Mechanization in agriculture & Conserving of the resources
Vol. 62 (2016), Issue 6

Table of Contents

  • MECHANIZATION IN AGRICULTURE

  • CONSERVING OF THE RESOURCES

    • BIOCHAR EFFECTS ON MAIZE PHYSIOLOGY AND WATER CAPACITY OF SANDY SUBSOIL

      pg(s) 8-13

      Sandy soils facilitate maize growth in cold regions. However, Danish coarse sands have poor water and nutrient retention capacity which may constrain crop growth during dry spells. A greenhouse maize experiment was conducted in which straw biochar was applied to the subsoil at concentrations of 0, 1, 2, and 3%. All the plants were fully irrigated until flowering. Thereafter, half of the plants were subjected to drought until 76% of soil water content at field capacity was depleted in the control. Plant height and number of leaves were not significantly different at flowering although significantly lower for 3% biochar at stem elongation stage. Leaf water potential, stomatal conductance as well as photosynthesis and transpiration were maintained in biochar 2 and 3% during the drying cycle reflecting the increase in soil water holding capacity. In the drought treatments, plant biomass tended to be greater for biochar 2% but decreased for biochar 1 and 3%. Cob biomass was increased by biochar 3% but decreased by 1 and 2 %. Biochar however decreased plant biomass and cob biomass under irrigation.

    • THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY OF IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE LAND USE IN KAZAKHSTAN

      pg(s) 14-16

      Irrigated agriculture plays an important role in agricultural production in Kazakhstan. In case of optimal use of land and water resources irrigated agriculture could become a significant driving force of agricultural production. Strategically important crop products such as cotton, rice, sugar beet, tobacco, vines, melons are grown only on irrigated lands of Kazakhstan.

    • IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL ACIDIFICATION AND FERTILITY STATUS IN SELECTED FARM FROM TWO DIFFERENT POLISH REGIONS IN THE ASPECT OF SHAPING SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION

      pg(s) 17-19

      A study was conducted to evaluate the acidification of soils and abundance of phosphorus , potassium and magnesium in 50 selected farms located in two different regions in Poland. It has been found that in many cases, soils were characterized by improper – in the aspect of formation of a sustainable crop production- reaction and the content of P, K and Mg. Based on the results, recommendations were formulated to improve the current situation.

    • EVALUATION OF WATER PRODUCTIVITY FOR LOWLAND RICE UNDER SENSOR BASED DEFICIT IRRIGATION SYSTEM

      pg(s) 20-21

      Rice, as the main food produced in Asia, requires more water than the other cereals. Flooded irrigation, the most common method of irrigation in rice, results high water losses and emits more greenhouse gases. Changes in climate, decrease in water resources and arable lands, necessitates the water productivity increasing strategies for rice. Soil matric potential based irrigation is such a strategy to irrigate rice under these conditions. This paper presents an experiment carried out inside a climate chamber to assess the water productivity of Bg300 rice variety using above approach. Three irrigation treatments; flooded treatment with a ponding water depth of 3cm and treatments with soil matric potentials at -150mbar and -300mbar were imposed in three large containers. Soil matric potentials were maintained using tensiometers installed at a depth of 20cm. Treatment at -150mbar showed best performance in terms of yield, water productivity and water savings. This strategy is transferable to a wide range of locations under different climates and reduces time for many field experiments.

    • EFFET OF USING HUMIC, FOLIAR APPLICATION OF COMPOST TEA AND WERMIWASH ON YIELD AND YIELD COMPONENT OF SAFFLOWER CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS L.

      pg(s) 22-24

      The objective of the present study was to determine of effect of humic acid application and different foliar application of vermicompost extract and vermiwash on yield and yield components of safflower under using different levels of humic acid application in soil. A field experiment was conducted at the Vali-e-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran. The experiment was conducted as factorial based on randomized complete block design. Treatments were included soil application of humic fertilizer (0, 500, 1000 and 1500 kg.ha-1) and foliar spraying of vermiwash 1:10, vermiwash 1:20, compost tea and distilled a water as control. Seeds were hand-sewn with density of 40 plants m-2 and a depth of 5 cm with row spacing of 50 cm. The plots were irrigated after 70 mm cumulative evaporation from standard evaporation pan class A and irrigation amount was based on soil moisture depletion. Seed yield and number of heads were determined by harvesting 10 plant at random from the four central rows at physiological maturity stage. Seed yield in each plot measured with 14% humidity. Number of seeds per heads was determined by measuring 30 heads at random from 10 randomized harvested plants. Analyses were performed with a personal computer using the MSTATC software. A factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for all parameters. Results showed that humic fertilizer significantly affected head number, seed number, 1000 seed weight and seed yield of safflower, however there was no effect on branch number. The highest grain yield (5822.1 kg.ha-1) obtained in 1500 kg humic. Foliar spraying significantly effect on branch number and the highest yield (4858 kg.ha-1) was obtained by spraying of compost tea.