Soil Chemical Analysis

Geomycology: biogeochemical transformations of rocks, minerals, metals and radionuclides by fungi, bioweathering and bioremediation

Secondary thickening in pteridophytes.-The known cases of secondary thickening in recent Pteridophyta have been brought together by HILL23 in a useful resume. After stating the criteria for secondary growth, Botrychium, which has a distinct cambium, and Ophioglossum, which lacks a definite layer, are described, followed by Angiopteris and Marattia, in which a cambium forms a few xylem elements. CORMACK'S observations on the secondary wood in the nodes of Equisetum are cited, though no reference is made to the cambium in the young cone as reported by J]FFREY.24 The other cases of secondary growth include Psilotum, Selaginella spinulosa, and several species of Isoetes, especially I. hystrix, which may show a cambium outside the vascular cylinder.-M. A.

The Cell Wall

Introduction to Soil Microbiology

Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) from agriculture is related to increasing and protecting soil organic matter (SOM) concentration. Agricultural soils can be a significant sink for atmospheric carbon (C) through increase of the SOM concentration. The natural ecosystems such as forests or prairies, where C gains are in equilibrium with losses, lose a large fraction of the antecedent C pool upon conversion to agricultural ecosystems. Adoption of recommended management practices (RMPs) can enhance the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool to fill the large C sink capacity on the world's agricultural soils. This article collates, reviews, and synthesizes the available information on SOC sequestration by RMPs, with specific references to crop rotations and tillage practices, cover crops, ley farming and agroforestry, use of manure and biosolids, N fertilization, and precision farming and irrigation. There is a strong interaction among RMPs with regards to their effect on SOC concentration and soil quality....

http://tinread.usarb.md:8888/tinread/fulltext/lal/crop_man.pdf

Crop Management for Soil Carbon Sequestration

http://www.scielo.br/pdf/bjm/v49n1/1517-8382-bjm-49-01-0029.pdf

Heavy metal tolerance traits of filamentous fungi isolated from gold and gemstone mining sites

The effects of amending soil with organic (poultry manure) and inorganic fertilizer on yield and chlorophyll content of maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolour (L) Moench) was carried out at the Teaching and Research (TR was highest under control plots in both crops.  The implication of CSI% on drought tolerance of maize and sorghum was discussed.

EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZER ON YIELD AND CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT OF MAIZE (Zea mays (L.) AND SORGHUM Sorghum bicolour (L) Moench)

The effects of amending soil with organic (poultry manure) and inorganic fertilizer on yield and chlorophyll content of maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolour (L.) Moench) was carried out at the Teaching and Research (T&R) Farm of the Obafemi Awolowo University, (O.A.U.) Ile - Ife, Nigeria. The experiment was a randomised complete block design (RCBD), laid out in a split-plot arrangement in the second cropping season of year 2001 and 2002. There were four sources of fertilizer for soil amendment: inorganic fertilizer (IF), mixture of inorganic fertilizer and poultry manure (IFPM), poultry manure (PM) and control (C) (no fertilizer or manure treatment). Each fertilizer source supplied 54 kg N plus 25 kg P2O5 and 25 kg K2O5/ha. There were significant variability and diversity observed on the two crops due to treatments. Grain yield was highest in sorghum (3.55 kg/ha) and maize (2.89 kg/ha) under IFPM followed by IF treatment for maize (2.33 kg/ha) and PM treatment for sorghum ((3.37 kg/ha). Sorghum and maize had the highest dry matter of 72.3 g/plant and 71.0 g/plant under IFPM at harvest. The effects of PM on the dry matter of sorghum (68.1 g/plant) and maize (61.7 g/plant) were not significantly different (p = 0.05) from that of IF (sorghum 66.1 g/plant, maize 58.7 g/plant). Sorghum also had the highest leaf area (LA) (2752.9 cm2/plant) and total chlorophyll content of 3.28 mg/g under PM while maize on the other hand had the highest LA (1969.5 cm2/plant) and total chlorophyll content of 2.63 mg/g under IFPM. In both maize and sorghum, the lowest chlorophyll content occurred in control plot. Drought tolerance measured as percentage chlorophyll stability index (CSI%) was highest under control plots in both crops.

/pdf/effect-of-organic-and-inorganic-fertilizer-on-yield-and-2kdvqxzwmn.pdf

Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer on yield and chlorophyll content of maize ( Zea mays L.) and sorghum Sorghum bicolour (L.) Moench)

Cornstover, garbage compost, and cowdung were added to an Alfisol (Iwo series) at the rates of 0, 23, 69, and 115 Mg ha‐1 and incubated for 4 weeks in the greenhouse prior to sowing cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) var. Ife Brown]. Two successive plantings were made per pot. Harvesting of the plants was at onset of flowering, 42 days after planting. Nitrogen (N) fixed was assessed using the N2 difference method. Soil reaction (pH), organic carbon (C), and tissue N contents were increased by all the organic amendments. At both harvests, dry matter yields were significantly enhanced by garbage compost and cowdung. While garbage compost and cowdung increased the amounts of N2 fixed, the efficiency of N2 fixation was higher in the cornstover treatments. The cornstover additions also significantly increased nodule size and number. These results suggest that organic amendments would benefit N2 fixation especially in soils low in indigenous organic matter. The beneficial effects were in the order: cowdung...

Effect of organic amendments on nodulation and nitrogen fixation by cowpea

The study on agronomic efficiency of Sokoto Rock Phosphate (SRP) and water Soluble Single Super Phosphate (SSP) as a phosphorus (P) fertilizer sources for maize (Zea mays L. Van TZSRY) was carried out on Iwo Soil Series (Oxic Tropudalf) in the field. The initial (1989) and residual (1990) effects of the two sources of P were assessed. The treatment consist of the control. Two P sources applied at the rates of 25, 50, 100, and 200 kg ha‐1 and their mixtures in equal ratios at the rates of 50 and 100 P ha‐1. The available P was slowly released from SRP in the first year of trial. In the second year however, the SRP supplied significantly higher P than the SSP. The effectiveness of the different rates of SRP in increasing maize grain yields in the initial experiment followed the order of SRP25 > SRP50 > SRP100 > SRP200 while the residual effect after one year on yield was as follows: SRP50 > SRP100 = SRP200 > SRP25. The optimum grain yields of 5.9 and 5.1 tonnes ha‐1 were obtained with SSP at the ra...

Akinyemi Olayinka

Papers

Heavy metal tolerance traits of filamentous fungi isolated from gold and gemstone mining sites

EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND INORGANIC FERTILIZER ON YIELD AND CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT OF MAIZE (Zea mays (L.) AND SORGHUM Sorghum bicolour (L) Moench)

Effect of organic and inorganic fertilizer on yield and chlorophyll content of maize ( Zea mays L.) and sorghum Sorghum bicolour (L.) Moench)

Effect of organic amendments on nodulation and nitrogen fixation by cowpea

Efficiency of sokoto rock phosphate as a fertilizer source for maize production in Southwestern Nigeria