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Nitrous oxide emissions from cassava fields amended with organic and inorganic fertilizers
Author(s) -
Chirinda Ngonidzashe,
Trujillo Catalina,
Loaiza Sandra,
Salazar Sandra,
Luna Jorge,
Tong Encinas Liz Alexandra,
Becerra López Lavalle Luis Augusto,
Tran Thierry
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/sum.12696
Subject(s) - nitrous oxide , fertilizer , vermicompost , agronomy , soil water , nitrogen , environmental science , greenhouse gas , organic fertilizer , phosphorus , human fertilization , chemistry , nutrient , biology , ecology , soil science , organic chemistry
Cassava production requires nitrogen (N) inputs to drive processes such as protein synthesis. Nevertheless, N not taken up by cassava roots is subjected to microbial transformation resulting in nitrous oxide (N 2 O) production, a potent greenhouse gas. The temporal dynamics of soil N is partially influenced by the N source (i.e., organic or inorganic fertilizer) and the synchrony between N supply and demand. This study, which was conducted in Colombia on soils with high organic carbon and phosphorus contents, aimed at monitoring N 2 O emissions from cassava plots fertilized with organic (49.8 kg N ha ‐1 year ‐1 ) or inorganic fertilizers (22.7 kg N ha ‐1 year ‐1 ). Although the organic fertilizer (vermicompost) contained more than double the amount of N, cumulative N 2 O emissions from organic cassava production (1.28 kg N 2 O‐N ha ‐1 ) were lower than those from inorganic fertilizer‐based cassava production (1.74 kg N 2 O‐N ha ‐1 ) system. This finding indicates that, if crop yields can be maintained, there is potential to reduce cassava production's environmental impact through organic fertilization on highly fertile soils. However, a transition to organic fertilization depends on the availability of sufficient amounts of organic fertilizers at the farm level. The N 2 O emissions in this study were higher than those predicted using the default IPCC emission factor, which confirmed the relevance of using country or regional specific emissions factors.