Sustainable Agriculture: New Paradigms and Old Practices? Increased Production with Management of Organic Inputs in Senegal

Farmers in Sahelian countries are confronted with a variety of soil fertility and management problems. During the last two decades, NGOs have worked with farmers and research institutions to develop and test practices that will increase food production, while at the same time enhance the natural resource base.Since 1987, The Rodale Institute (RI) has worked closely with farmers' associations and government institutions to promote regenerative agriculture-farming systems that prioritize the use of local resources while improving them as they are used to grow food, using agro-ecological methods. The Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute has collaborated in this program as a partner of RI. The Senegal Regenerative Agriculture Resource Center model has been applied as a new and viable approach that builds on traditional knowledge and farmer-to-farmer exchange.Research results on soil conservation and improvement have shown that fields spread with amended animal manure or compost yield greater harvests than fields farmed with traditional methods.     

Tree Leaf Biomarkers for Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition

The aim of this paper was to investigate the effects of nitrogen (N) deposition on tree N cycling and identify potential biomarkers forNdeposition. Between April and October 2002 extensive fieldwork was undertaken at Mardley Heath in Hertfordshire. This woodland, located adjacent to the A1(M) motorway, is exposed to high levels of atmospheric nitrogen oxides from the traffic. Measurements of ¹⁵N, in vivo nitrate reductase (NR) activity, tissue, xylem and surface nitrate concentrations as well as N concentration and growth were made along a 700-m transect at 90° to the motorway. The ¹⁵N data show that oxidised N from the road traffic is taken up by nearby trees and is incorporated into plant tissues. Our measurements of NR activities suggest elevated rates close to the motorway. However, xylem sap, leaf tissue and leaf surface nitrate concentrations showed no differences between the roadside location and the most distant sampling point from the motorway. Taken together the ¹⁵N and nitrate reductase data suggest uptake and assimilation of N through the foliage.We conclude that for this lowland deciduouswoodland, tissue, xylem and surface measurements of nitrate are unreliable biomarkers for N deposition whereas ¹⁵N, growth measurements and integrated seasonal NR might be useful. The results also point to the benefit of roadside tree planting to screen pollution from motor vehicles.     

Nitrogen Budget of a Spruce Forest Ecosystem After Six-year Addition of Ammonium Sulphate in Southwest Sweden

A nitrogen (N) budget was constructed for a period of 6 years (1988–1993) in a Norway spruce stand with current deposition of 19 kg N and 22 kg S ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. The stand was fertilized annually by addition of 100 kg N and 114 kg S ha⁻¹ (NS). Above and below ground biomass, litterfall, fine- root litter production, soil solution and net mineralization were measured to estimate pools, fluxes and accumulation of nitrogen. The average needle litterfall in control (C) and NS plots in 1993 was 2.2 and 2.5 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. The fine root litter production prior to treatment (1987) was 4.4 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and after treatment (1993) it was 4.5 and 3.9 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in C and NS plots, respectively. Net N mineralization in the soil profile down to 50 cm was estimated to be 86 and 115 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in C and NS plots, respectively in 1992. During the treatment period the uptake of N in the needle biomass in C and NS plots was 29 and 77 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. No N was accumulated in needles of C plot where the NS plots accumulated 34 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Of the annually added inorganic N to NS plots 47% was accumulated in the above and below ground biomass and 37% in the soil. N fluxes via fine-root litter production in the C plots were much higher (54 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) than that via litterfall (29 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹). The corresponding values in the NS plots were 65 and 43 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. Most of the net N mineralization occurred in the FH layer and upper mineral soil. It is concluded that fine root litter and litterfall play an important role in the cycling of N. Despite a high N uptake the losses of N in litterfall and fine root litter resulted in an incorporation of N in soil organic matter.     

DIN Retention‐Transport Through Four Hydrologically Connected Zones in a Headwater Catchment of the Upper Mississippi River1

Abstract: Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) retention‐transport through a headwater catchment was synthesized from studies encompassing four distinct hydrologic zones of the Shingobee River Headwaters near the origin of the Mississippi River. The hydrologic zones included: (1) hillslope ground water (ridge to bankside riparian); (2) alluvial riparian ground water; (3) ground water discharged through subchannel sediments (hyporheic zone); and (4) channel surface water. During subsurface hillslope transport through Zone 1, DIN, primarily nitrate, decreased from ～3 mg‐N/l to <0.1 mg‐N/l. Ambient seasonal nitrate:chloride ratios in hillslope flow paths indicated both dilution and biotic processing caused nitrate loss. Biologically available organic carbon controlled biotic nitrate retention during hillslope transport. In the alluvial riparian zone (Zone 2) biologically available organic carbon controlled nitrate depletion although processing of both ambient and amended nitrate was faster during the summer than winter. In the hyporheic zone (Zone 3) and stream surface water (Zone 4) DIN retention was primarily controlled by temperature. Perfusion core studies using hyporheic sediment indicated sufficient organic carbon in bed sediments to retain ground water DIN via coupled nitrification‐denitrification. Numerical simulations of seasonal hyporheic sediment nitrification‐denitrification rates from perfusion cores adequately predicted surface water ammonium but not nitrate when compared to 5 years of monthly field data (1989‐93). Mass balance studies in stream surface water indicated proportionally higher summer than winter N retention. Watershed DIN retention was effective during summer under the current land use of intermittently grazed pasture. However, more intensive land use such as row crop agriculture would decrease nitrate retention efficiency and increase loads to surface water. Understanding DIN retention capacity throughout the system, including special channel features such as sloughs, wetlands and floodplains that provide surface water‐ground water connectivity, will be required to develop effective nitrate management strategies.     

THE FATE OF NITRATE IN LAKE SEDIMENT COLUMNS1

ABSTRACT: To investigate the magnitude of denitrification and assimilatory nitrate reduction as these reactions relate to the fate of nitrate reaching sediments via groundwater seepage, undisturbed core samples of sediments (40 cm length) from two lakes (Mendota and Tomahawk) were leached from the bottom (at 1.4 cm/day) with a solution of ¹⁵N-nitrate (10 mg N/liter). The sediment columns were fitted with Pt electrodes to measure the oxidation-reduction (Eh) potential. While leaching removed considerable ammonium-N and soluble organic N, essentially no ¹⁵N had passed through the columns by 50 days. The Eh readings indicated that denitrification was occurring in the lower portions of the columns. The ¹⁵N distribution of the sediment N after 50 days showed that about 15 to 26% of the added nitrate-N was converted to organic N and ammonium-N. The data show that denitrification can be a significant N sink in seepage lakes.     

Fate and availability of glyphosate and AMPA in agricultural soil

The fate of glyphosate and its degradation product aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) was studied in soil. Labeled glyphosate was used to be able to distinguish the measured quantities of glyphosate and AMPA from the background values since the soil was sampled in a field where glyphosate had been used formerly. After addition of labeled glyphosate, the disappearance of glyphosate and the formation and disappearance of AMPA were monitored. The resulting curves were fitted according to a new EU guideline. The best fit of the glyphosate degradation data was obtained using a first-order multi compartment (FOMC) model. DT₅₀ values of 9 days (glyphosate) and 32 days (AMPA) indicated relatively rapid degradation. After an aging period of 6 months, the leaching risk of each residue was determined by treating the soil with pure water or a phosphate solution (pH 6), to simulate rain over a non-fertilized or fertilized field, respectively. Significantly larger (p < 0.05) amounts of aged glyphosate and AMPA were extracted from the soil when phosphate solution was used as an extraction agent, compared with pure water. This indicates that the risk of leaching of aged glyphosate and AMPA residues from soil is greater in fertilized soil. The blank soil, to which 252 g glyphosate/ha was applied 21 months before this study, contained 0.81 ng glyphosate/g dry soil and 10.46 ng AMPA/g dry soil at the start of the study. Blank soil samples were used as controls without glyphosate addition. After incubation of the blank soil samples for 6 months, a significantly larger amount of AMPA was extracted from the soil treated with phosphate solution than from that treated with pure water. To determine the degree of uptake of aged glyphosate residues by crops growing in the soil, ¹⁴C-labeled glyphosate was applied to soil 6.5 months prior to sowing rape and barley seeds. After 41 days, 0.006 ± 0.002% and 0.005 ± 0.001% of the applied radioactivity was measured in rape and barley, respectively.     

Potential environmental impact of dissolution of raw phosphate in sea water of the Gulf of Aqaba

Dissolution of raw phosphate (apatite) in sea water of the Gulf of Aqaba was investigated through lab incubation experiments. Three types from three different sources (Al-Hasa, Al-Abyad and Esh-Shydiya) have been used for these experiments. Impact of quantity, grain size, and source (type) of raw phosphate on dissolution rate were studied. Statistical analysis shows significant differences between the results obtained from comparing each two weights; as weight of apatite increased, dissolved inorganic phosphate-phosphorus (DIP) and fluoride in sea water solution increased. The differences between the dissolution rates of raw phosphate from the three sites were not significant while the differences between the different grain size fractions were significant. Dissolution rates were inversely related to particle size. Using a worst-case scenario, a conservative estimate of the maximum increase in DIP in seawater of the Gulf of Aqaba due to the apatite particles lost to the sea during ship loading resulted in DIP concentrations of 0.03 μM per year. As the residence time of the water in the Gulf of Aqaba is about one year, the DIP concentration will not increase by more than 0.03 μM under the estimated annual quantity of exported phosphate. Fluoride will not increase by more than 0.03 mg/l under the same conditions.     

自动电位滴定法测定烟气氨法脱硫模拟浆液中氯离子的研究

氯离子含量是氨法脱硫工艺中的一个重要监控指标,用自动电位滴定法测定氨法脱硫浆液中的氯离子。结果表明,实验加入乙醇有利于增大电位突跃幅度;pH值为3~5时实验结果准确;加标回收率为90%~110%;与莫尔法相比,测定结果准确度、精密度更高,且不受灰分颜色干扰;与离子色谱法测定结果准确度、精密度相近,但测定高浓度氯离子电位滴定法更有优势。     

磷酸银/树脂复合物的制备及其对亚甲基蓝的光催化降解

以聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)为稳定剂,采用化学沉积法制备了磷酸银/树脂复合物,降解亚甲基蓝,研究其光催化活性,并对样品进行了XRD和SEM表征。探讨了不同的光源、催化剂投加量、PVP含量、p H值等因素对亚甲基蓝降解率的影响。结果表明,在太阳光(夏天早上9点到11点的阳光)下,偏酸介质中,催化剂用量为0.8 g/L,PVP质量分数为0.01%的磷酸银/树脂复合物,液面高度为15 cm的条件下对亚甲基蓝有最佳降解效果。     

Effect of urea on detonation characteristics and thermal stability of ammonium nitrate

A study has examined the effect of urea on the thermal stability and detonation characteristics of ammonium nitrate (AN). The thermal decomposition temperature and surface morphology of samples were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). For further research on the thermal sensitivity and shock sensitivity of the samples, the Koenen test and UN gap test were conducted. The results indicate that urea can substantially increase the thermal stability of AN (the greatest exothermic peak is increased by more than 100 °C) and reduce the thermal sensitivity of AN. However, AN-50wt. % urea mixtures can still produce a steady detonation in the UN gap test. Urea cannot reduce the ability to propagate a detonation. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.