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Barley yield and malt-characteristics as affected by nitrogen and final irrigation timing
Full text linkIdaho is one of the largest malt barley (hordeum vulgare, L.) producers in the United States. In Idaho, barley is a major commodity in the irrigated production area of the semi-arid Snake River Plain of the southern part of the state. Grain quality and malting characteristics in addition to yields are key factors influencing production. While the importance of available nitrogen (N) and irrigation have been established, the interaction of these inputs has not been deeply investigated. To address this, we conducted research at the Kimberly R&E Center, ID arranged in a RCBD to determine yield and quality as affected by N application rate (0, 56, 112, 168 kg N ha-1) and irrigation cutoff timings with irrigation managed at 100% evapotranspiration (ET) until the crop growth stages of, F10: Feekes 10.0; F11.2: Feekes 11.2; and +7F11.2: +7d Feekes. Both N fertilization and irrigation cutoff timing affected tested grain, straw, and malt characteristics. Only minor differences were measured between F11.2 and +7F11.2 irrigation cutoff timings indicating irrigations past F11.2 were generally not beneficial. Application of N at 56 kg N ha-1 maximized yield in the study but greater predicted yields were determined from the fitted model and did not result in grain or malt quality characteristics outside of the range acceptable for malting. Results warrant further investigations into increased N applications to achieve higher yields while maintaining malt quality. Grain protein was well correlated to malt characteristics under varying N rates and irrigation cutoff timings. The results of this study provide evidence of the effects of irrigation cutoff timing and N management on grain yield and quality, barley straw, and malt characteristics that are critical for establishing appropriate fertilizer-N recommendations and irrigation management strategies in malting barley in Idaho
Cumulative deficit irrigation and nitrogen effects on soil water trends, evapotranspiration, and dry matter and grain yield of corn under high frequency sprinkler irrigation
Full text linkHistorically feed corn has been a minor crop in south central Idaho, but over the past three decades corn production in southern Idaho has increased fourfold in response to a similar increase in the local dairy industry. Corn seasonal water use and response to water deficits in the region’s climate is lacking. A three-year field study on corn (Zea mays L.) was conducted in 2017, 2018 and 2019 to evaluate the cumulative effects of continuous water and nitrogen deficits on soil water trends, evapotranspiration, and dry matter and grain yield. Four irrigation rates, fully irrigated (FIT) and three deficit irrigation rates (75% FIT, 50% FIT, and 25% FIT) combined with two nitrogen rates (0 and 246 kg N/ha) were investigated under lateral-move irrigation. Growing season soil water depletion in 2017 in the 25% FIT and 50% FIT irrigation treatments significantly reduced soil water availability at planting in subsequent years and resulted in reduced yields relative to 2017. Nitrogen treatments had no significant effect on soil water availability, seasonal soil water depletion, or crop evapotranspiration for a given irrigation treatment. Crop evapotranspiration was significantly different between irrigation treatments in each study year and decreased as irrigation amount decreased. Dry matter yield was significantly different between irrigation treatments in each study year, but there was no significant difference between the 75% FIT and FIT irrigation treatments for a given nitrogen treatment. Differences in dry matter yield decreased between nitrogen treatments as irrigation amount decreased. Grain yield was significantly reduced by deficit irrigation in each study year, but there was no significant difference between the 75% FIT and FIT irrigation treatments for a given nitrogen treatment in study year. Grain yield was significantly different between nitrogen treatments for only the FIT irrigation treatment. The lack of significant difference in grain yield between the 75% FIT and FIT irrigation treatments resulted in a curvilinear convex downward water production response regardless of nitrogen treatment. A reduction in applied water resulted in a reduction of grain yield regardless of nitrogen availability suggesting that a reduction in irrigation application to less productive areas of a field will cause a yield reduction. The lack of significant difference in crop evapotranspiration between nitrogen treatments for a given irrigation treatment indicates that crop evapotranspiration is independent of crop productivity when soil water contents are similar under high evaporative demand and frequent sprinkler irrigation
USDA-ARS pre-breeding germplasm evaluated for Rhizomania and storage rot resistance in Idaho, 2021
Full text linkHost plant resistance mechanisms against fungal pathogens
Full text linkCrop plants are constantly exposed to diverse biotic stressors during their lifetime. Fungal pathogens represent a predominant biotic stress of crops and account for 80-85% of known diseases leading to significant yield losses. Host plant resistance against fungal pathogens is due to diverse factors such as plant genetic background, physiological status, agroecological, and environmental conditions. In addition, the microbiome associated with host plants has also been shown to contribute to resistance by producing metabolites that modulate host plant defense pathways or exhibit antimicrobial properties. The advancement in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology for genome/RNA sequencing and modern omic approaches such as proteomics, metabolomics, and interactomics have profusely helped to define host plant resistance mechanisms. These technological advances have made possible introgression of resistance traits into agronomically important varieties by traditional or molecular breeding. Recently, the application of highly sophisticated biotechnological tools using RNAi or CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing has enabled us to precisely manipulate the integration and expression of key genes for enhanced host resistance. This special issue compiles articles that highlight mechanisms underlying host plant-fungal interactions that govern susceptibility or resistance to fungal pathogens including Botrytis, Colletotrichum, and Fusarium
Response of soil health indicators to long‐term dairy manure in a semiarid irrigated cropping system
Full text linkDairy manure use in southern Idaho is an important practice to return nutrients to cropland soils, but there is little information regarding the effect of manure application rates on soil health metrics. The objective of this field study was to establish a soil health framework for soils treated with manure by evaluating commonly used biological and chemical indicators of soil health as affected by long-term dairy manure use in a tilled and irrigated cropping system. The treatments were no fertilizer, inorganic fertilizer, and dairy manure applied annually or biennially at rates of 17, 35, and 52 Mg ha-1 on a dry weight basis. A one-time spring soil sampling was performed seven years after project initiation at depths of 0-15 cm and 15-30 cm. The soils were analyzed for the following twelve soil health metrics: soil organic C (SOC), permanganate-oxidizable C (POXC), microbial biomass C (MBC), microbial biomass N (MBN), autoclaved citrate-extractable (ACE) soil protein, ß-glucosidase, ß-glucosaminidase, alkaline phosphatase, arylsulfatase, potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN), potential ammonia oxidation (PAO), and denitrification enzyme activity (DEA). In general, the soil metrics were greater at 0-15 cm than deeper in the soil profile. Annual and biennial manure treatments had a significant effect on the indicators at both soil depths, which increased linearly with increasing manure application rate. Due to the strong influence of dairy manure on the biological and chemical indicators, all were positively and significantly correlated with each other. Our results suggest that treatment of soil with dairy manure can be used to improve soil health as determined by the indicators. However, results should be interpreted cautiously, and our studies will continue to make adjustments as application of manure at high rates over long periods of time can have negative impacts on soil, crop, and environmental quality
Does turbulent-flow conditioning of irrigation water influence soil chemical processes: I. Laboratory results
Full text linkVariable effects of irrigation water on soil chemistry, groundwater quality, and crop productivity are primarily attributed to the quantity, rate, or chemical composition of the applied water. Implicit in these explanations is the assumption that the intrinsic behavior of molecular water is invariable, yet accumulating evidence suggests that water behavior can be modified via non-chemical means, such as when water flows through a magnetic field. This foundational study hypothesized that turbulent-flow conditioning (CTap) of a mineralized irrigation water source (Tap water) may alter water behavior and the character of soil-water interactions. Here we provide central evidence demonstrating that CTap irrigation water changes the chemical composition of soil leachate; consistently increasing mean concentrations of K, NH4-N, Mg, and Ca by 1.2- to 1.4-fold compared to untreated Tap water. The effect develops after incubated soil is irrigated for a period of 4- to 8-weeks, suggesting that the treatment impacts on soil properties may accumulate over time, potentially influencing soil productivity and management. The treatment’s capacity to increase soil cation leaching may provide an economical means of managing or remediating degraded and marginally productive soils that contain excess salts. Because water is an integral component of earth’s ecosystems, we anticipate that the phenomenon discovered here may also be implicated in a broad spectrum of abiotic and biotic chemical processes
Commercial sugar beet cultivars evaluated for rhizomania resistance and storability in Idaho, 2020
Full text linkRhizomania caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV) and storage losses are serious sugar beet production problems. To identify sugar beet cultivars with resistance to BNYVV and evaluate storability, 22 commercial cultivars were screened by growing them in a sugar beet field infested with BNYVV in Kimberly, ID during the 2020 growing season in a randomized complete block design with 6 replications. At harvest on 5-6 October 2020, roots were dug and evaluated for symptoms of rhizomania and also placed in an indoor commercial sugar beet storage building. After 140 days in storage, samples were evaluated for surface rot, weight loss, and sucrose loss. Surface root rot ranged from 11 to 67%, weight loss ranged from 18 to 36%, sucrose losses ranged from 32 to 63%, and estimated recoverable sucrose ranged from 1,572 to 9,901 lb/A. Given these response ranges, selecting cultivars for rhizomania resistance and combining this resistance with storability will lead to considerable economic benefit for the sugar beet industry
Does turbulent-flow conditioning of irrigation water influence soil chemical processes: II. Long-term soil and crop study
Full text linkRecent laboratory evidence suggests that the intrinsic behavior of molecular water in soil is altered by turbulent-flow conditioning (CTap) of mineralized irrigation water (Tap). This 9-yr (2009 to 2017), irrigated, outdoor, cropped pot study evaluated the effect of Tap and CTap irrigation water on soil leachate chemistry, nutrient availability, and aboveground crop biomass yield and nutrient uptake. CTap increased cumulative mass losses of: NO3-N 2.5-fold; Mn 2-fold; K 1.6-fold; Mg, DOC, and NH4-N an average 1.2-fold; and increased the mean EC of leachate 1.2-fold. In both the current and a previous laboratory study (see Part 1), K, NH4-N, and Mg were leachate components most consistently selected by multivariate analysis as best discriminating between water treatments. The evidence also suggests that CTap increased mean available soil: Zn 2.4-fold; Cu, K, and Olsen P an average 1.4-fold; Na and Fe 1.2-fold; and decreased soil TC (4%), TIC (8%) and Mg (9%) relative to the Tap. In addition, CTap increased average crop biomass element concentrations of: Zn, Fe, and Al an average 1.3-fold; TN, Ca, K, and S 1.1-fold; and decreased TC (2%) relative to Tap. If the capacity of this simple device to increase soil cation leaching can be confirmed in broader applications, it could potentially provide an economical means of increasing the availability of nutrients in treated soils and managing or remediating degraded, salt-affected soils
Effect of nitrogen supply by soil depth on sugarbeet production and quality
Full text linkNitrogen (N) supply is important in sugarbeet production to optimize yield and quality. Determining the effect of N supply by soil depth on sugarbeet production in the Northwest U.S. is important to continue fine-tuning management practices while minimizing negative environmental impacts. To accomplish this objective, a greenhouse column study was conducted by Amalgamated Sugar Company and USDA-ARS Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research Laboratory. The study was conducted using thirty, one meter by 0.3 meter columns filled with 0.9 meters of soil. The treatments consisted of adding N fertilizer at a rate of 132 kg N/ha to three 0.3 meter soil depths (depth 1 = 0-0.3 meters, depth 2 = 0.3-0.6 meters, and depth 3 = 0.6-0.9 meters). Each treatment was replicated six times in a randomized block design. Although all treatments (except the control) had a total N supply of 222 kg N/ha in the entire 0.9 meter soil depth, the distribution of the N in the soil profile affected the measured factors. Sugarbeet tuber mass, tuber sucrose mass, leaf (includes stems) mass, tuber N mass, leaf N mass were higher for treatments where N fertilizer was added to depths 1 and 2 compared to when N fertilizer was added to depth 3. Data indicates that sugarbeets were not able to utilize N from depth 3 as efficiently as from depth 1 and depth 2. The N use efficiency measurements (N recovery efficiency, N removal efficiency, and fertilizer N uptake efficiency) were greatest when 132 kg fertilizer N/ha was supplied in depths 1 and 2 compared to when some or all the 132 kg fertilizer N/ha supply was in depth 3. There were no treatment effects on sugarbeet quality factors. The sugarbeet plants did not utilize N in depth 3 as effectively as depths 1 and 2, and N levels in depth 3 did not negatively affect quality. The findings of this study highlight the need to question the value of a depth 3 soil sample for determining N fertilizer requirements. The cost/benefit evaluation of taking a soil sample to include depth 3 (0.6 to 0.9 meters) needs to be further evaluated in the field