Biosolids application to no-till dryland and crop rotations: 2006 results

Barbarack, K.A. and Ippolito, J.A. and Gourd, T. and McDaniel, J.P. (2008) Biosolids application to no-till dryland and crop rotations: 2006 results. Colorado State University Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Report.

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Abstract

Biosolids recycling on dryland winter wheat (Triticum aestivum, L.) can supply a reliable, slow‐release source of nitrogen (N) and organic material (Barbarick et al., 1992). Barbarick and Ippolito (2000, 2007) found that continuous application of biosolids from the Littleton/Englewood, CO wastewater treatment facility to dryland winter wheat‐fallow rotation provides 16 to 18 lbs N per dry ton. This research involved tilling the biosolids into the top 8 inches of soil. A new question related to soil management in a biosolids beneficial‐use program is: How much N would be available if the biosolids were surface‐applied in a no‐till dryland agroecosystem with winter wheat‐fallow (WF) and winter wheat‐corn (Zea mays, L.)‐fallow (WCF) crop rotations?
Our objective was to compare agronomic rates of commercial N fertilizer to an equivalent rate of biosolids in combination with WF and WCF crop rotations. Our hypotheses were that biosolids addition, compared to N fertilizer, will:
1. Produce similar crop yields;
2. Not differ in grain P, Zn, and Cu levels (Ippolito and Barbarick, 2000) or soil P, Zn, and Cu AB‐DTPA extractable concentrations, a measure of plant availability (Barbarick and Workman, 1987); and
3. Not affect soil salinity (electrical conductivity of saturated soil‐paste extract, EC) or soil accumulation of nitrate‐N (NO3‐N).

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	1269
Subjects:	Dryland crops
Depositing User:	Users 6 not found.
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2008 18:46
Last Modified:	18 Oct 2016 15:43
Item ID:	1292
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/1292