves seedling development of maize exposed to low root zone temperatures during early growth
Eur. J. Agron.
(2013) - et al.
Localized application of phosphorus and ammonium improves growth of maize seedlings by stimulating root proliferation and rhizosphere acidification
Field Crops Res.
(2010) - et al.
Localized fertilization with P plus N elicits an ammonium-dependent enhancement of maize root growth and nutrient uptake
Field Crops Res.
(2012)
Evaluation of environmental and management effects on Fusarium head blight infection and deoxynivalenol concentration in the grain of winter wheat
Eur. J. Agron.
Strip-tillage effect on seedbed soil temperature and other soil physical properties
Soil Tillage Res.
Corn production response to tillage and nitrogen application in dry-land environment
Soil Tillage Res.
Localized application of NH4+- N plus P enhances zinc and iron accumulation in maize via modifying root traits and rhizosphere processes
Field Crops Res.
Comparing localized application of different N fertilizer species on maize grain yield and agronomic N-use efficiency on a calcareous soil
Field Crops Res.
The adoption of non-inversion tillage systems in the United Kingdom and the agronomic impact on soil, crops and the environment—a review
Soil Tillage Res.
Tropical maize response to nitrogen and starter fertilizer under strip and conventional tillage systems in southern Alabama
Soil Tillage Res.
Fertilizer placement to improve crop nutrient acquisition and yield: a review and meta-analysis
Field Crops Res.
Long-term experiments with cropping systems: case studies on data analysis
Eur. J. Agron.
Row-injected cattle slurry can replace mineral P starter fertiliser and reduce P surpluses without compromising final yields of silage maize
Eur. J. Agron.
Corn yield response to sub-surface banded starter fertilizer in the U.S.: a meta-analysis
Field Crops Res.
Crop management and phenology trends in the U.S. Corn Belt: Impacts on yields, evapotranspiration and energy balance
Agric. For. Meteorol.
Plant stand, nodulation and seed yield in soybean as affected by phosphate fertilizer placement, source and application method
Eur. J. Agron.
Maize yields benefit from injected manure positioned in bands
Eur. J. Agron.
Agronomic characteristics of five different urban waste digestates
J. Environ. Manag.
Nitrogen efficiency of strip-till combined with slurry band injection below the maize seeds
Soil Tillage Res.
Maize grain yield enhancement through high plant density cultivation with different inter-row and intra-row spacings
Eur. J. Agron.
Strip tillage effect on seedbed tilth and maize production in Northern Italy as case-study for the Southern Europe environment
Eur. J. Agron.
Evaluation of strip tillage systems for corn production in Ontario
Soil Tillage Res.
Response of maize to various nitrogen sources and tillage practices
Sarhad J. Agric.
Nutrient-management challenges and opportunities in conservation agriculture
The effects of pH on phosphate uptake from the soil
Plant Soil
Cited by (12)
Optimized tillage can enhance crop tolerance to extreme weather events: Evidence from field experiments and meta-analysis
2024, Soil and Tillage ResearchTest on adsorption posture and seeding performance of the high-speed precision dual-chamber maize metering device based on the seed characteristics
2024, Computers and Electronics in AgricultureThe effect of tillage methods on soil physical properties and maize yield in Eastern Inner Mongolia
2023, European Journal of AgronomyThe role of husk traits in maize susceptibility to Fusarium verticillioides: A multi-location study in northern Italy
2024, Food and Energy Security