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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pendleton, Oregon » Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #75819
Title: BURNING AND NITROGEN EFFECTS ON SOIL BULK DENSITY AND ORGANIC-CARBON IN NO-TILL WHEAT

Author
item Rasmussen, Paul

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/3/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Stubble burning sometimes increases no-till wheat yield in annual cereal production, but long-term detrimental effects are undefined. We determined organic carbon (org-C) and bulk density (bD) in the upper 30-centimeters of soil after five years of cropping no-till wheat with stubble burning and N application variables. Increasing N rates from 0 to 168 kilograms per hectare increased org-C slightly in the 0-7.5 centimeter soil zone, with no effect at deeper depths. Stubble burning had no effect on org-C in soil. Neither N nor burning affected bulk density in the top 30 centimeters of soil. Average org-C was 11.9 grams per kilogram, and average bD 1.28 grams per cubic cenmtimeter. If negative effects of burning or positive effects of N application on bulk density or organic-C are to take place in semi-arid regions, the time span for measurable differences to occur is greater than five years.