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Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / Dorivar A. Ruiz Diaz Suarez / An effective nutrient management plan is essential for optimum wheat (Triticum aestivum) yields. The objectives of the first study were to: i.) evaluate changes in concentration of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), and zinc (Zn), within separate plant parts, throughout the growing season, ii.) evaluate the uptake pattern and redistribution of each of these nutrients within the plant throughout the season, and iii.) evaluate the impact of micronutrient and S fertilization on concentration and uptake of nutrients and the potential use of fertilization for biofortification. Three locations were established and sampled every 7 to 10 days during the spring. Samples were divided into leaf, stem, head, spike and grain fractions and analyzed for nutrient concentration. Concentration levels tended to decrease throughout the season in non-grain plant fractions and stay relatively constant in the grain. Harvest grain concentration of Zn was significantly higher with micronutrient fertilization at all locations, suggesting the possibility of Zn biofortification through fertilization. S, Cu, and Zn showed nutrient accumulation increases in all plant fractions until the time period around anthesis (Feekes 10.5.1), at which point leaf and stem fractions decreased in total accumulation while nutrients were remobilized to the grain. N, P, K and Mn showed a similar trend although timing of remobilization varied between locations and treatments. The objectives of the second study were to i.) evaluate the interaction of wheat grazing management and soil and fertilizer N requirements with emphasis on dual purpose wheat, ii.) assess the use of NDVI sensors for N management and forage quantity assessment in wheat grazing systems, and iii.) evaluate forage quality and quantity interactions with N management. Three locations were established and fertilized with N application rates of 0, 34, 67, and 101 kg ha⁻¹ in the fall, followed by simulated grazing. Spring topdress applications were made at rates of 0 and 90 kg ha⁻¹, or a sensor based rate. The impact of grazing on grain production varied by location. NDVI readings correlated with biomass at two of three locations and N recommendations using NDVI sensors resulted in significantly lower N rates and similar yield results to high N application rates. Forage dry matter and N concentration increased with higher N rates.

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Master of Science / Agronomy / Ignacio Ciampitti / P. V. Vara Prasad / Mid-west grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) producers are currently obtaining much lower than attainable yields across varying environments, therefore, closing yield gaps will be important. Yield gaps are the difference between maximum economic attainable yield and current on-farm yields. Maximum economic yield can be achieved through the optimization of utilizing the best genotypes and management practices for the specific site-environment (soil-weather) combination. This research project examines several management factors in order to quantify complex farming interactions for maximizing sorghum yields and studying nutrient partitioning. The factors that were tested include narrow row-spacing (37.5 cm) vs. standard wide row-spacing (76 cm), high (197,600 seeds haˉ¹) and low (98,800 seeds haˉ¹) seeding rates, balanced nutrient management practices including applications of NPKS and micronutrients (Fe and Zn), crop protection with fungicide and insecticide, the use of a plant growth regulator, and the use of precision Ag technology (GreenSeeker for N application). This project was implemented at four sites in Kansas during 2014 (Rossville, Scandia, Ottawa, and Hutchinson) and 2015 (Topeka, Scandia, Ottawa, Ashland Bottoms) growing seasons. Results from both years indicate that irrigation helped to minimize yield variability and boost yield potential across all treatments, though other factors affected the final yield. In 2014, the greatest significant yield difference under irrigation in Rossville, KS (1.32 Mg haˉ¹) was documented between the ‘low-input’ versus the ‘high-input’ treatments. The treatment difference in grain sorghum yields in 2014 was not statistically significant. In 2014, the Ottawa site experienced drought-stress during reproductive stages of plant development, which resulted in low yields and was not influenced by the cropping system approach. In 2015 the treatments were significant, and in Ottawa, narrow row spacing at a lower seeding rate maximized yield for this generally low-yielding environment (<6 Mg haˉ¹) (treatment two at 6.26 vs. treatment ten at 4.89 Mg haˉ¹). Across several sites, including Rossville, Hutchinson, Scandia, Topeka, and Ashland, a similar trend of narrow row spacing promoting greater yields has been documented. Additionally, when water was not limiting sorghum yields (i.e., under irrigation), a balanced nutrient application and optimization of production practices did increase grain sorghum yields (‘high-input’ vs. ‘low-input’; the greatest difference was seen in 2014 in Rossville, 1.2 Mg haˉ¹, and in 2015 in Ashland, 1.98 Mg haˉ¹). In the evaluation of nutrient uptake and partitioning in different plant fractions, there was variability across all site-years which did not always follow the same patterns as the yield, however, the low-input treatment was shown to have significantly lower nutrient uptakes across all the nutrients evaluated (N, P, K, S, Fe, Zn) and across most fractions and sampling times. The objectives of this project were to identify management factors that contributed to high sorghum yields in diverse environments, and to investigate nutrient uptake and partitioning under different environments and crop production practices.

Currently, the information available concerning requirements for optimum crop growth and development, dry matter production, and nutrient uptake and partitioning for Cantaloupes and New Mexico chile type cultivars is limited. Such information is required to predict and identify critical stages of growth in order to develop efficient nutrient management programs for these crops. The goals of this dissertation are: 1) to obtain general irrigated cantaloupe and New Mexico chile plants development models as a function of heat units accumulated after planting (HUAP), and 2) to determine dry matter production and nutrient uptake and partitioning patterns of these crops as a function of HUAP. Four primary investigations are presented in this dissertation. In the first and second studies, plant development models for irrigated cantaloupe and New Mexico chile-type cultivars were obtained. For cantaloupe plants, early bloom occurred at 265 ± 47 HUAP, early fruit set at 381 ± 51 HUAP, early netting at 499 ± 63 HUAP, and physiological maturity at 746 ± 66 HUAP. For chile plants, first bloom occurred at 530 ± 141 HUAP, early bloom at 750 ± 170 HUAP, peak bloom at 1006 ± 145 HUAP, first green chile harvest at 1329 ± 120 HUAP, and red harvest stage at 1798 ± 58 HUAP. Also, these studies revealed that beyond the early netting stage (approximately 499 HUAP), cantaloupe fruits were the strongest sinks for dry matter accumulation. For chile plants, between the first green chile harvest and red chile harvest stages (approximately at 1550 HUAP), chile pods developed into stronger sinks for dry matter accumulation. The third and fourth investigations revealed that the period of maximum nutrient uptake coincides with that of maximum dry matter accumulation for both crops. The overall total nutrient uptake of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Zn, Mn, Fe, and Cu for cantaloupe plants was 138, 21, 213, 132, 29, 28, 0.17, 0.20, 0.13, 2.0, and 0.06 kg ha⁻¹, for chile plants, the overall total nutrient was 216, 20, 292, 117, 56, 28, 0.31, 0.20, 0.31, 1.6 and 0.14 kg ha⁻¹ for these nutrients respectively.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-02-28Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:09:32Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 peixoto_fc_me_jabo.pdf: 395583 bytes, checksum: 5301166e57d35ee4c63acfab04548a15 (MD5) / Sekita Agropecuaria / Com o objetivo de avaliar o crescimento e o acúmulo de macronutrientes em cenoura „Forto‟ e obter equações que melhores os representem, conduziu-se um experimento em São Gotardo (MG), de maio a setembro de 2004. As amostragens de plantas foram realizadas aos 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 e 120 dias após a semeadura (DAS), para determinação da matéria seca e do acúmulo de macronutrientes em folhas e raiz da cenoura. Aos 40 DAS, cinco dias após ter sido realizado o desbaste, a planta de cenoura „Forto‟ apresentava 0,18 g e 0,04 g em matéria seca de folhas (MSF) e de raiz (MSR), respectivamente. A partir de então, até 88 DAS, a partição de matéria seca mostrou-se favorável na parte aérea. A MSR de cenoura foi pequena até dois terços do cultivo, ou seja, 80 DAS. A partir de então, verificou-se que a quantidade de matéria alocada nesta parte da planta teve forte incremento, ultrapassando, aos 88 DAS, a quantidade de MSF. O acúmulo de nutrientes foi pequeno até 60 DAS, coincidindo com o período de menor acúmulo de matéria seca. A ordem decrescente de macronutrientes acumulados pela cultura foi K, N, Ca, P, S e Mg, nas quantidades de 906,7; 438,0; 155,5; 87,4; 58 e 37,6 mg planta-1, respectivamente. A raiz participou com 60,5% do acúmulo de N, 86,1% de P, 58,0% de K, 25,5% de Ca, 55,6% de Mg e 65,5% de S. / In order to quantify the growth and accumulation of macronutrients of carrot 'Forto', and obtain equations that best represent them, it was carried out experiment in the São Gotardo (MG), from May to September of 2004. Samples of plants were taken at 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 days after sowing (DAS) to determine dry matter and accumulation of macronutrients in leaves and roots of carrot. At 40 DAS, five days after thinning, the plants had 0.18 g and 0.04 g of leaves dry mass (LDM) and root dry mass (RDM), respectively. From then, until 88 DAS, the partitioning of dry matter in the aerial part were more pronounced. The RDM was low until 80 DAS, which corresponded to two thirds of the crop cycle, from when the amount of material allocated in this part of the plant had strong growth surpassing at 88 DAS the amount of LDM. The nutrient accumulation was small until 60 DAS, coinciding with the period of lower dry matter accumulation in the plant. The order of decreasing macronutrient accumulation by the plant was K, N, Ca, P, S e Mg, in the amounts of 906.7, 438.0, 155.5, 87.4, 58.0 and 37.6 mg plant-1, respectively. The commercial root participated with 60.5% of the accumulation of N, 86.1% of P, 58.0% of K, 25.5% of Ca, 55.6% of Mg and 65.5% of S.

Orientador: Dirceu Maximino Fernandes / Coorientador: Ricardo Lima dos Santos / Banca: Roberto Lyra Villas Bôas / Banca: Camila Paula Rossetto Pescatori Jacon / Resumo: As curvas de absorção de nutrientes e o acúmulo de matéria seca em função da idade da planta possibilitam conhecer os períodos de maior exigência dos nutrientes e de produção de massa de matéria seca, obtendo-se informações seguras quanto às épocas mais convenientes de aplicação de fertilizantes. Frequentemente, empresas privadas, empresas públicas e cooperativas estão desenvolvendo novos híbridos e cultivares de cebola adaptadas às variadas condições climáticas, com diferentes exigências nutricionais. Desse modo, são necessários estudos envolvendo as curvas de absorção de nutrientes dos diversos genótipos lançados, no sentido de aprimorar as recomendações de calagem e adubação. O objetivo do projeto foi obter a curva de absorção de nutrientes em híbridos de cebola em condições de campo. O projeto foi desenvolvido em parceria com a empresa Sakata Seed Sudamerica Ltda que forneceu o material utilizado para o experimento. As plantas amostradas periodicamente foram analisadas para os teores de macro e micronutrientes seguindo metodologia descrita na literatura. Os resultados dos teores de nutrientes foram multiplicados pela massa seca da parte aérea, bulbos e raízes, para gerar a quantidade de nutrientes contida nas plantas de cebola e assim, poder gerar a curva de absorção. Além disso, os bulbos colhidos foram analisados quanto às características físicas e químicas para fins de caracterização do material. De modo geral ambos os materiais se comportaram de modo semelhante quanto... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The absorption march of nutrients and the accumulation of dry matter through plant's growth stages provide information about periods of highest nutrient demand and dry mass production, obtaining reliable data on the most advantageous moment of application of fertilizers. Often, private companies, public companies and co-ops develop new onion hybrids and cultivars adapted to varied climate conditions with different nutritional requirements. Thus, researches about the nutrients absorption march of different cultivars are essential, in order to improve the liming and fertilization recommendations and to increase the onion yield. The purpose of this study was to determine the growth and nutrients uptake by two different onion hybrid plants under field conditions. The project was developed in partnership with the company Sakata Seed Sudamerica Ltda that provided the material used in the experiment and location. The plants collected were analyzed for macronutrients and micronutrients contents according to methodology described in literature. The analyses were done by the University's laboratory. The results of the analyses were multiplied by the dry matter of leaves, bulbs and roots, in order to obtain the amount of nutrients in the onion plants. Further, the harvested bulbs were analyzed for physical and chemical characteristics to characterization purposes. In general, both genotypes behaved similarly to nutrient accumulation. The amount of extraction presented relevant data for the management of the fertilization of the studied hybrids. The exported quantities showed that both materials were efficient in converting nutrients to bulb ... / Mestre

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Biochars are the product of high temperature treatment of carbonaceous materials with little or no oxygen present, termed “pyrolysis”. Biochars derived from the pyrolysis of biomass feedstocks have proven effective amendments on highly weathered tropical soils. However less is known about their impact on temperate soils and associated crop growth. Moreover, there is inadequate knowledge of the impacts of different biochars produced from different feedstocks under differing pyrolysis conditions. Therefore, a study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of different biochars as amendments to improve soil conditions for crop growth, with emphasis on soil fertility and crop nutrition impacts. The response of canola-wheat in rotation to five biochars was evaluated in controlled environment and field experiments conducted on Brown and Black Chernozem soils over a two-year period. Treatments were biochar added at 1 and 2 t ha 1 without and with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) fertilizers at 50 or 100 kg N ha 1 and 25 kg P2O5 ha 1. Parameters evaluated were crop biomass and grain yield, N and P uptake, % recovery of applied N and P, residual soil nutrients (NO3 N, and PO4+ P), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), % organic carbon (% OC) and gravimetric soil moisture. Biochar application resulted in significant increases (p<0.05) in canola yield compared to the control for two fast pyrolysis biochars originating from wheat and flax straw added to the Black Chernozem soil in both studies. No significant response was observed for any of the biochars on the Brown Chernozem. Slow pyrolysis biochar derived from willow feedstock appeared less effective did not show any significant response. Occasional depressions in crop yield were observed in both crops with both soils. In these calcareous Chernozems, biochar did not greatly alter the N and P availability, and its effects on soil pH, % OC, EC and moisture content were small and often non-significant. These results suggest that biochar applications at 1 2 t ha 1 to prairie Chernozemic soils will not have large effects on soil properties or plant growth. Higher rates of application will require development of application technology due to the dusty, powdery nature of the biochar material.