Open AccessSoil organic matter, greenhouse gas emissions, and sorghum yield in semi‐arid drylands
Author(s) -
Salehin Sk. MusfiqUs,
Ghimire Rajan,
Angadi Sangamesh V.,
Mesbah Abdel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
agrosystems, geosciences and environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2639-6696
DOI - 10.1002/agg2.20107
Subject(s) - sorghum , agronomy , compost , soil water , environmental science , mineralization (soil science) , arid , soil carbon , fertilizer , nitrous oxide , greenhouse gas , organic matter , nitrogen , carbon dioxide , crop yield , yield (engineering) , soil organic matter , chemistry , soil science , biology , ecology , organic chemistry , materials science , metallurgy
Sorghum [ Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] serves as a low‐cost alternative to corn ( Zea mays L.) in semi‐arid regions of the world because of its high N and water use efficiencies. However, there has been a concern regarding N loss to the atmosphere as nitrous oxide (N 2 O) from semi‐arid drylands. This study investigated various soil C and N components, including CO 2 and N 2 O emissions, and crop yield with a dairy compost (13.5 Mg ha −1 ) and four rates of chemical N fertilizer (0, 22.4, 44.8, and 67.3 kg ha −1 ) in dryland sorghum. There was no significant difference in soil C and N fractions among N fertilizer rates, although compost addition numerically increased soil C storage and 67.3 kg ha −1 N rate resulted the highest yield in both years. Potential nitrogen mineralization (PNM) was negatively related to crop yield and positively related to grain N content. Soils with greater inorganic N and PNM had a lower carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, while soils with greater potential C mineralization (PCM) had lower N 2 O emissions. The results of this study show no significant improvements in yield of dryland sorghum in the semi‐arid environment of southern Great Plains in the short term. However, compost and 44.8 kg N ha −1 applications appeared to be beneficial when both yield and quality were compared.