Filiberto Altobelli1*, Flavio Lupia1
, Giuseppe Pulighe1,Marco Napoli2, Simone Orlandini2, Anna Dalla Marta2
1*
CRA – INEA - Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, Via Nomentana 41- 00161 Roma.
2DISPAA – Università di Firenze, Piazzale delle Cascine 18, 50144, Firenze (Fi)
*altobelli@inea.it
Abstract
Nitrogen (N) is one of the major limiting factors of crop production, and the crop uptake is highly variable within a single year, between years, sites, and crops. The uptake variability is influenced by numerous agronomic, environmental and genetic factors. Therefore, coefficients of nutrient content in crop production may vary between regions, reflecting differences in farming practices and climate, but also depends on the methodology applied for their assessment (measurements, scientific research, expert judgments). This work reports the results of a literature review on N usage for some crops grown in Italy compiled by collecting data on the use of fertilizers, inorganic nutrient applications and organic nutrient inputs. This work is the first step for investigating the relationships between crop N uptake, fertilization plans and water pollution, and for contributing to Eurostat requests on Gross Nutrient Balance estimation of Member States.
Keywords: Crop nutrient content, Fertilization, Gross Nutrient Balance
Parole chiave: Contenuto dei nutrienti nelle colture, Fertilizzazione, Bilancio dei nutrienti Introduction
Crop yield efficiency depends on the available nutrient status of the soil. Crops require high quantity of nutrients, which must be supplied through fertilization for obtaining optimum yields. A better understanding of the plant nutrient response is the main target to improve nutrient utilization, optimize the mineral fertilization and reduce risk of ground- water pollution (Mahler et al., 1994). Therefore, maintaining a balance between nutrients added to the soil and removed by crops is essential to ensure optimal use of resources, and to limit environmental problems, particularly those associated with N surpluses (Pulighe et al. 2014). The aim of the study was to collect, through a literature review, data on N uptake for some annual crops cultivated in Italy. Results will be used for further research activities focussed on the analysis of the relationships between crop N uptake, fertilization plans and water pollution. In addition, results will be useful to satisfy Eurostat requirements regarding Gross Nutrient Balance estimation at Country level.
Materials and methods
N uptake is influenced by numerous agronomic, environmental and genetic factors. Therefore, coefficients of nutrient content of crop production may vary between regions, reflecting differences in farming practices, climate, soil and, partly, in the applied methodology. Thus, there is not a single value able to represent the N uptake of each single crop. A literature survey is therefore a good mean to summarize a range of N uptake values conditioned by these variables. The survey was carried out by considering the most relevant annual crops in terms of cultivated surface in Italy based on the data reported in the General Agricultural Census 2010 (ISTAT). In particular, the following crops were selected: winter and bread wheat, corn and barley.
Results and Discussions
Winter wheat (Triticum durum L.) - Distributing winery sludge on wheat, Masoni et al. (2002) found N concentration of 20.6 and 4.8 g kg-1 in grains and straws, respectively. Similar result were found by the same authors (Masoni et al., 2007) in an other experiments that considered different soil types. They found N concentration of 15.1 and 4.5 g kg-1 for grains and straws, respectively. Cecchi et al. (2010), studyng nitrates pollution due to agricultural activities in Val di Chiana found a N concentration of 31.1 g kg-1 in grains. Lulli and Masoni (2010), in a similar study in Tuscany found a N removal of 15.3 g per kg of grains, while higher removals were found by Massa et al. (2010) (26.5 g per kg of grains). Tosti and Guiducci (2010), studying the effect of nitrogen supply in wheat-faba bean intercropping, reported a N concentration of 18.1 and 3.7 g kg-1 for grains and straws respectively. Perego et al. (2012) found a plant N removal of about 12 g kg-1 (above ground biomass) in Po Valley. Ercoli et al. (2013) inCentral Italy found average N concentration of about 24.0 and 5 g kg-1 in grain and straw, respectively. Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) - Cecchi et al. (2010) found a N concentration of 24.1 g kg-1 of grains. Lulli and Masoni (2010) found a N removal of 23.4 g per kg of grains. Massa et al. (2010) reported a N uptake of 32.7 g per kg of grains.
Corn (Zea mays L.) – In central Italy Cecchi et al. (2010) found N uptake of 19.2 g per kg of grains, while Lulli and Masoni (2010) reported a N removal of 15.3 g per kg of grains. Massa et al. (2010) found N removal of 20.8 g per kg of grains. In Northern Italy, Perego et al. (2012) found crop N removal of about 10.4 g per kg of above ground biomass.
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) - Delogu et al. (1998), assessed barley productivity by appling N rates of 0, 80 and 140 kg N ha-1 for studying N uptake and its agronomic efficiency. They found the highest yield with 80 kg N ha-1, without further increases occurring above 140 kg N ha-1. Moreover, they reported a N concentration of 17.14 and 4.54 g kg-1 in grain and straw dry matter, respectively. Albrizio et al. (2010) assessed barley production under 120 kg N ha-1 in a Mediterranean environment. They reported a yearly increment in the soil mineral N content by about 30 kg N ha-1. Therefore, it can be assumed that 90 kg ha-1 of N are sufficient for crop production, confirming the rate reported by Delogu et al. (1998). In Central Italy, Cecchi et
al. (2010) found a N uptake of 12.8 g per kg of grains,
confirmed by Massa et al. (2010). Finally, Lulli and Masoni (2010) found a N removal of 64 kg N ha-1.
In general, a few references for N removal in the major crops cultivated in Italy have been found. Difficulties have been faced in the analysis of literature on a regional basis, mainly due to the lack of agricultural research institutes (universities, research institutes, etc.) in the territory. Moreover, existing centers often focus their activities on the major crops cultivated in their respective territories, hence some crops have been extensively studied in some areas of Italy and very little in others. Substantial differences between N removal units have been identified. One of the the reasons is a strong south-north trend of biomass production per hectare. The values reported for N removal in barley were similar in south and central Italy. However, these removals were 2.56 times lower than those measured by considering the North as a macro-region. Due to the low water availability in the regions of southern Italy, corn is not widely cultivated. Therefore, little research has been found, and in particular data relating to the removal of N have not been found. The average removal measured in the North is 1.39 times higher than that measured in the Center macro-region. As for winter wheat, the average N content in grain measured in the North macro-region was 1.14 and 1.86 times higher, compared with that measured in the Center and South macro-regions, respectively. Indeed, the removal of N by straw, measured in the North is 3.76 times higher than those measured in the South.
Conclusions
The study reports the data available in the scientific literature on N uptake for some annual crops cultivated in Italy. Results show a strong variability in the number of references for the different crops, as well as in the values reported in the different studies. Next step of this study will be the analisys of correlation between N uptake valuse and climate conditions at geographical level.
References
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