Real-time monitoring of rhizosphere nitrate fluctuations under crops following defoliation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Management regime can hugely influence the efficiency of crop production but measuring real-time below-ground responses is difficult. The combination of fertiliser application and mowing or grazing may have a major impact on roots and on the soil nutrient profile and leaching.

Results

A novel approach was developed using low-cost ion-selective sensors to track nitrate (NO₃^-) movement through soil column profiles sown with the forage crops, Lolium perenne and Medicago sativa. Applications of fertiliser, defoliation of crops and intercropping of the grass and the legume were tested. Sensor measurements were compared with conventional testing of lysimeter and leachate samples. There was little leaching of NO₃^- through soil

SUBMITTER: Capstaff NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7847023 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature