Massey Research Online - Browsing by Author "Bishop P"

Browsing by Author "Bishop P"

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A low-cost simple lysimeter soil retriever design for retrieving soil from small lysimeters
(IOP Publishing, 2024-06-06) Gunaratnam A; McCurdy M; Grafton M; Jeyakumar P; Davies CE; Bishop P
ASSESSMENT OF NITROGEN FERTILIZERS UNDER CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT – A LYSIMETER DESIGN
(12/04/2019) Gnaratnam A; McCurdy M; Grafton M; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Davies C; Currie, L; Christensen, C
This paper introduces a closed system lysimeter design to measure fertilizer performance on ryegrass. The lysimeter will measure plant mass growth, gas emissions and leachate in a controlled climate environment based on a long term 90 day spring climate from the Taranaki. A range of commercial fertilizers will be compared to bespoke fertilizers manufactured under this project. This work, although undertaken in laboratory conditions will help quantify the impacts of nitrogenous fertilizers on the environment by mimicking actual conditions in a controlled setting. The study should provide data on the effectiveness of novel fertilizers manufactured within the programme; and other slow and controlled fertilizers, in reducing nitrogen leaching and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on pasture. Nitrogenous fertilizers readily leach as nitrates are highly soluble and GHG are emitted through volatilisation of ammonia and nitrous oxide. Reduced leaching and volatilisation increases fertilizer efficiency as less is wasted and more is attenuated in the plant. The aims of the research are to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer use in New Zealand. This should benefit farmers by reducing the amount of fertilizer applied, ideally reducing fertilizer cost, or at no extra cost by improved plant attenuation. This would also have an environmental benefit through reduced leaching and GHG emissions.
Characterization traffic induced compaction in controlled traffic farming (CTF) and random traffic farming (RTF) - A multivariate approach
Raveendrakumaran B; Grafton MC; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Davies CE; Horne, D; Singh, R
A field scale experiment was carried out in Pukekohe in 2020 under an annual grass crop season to characterize the subsoil compaction in controlled traffic farming (CTF) and random traffic farming systems (RTF). Soil penetration resistance (PR) measurements were taken in each field using a cone penetrometer fitted with a 100 mm2 60° top angle cone. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify penetration resistance by depth through cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA). Repeated measures ANOVA was performed on the penetration data using the mixed model procedure to determine the treatment effects. In RTF, the penetrometer values increased more rapidly with depth resulting in higher values being recorded from 20cm compared to CTF. In contrast, it was greater in CTF than in RTF at the subsurface (55-60cm). The differences in PR declined beyond 55cm depth at both sites. All depths showed that differences in soil PR were most apparent in the 5-40cm depth, with significant differences between CTF and RTF (P<0.0001). This shows that traffic management at both CTF and RTF sites caused significant changes in the 5-40cm depth. However, there were no differences in PR between CTF and RTF below 40cm and at 0-5cm depth (P >0.05) showing that the soil layers were homogeneous in both systems beyond 40cm depth. The propagation of subsurface compaction was identified at the deeper layer (40-60cm) in CTF systems whereas it was identified from shallower depths (25-55cm) in RTF system.
COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF CONTROLLED RELEASE FERTILISERS FOR NITRATE LEACHING
Raveendrakumaran B; Grafton M; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Davies C; Christensen, C; Horne, D; Singh, R
A lysimetric study was carried out with an objective of evaluating the leaching behaviour of different fertilisers on spinach growth on Manawatu sandy soil. The fertiliser treatments applied were urea, two controlled release fertilisers called ‘g’and ‘SmartN’ at the rates of 50 kg N/ha (50N), 100 kg N/ha (100N) and 200 kg N/ha (200N). The 200 kg N/ha urea application was made in 10 split doses at a rate of 20 kg N/ha in 7-day intervals, whereas 200N application of ‘g’ and ‘SmartN’ were made twice at a rate of 100 kg N/ha at the time of planting and six weeks after planting. The control treatment did not receive any fertiliser application (0N). The application of Urea and ‘g’ at all rates except ‘g’-50N produced significantly higher nitrate leaching losses (19.8 to 27.7 kgN/ha) compared to the control (9.1 kgN/ha), while SmartN at all rates produced no significant increase in nitrate leaching. The total nitrate leached per ton of dry matter production was significantly reduced by the application of N fertilisers compared to the control (135.1 kgNO3 - -N/MgDM). On an average, 16.4 kg NO3 - -N/MgDM was leached from the fertilised treatments. Dry matter production increased at 200N application rates with all three fertilisers, but urea-200N produced the highest dry matter yield of 2377 kg/ha. In conclusion, frequent split applications of urea (urea - 200N) increased dry matter yield thereby significantly reduced nitrate leaching.
Copper induces nitrification by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea in pastoral soils
(Wiley, 12/12/2022) Matse D; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Anderson C
Copper (Cu) is the main co-factor in the functioning of the ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) enzyme, which is responsible for the first step of ammonia oxidation. We report a greenhouse-based pot experiment that examines the response of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea (AOB and AOA) to different bioavailable Cu concentrations in three pastoral soils (Recent, Pallic, and Pumice soils) planted with ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.). Five treatments were used: control (no urine and Cu), urine only at 300 mg N kg-1 soil (Cu0), urine + 1 mg Cu kg-1 soil (Cu1), urine + 10 mg Cu kg-1 soil (Cu10), and urine + 100 mg Cu kg-1 soil (Cu100). Pots were destructively sampled at Day 0, 1, 7, 15, and 25 after urine application. The AOB/AOA amoA gene abundance was analyzed by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction at Days 1 and 15. The AOB amoA gene abundance increased 10.0- and 22.6-fold in the Recent soil and 2.1- and 2.5-fold in the Pallic soil for the Cu10 compared with Cu0 on Days 1 and 15, respectively. In contrast, the Cu100 was associated with a reduction in AOB amoA gene abundance in the Recent and Pallic soils but not in the Pumice soil. This may be due to the influence of soil cation exchange capacity differences on the bioavailable Cu. Bioavailable Cu in the Recent and Pallic soils influenced nitrification and AOB amoA gene abundance, as evidenced by the strong positive correlation between bioavailable Cu, nitrification, and AOB amoA. However, bioavailable Cu did not influence the nitrification and AOA amoA gene abundance increase.
Formulation and characterization of polyester-lignite composite coated slow-release fertilizers
(Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 26/09/2022) Gunaratnam A; Bishop P; Jeyakumar P; Grafton M; Davies CE; McCurdy M
Two polyester-lignite composite coated urea slow-release fertilizers (SRFs; Poly3 and Poly5) were developed and their physicochemical properties were studied. Both these SRFs significantly (p < 0.05) extended the urea release compared to uncoated urea; Poly3 and Poly5 by 117 and 172 h, respectively. The urea release characteristics of Poly5 were further enhanced by linseed oil application (Poly5-linseed). The SEM images demonstrated the coatings were in contact with the urea and encase urea particles completely with the average coating thickness of 167.2 ± 15 µm. The new interactions between polyester and lignite in the composite coating were confirmed by the FTIR analysis. Polyester-calcium carbonate (Polyester-CaCO3) coated SRFs (Calc3 and Calc5) were developed using CaCO3 as a filler in place of lignite and the urea dissolution rate was compared with Poly3 and Poly5. The urea release times for the polyester-CaCO3 formulations, 48 and 72 h, were significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the polyester-lignite formulation, showing that lignite imparted greater control over release time than CaCO3. Findings from this work showed that polyester-lignite composites can be used as a coating material for SRFs.
Iron-rich sand promoted nitrate reduction in a study for testing of lignite based new slow-release fertilisers
(Elsevier, 20/12/2022) Abhiram G; Grafton M; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Davies C; McCurdy MM
The N losses and agronomic performances of newly developed slow-releasing fertilisers (SRFs; Epox5 and Poly5) were tested against conventional N fertilisers, urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP), in a climate-controlled lysimeter system. The dry matter (DM) yield and N losses of SRFs were not significantly different from urea and DAP. However, nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide (N2O) losses were unexpectedly low and therefore, it was inferred that nitrate underwent a chemical transformation. It was observed that a thick fibreglass wick interrupted drainage and created an anaerobic condition in the soil. The subsoil was found to have a high extractable total iron and it was postulated that iron played a role in the observed low level of N losses. An investigation was carried out with a factorial design using sand types and rates of N application as the main factors. Two types of sand; with high and low iron concentration and four levels of N applications; 0 (control), 50, 100 and 200 kg N ha-1 were employed in a leaching column and nitrate and N2O losses were measured. The nitrate leaching was significantly (P < 0.05) affected by sand types wherein a lower nitrate level was recorded for high‑iron concentration sand than for low-iron concentration sand at all N application levels. The N2O emission was significantly (P < 0.05) lower for high-iron sand than for low-iron sand for the 200 N treatment, but not significantly different between sand types for other treatments. These observations provide evidence for the involvement of iron in nitrate transformation under anaerobic conditions and it was hypothesised path was dissimilar nitrate reduction (DNR). Further studies are recommended, to identify the underlying mechanism responsible for nitrate reduction with iron-rich sand.
Nitrate leaching mitigation options in two dairy pastoral soils and climatic conditions in New Zealand
(MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 17/09/2022) Matse DT; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Anderson CWN
This lysimeter study investigated the effect of late-autumn application of dicyandiamide (DCD), co-poly acrylic-maleic acid (PA-MA), calcium lignosulphonate (LS), a split-application of calcium lignosulphonate (2LS), and a combination of gibberellic acid (GA) and LS (GA + LS) to reduce N leaching losses during May 2020 to December 2020 in lysimeter field sites in Manawatu (Orthic Pumice soil) and Canterbury (Pallic Orthic Brown soil), New Zealand. In a second application, urine-only, GA only and GA + LS treatments were applied during July 2020 in mid-winter on both sites. Results showed that late-autumn application of DCD, 2LS and GA + LS reduced mineral N leaching by 8%, 16%, and 35% in the Manawatu site and by 34%, 11%, and 35% in the Canterbury site, respectively when compared to urine-only. There was no significant increase in cumulative herbage N uptake and yield between urine-treated lysimeters in both sites. Mid-winter application of GA and GA + LS reduced mineral N leaching by 23% and 20%, respectively in the Manawatu site relative to urine-only treated lysimeters, but no significant reduction was observed in the Canterbury site. Our results demonstrated the potential application of these treatments in different soils under different climate and management conditions.
Nitrification rate in dairy cattle urine patches can be inhibited by changing soil bioavailable Cu concentration
(Elsevier, 17/01/2023) Matse D; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Anderson C
Ammonia oxidation to hydroxylamine is catalyzed by the ammonia monooxygenase enzyme and copper (Cu) is a key element for this process. We investigated the effect of soil bioavailable Cu changes induced through the application of Cu-complexing compounds on nitrification rate, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) amoA gene abundance, and mineral nitrogen (N) leaching in urine patches using the Manawatu Recent soil. Further, evaluated the combination of organic compound calcium lignosulphonate (LS) with a growth stimulant Gibberellic acid (GA). Treatments were applied in May 2021 as late-autumn treatments: control (no urine), urine-only at 600 kg N ha-1, urine + dicyandiamide (DCD), urine + co-poly-acrylic-maleic acid (PA-MA), urine + LS, urine + split-application of LS (2LS), and urine + combination of GA plus LS (GA + LS). In addition, another four treatments were applied in July 2021 as mid-winter treatments: control, urine-only at 600 kg N ha-1, urine + GA, and urine + GA + LS. Soil bioavailable Cu and mineral N leaching were examined during the experimental period. The AOB/AOA amoA genes were quantified using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Changes in soil bioavailable Cu across treatments correlated with nitrification rate and AOB amoA abundance in late-autumn while the AOA amoA abundance did not change. The reduction in soil bioavailable Cu induced by the PA-MA and 2LS was linked to significant (P < 0.05) reduction in mineral N leaching of 16 and 30%, respectively, relative to the urine-only. The LS did not induce a significant effect on either bioavailable Cu or mineral N leaching relative to urine-only. The GA + LS reduced mineral N leaching by 10% relative to LS in late-autumn, however, there was no significant effect in mid-winter. This study demonstrated that reducing soil bioavailable Cu can be a potential strategy to reduce N leaching from urine patches.
NITROGEN LOSSES FROM PLANTAIN: WHAT CAN WE SAY?
Rodriguez MJ; Kemp PD; Navarrete Quijada S; Hanly JA; Horne DJ; Bishop P
PLANTAIN SWARD: IS IT EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING N2O EMISSIONS IN SPRING AND AUTUMN?
(11/02/2020) Rodrigues MJ; Kemp PD; Bishop P; Hanly JA; Navarrete Quijada S; Horne DJ
Short-term effects of deep ploughing on soil C stocks following renewal of a dairy pasture in New Zealand
(14/08/2018) Calvelo Pereira R; Hedley MJ; Hanly J; Bretherton M; Horne D; Bishop P; Beare M; McNally S
In New Zealand’s high producing permanent pastures the topsoil constitutes a large reservoir of soil organic carbon (SOC), which shows a marked stratification with depth. As consequence, sub-surface layers can contain 10 times less carbon than the surface soil. In permanent pastures with high carbon inputs, the formation and decomposition of these surface SOC stocks are often at equilibrium and C storage shows little change over time. Pastoral based dairy systems utilising ryegrass plus clover cultivars require renewal every 7-10 years to avoid reversion to less productive grasses. This may involve spring cultivation (either no-till, shallow till or full cultivation), summer forage cropping and autumn re-grassing. It has been hypothesised that SOC stocks can be increased by inverting the soil profile at pasture renewal through infrequent (once in 25-30 years) deep mouldboard ploughing (up to 30 cm depth). Increased C sequestration occurs when the new grass quickly rebuilds SOC stocks in the new topsoil (exposed low C sub-soil) at a rate faster than the decomposition of SOC in the rich former topsoil transferred to depth (now below 15 cm). However, benefits form accelerated C storage may be offset if crop and pasture production is adversely affected by the ploughing event (e.g., as result of compaction or excessive drainage). Hence, the aim of this work was to assess the short-term effects of infrequent inversion tillage of long-term New Zealand pastoral-based dairy soils under summer crop management and autumn re-grassing. An imperfectly drained Typic Fragiaqualf under dairy grazing was deep ploughed (approx. 25 cm) and re-sown with turnip in October 2016; other treatments included were shallow (< 10 cm) cultivation and no-till. The site was core sampled (0-40 cm) before cultivation and after 5 months of turnip growth to assess changes in SOC. Plant growth, herbage quality, and nutrient leaching were monitored during the 5-month period; root growth was assessed at the end of the crop rotation. Full cultivation transferred SOC below 10 cm depth, as expected. Soil bulk density decreased whereas root mass increased (10-20 cm depth; P < 0.05) under deep cultivation only. Besides, losses of mineral N were attenuated under deep tillage, resulting in a relative increase in crop yield. The potential for infrequent inversion tillage increasing soil C sequestration as a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation tool is currently being tested at other sites in New Zealand.
Simulating gibberellic acid effect on pasture yield on naturally deposited and fixed area urine
(MDPI, 2/07/2023) Matse D; Avendano F; Bishop P; Jeyakumar P; Bates G
Nitrate (NO3−-N) leaching from urine patches is a serious environmental concern in dairy pastoral systems. In our previous research, we established that application of a plant growth hormone, gibberellic acid (GA), can potentially reduce NO3−-N leaching in urine patches; however, this was investigated in two locations in New Zealand. The performance of GA in influencing pasture nitrogen (N) uptake and NO3−-N leaching needs to be undertaken in multi-locations to draw conclusions. However, multi-location studies are a challenge due to a lack of funding and time constraints, so models such as the agricultural production systems simulator (APSIM) have been used. Therefore, field studies were conducted to determine whether APSIM can be used to quantify and simulate the effect of GA on NO3−-N leaching and pasture yield in three experimental sites known as Ashburton, Stratford, and Rotorua in New Zealand. Treatments examined were control (no urine applied), urine at 600 kg N ha−1, urine + GA at 8 g ha−1. The observed data was used to calibrate and validate the model. APSIM simulated that application of GA reduced NO3−-N leaching (relative to urine treatment) by 4.6, 5.1, and 8.8 kg NO3−-N ha−1 in Ashburton, Stratford, and Rotorua, respectively. APSIM reliably simulated pasture dry matter yield, and this was confirmed by the coefficient of determination ranging from R2 = 0.8562 to 0.995 in all treatments and experimental sites. This study demonstrated that APSIM can effectively be used to simulate the effect of GA application on NO3−-N leaching and pasture yield. Therefore, APSIM can be applied in other areas to simulate NO3−-N leaching and pasture yield.
STUDY THE INFLUENCE OF SOIL MOISTURE AND PACKING INCREMENTAL LEVEL ON SOIL PHYSICAL AND HYDRAULIC PROPERTIES
(14/07/2020) Gunaratnam A; Grafton M; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Davies C; McCurdy M; Christensen, C; Horne, D; Singh, R
Reconstructed soil packing is an alternative for monolithic soil columns in lysimeter studies. The excavated soil is packed in uniform layers to represent the natural soil conditions. Reconstructed soil packing alters the physical properties, including bulk density and porosity, thus can distort the hydraulic properties of the soil, so consistency of the method used is critical. Therefore, the selection of a suitable packing method is imperative. This preliminary study comes under the broad research programme: “developing and testing new fertilizer formulations in lysimeters”. This work was aimed to study the effect of incremental packing methods on the hydraulic properties of soil to select the best combination for testing fertilizers. The selected soil matrix for this lysimeter study was composed of 10 cm topsoil and 30 cm washed builders’ sand. For this study, four different soil packs were trialled in lysimeters with the combination of two soil moisture conditions (dry/damp and wet) and two packing depth increments (5 and 10 cm). The flow rate and saturated hydraulic conductivity were measured. Subsequently, several pore volumes of water (around 5 – 6) was allowed to pass through the soil column and the soil subsidence level was measured for each packing method. Both soil moisture condition and packing increment level have influenced the flow rate and saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil matrix. The saturated hydraulic conductivity of the dry-5 cm, dry-10 cm, wet-5 cm and wet-10 cm packing were 3.99, 6.70, 3.56 and 6.53 cm hr- 1 , respectively. Soil subsidence was also influenced by both the soil moisture condition and increment level. The highest soil subsidence was exhibited by dry-10 cm packing (13 mm) and lowest by wet-5 cm (2 mm) (p<0.05). This preliminary study showed that both moisture condition and increment level influence the soil hydraulic property and compaction level. Further study needs to be conducted to understand the influence of soil moisture and incremental level on other physical and hydraulic properties of soil packing.
The Nitrogen Dynamics of Newly Developed Lignite-Based Controlled-Release Fertilisers in the Soil-Plant Cycle
(MDPI AG, 29/11/2022) Gunaratnam A; Grafton M; Jeyakumar P; Bishop P; Davies C; McCurdy M
The effect of newly developed controlled-release fertilisers (CRFs); Epox5 and Ver-1 and two levels of Fe2+ applications (478 and 239 kg-FeSO4 ha−1) on controlling nitrogen (N) losses, were tested on ryegrass, in a climate-controlled lysimeter system. The Epox5 and Ver-1 effectively decreased the total N losses by 37 and 47%, respectively, compared to urea. Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions by Ver-1 were comparable to urea. However, Epox5 showed significantly higher (p < 0.05) N2O emissions (0.5 kg-N ha−1), compared to other treatments, possibly due to the lock-off nitrogen in Epox5. The application of Fe2+ did not show a significant effect in controlling the N leaching loss and N2O emission. Therefore, a dissimilatory nitrate reduction and chemodenitrification pathways were not pronounced in this study. The total dry matter yield, N accumulation, N use efficiency and soil residual N were not significantly different among any N treatments. Nevertheless, the N accumulation of CRFs was lower in the first month, possibly due to the slow release of urea. The total root biomass was significantly (p < 0.05) lower for Epox5 (35%), compared to urea. The hierarchical clustering of all treatments revealed that Ver-1 outperformed other treatments, followed by Epox5. Further studies are merited to identify the potential of Fe2+ as a controlling agent for N losses.
USING PROXIMAL HYPERSPECTRAL SENSING TO MEASURE SOIL OLSEN P AND pH
(12/04/2019) Grafton M; Kaul T; Palmer A; Bishop P; White M; Currie, L; Christensen, C
This paper reports on work undertaken to use a large data set of hyperspectral data measured on dry soil samples to obtain regression analysis which allows predictions of pH and Olsen P to be obtained from an independent data set. The large data set was obtained from 3,190 soil samples taken from the Ravensdown Primary Growth Partnership to a depth of 7.5cm. The spectra were measured using an Analytical Spectral Device which recorded 2,150 wavebands of 1nm resolution between 350nm and 2,500nm. Values for Olsen P and pH were provided from chemical analysis by Analytical Research Laboratories. The spectra were regressed using “R” statistical software which has the power to handle the data and report the wavebands with the most significance for the model. The data set for the prediction came from a stratified nested, grid soil sampling exercise which was used to find Olsen P stability at varying depths. This set had 400 samples from each of two data sets from different areas on Patitapu Station using a grid sample protocol. The 100 most significant wavebands from the PGP data set were used to regress the Patitapu data which were combined. These were regressed using “R” (Version 3.41, The R Foundation) and Statdata (Palisade, New York), which produced the same result. The partial least square regression of pH was very significant and was predicted well. Olsen P had a very significant correlation which was quite noisy, correlating the log10 of Olsen P was also undertaken and it would appear something is being measured that is associated with Olsen P. This work shows that it is possible to measure soil nutrient by proximal hyperspectral analysis which is transferable to an independent data set.

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