soil research News
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Measuring calcium in serpentine soils
Serpentine soils contain highly variable amounts of calcium, making them marginal lands for farming. Successful management of serpentine soils requires accurate measurement of the calcium they hold. Research published this month in the Soil Science Society of America Journal shows that multiple measurement techniques are needed to accurately measure calcium content in serpentine soils. To make ...
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Soil moisture for crop health topic of symposium
Soil moisture sensing through either contact or remote technology captures soil-plant-water information that relates closely with plant water availability and use. Innovations in remote sensing technologies can inform plant health assessments and more. The “Soil Moisture Sensing for Crop Health Assessment and Management” symposium planned at the Resilience Emerging from Scarcity ...
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Drones effective tools for fruit farmers
People have used the phrase “drone on and on” for a long time. Webster’s dictionary defines this figure of speech as “to speak for a long time in a dull voice without saying anything interesting.” Yet, in agriculture, drones aren’t dull, at all! Farmers use drones to be more efficient. Drones help farmers improve yields and stay ahead of problems before they ...
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Using Liquid Manure to Fertilize Wheat? Consider Timing, Nitrogen Content
Liquid livestock manure can be a great option as a spring top-dress fertilizer for wheat fields if applied during the appropriate window of time and if it has the right amount of nitrogen, according to research conducted by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University. In a report published in the latest issue of the college’s Crop Observation ...
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Can simple measures of labile soil organic matter predict corn performance?
Organic matter is important for soil health and crop productivity. While an indicator of soil quality, a lot of organic matter is in extremely stable forms, and the nutrients in such forms are difficult for plants to use. The active, labile fraction, however, is a modest but important part of the organic matter. “The labile fraction is small – usually less than 20 or even 10 percent, ...
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Czech and Korean researchers clinch biomass patent
A Czech-South Korean research team has obtained a patent on a new method supporting plant biomass production which will also allow the cultivation of plants with a bigger biomass production. Both the food-processing and pharmaceutical industries can, in theory, use the patent, according to the team. 'The invention, which enables the cultivation of plants with an increased production of mass, ...
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Czech and Korean researchers clinch biomass patent
A Czech-South Korean research team has obtained a patent on a new method supporting plant biomass production which will also allow the cultivation of plants with a bigger biomass production. Both the food-processing and pharmaceutical industries can, in theory, use the patent, according to the team. 'The invention, which enables the cultivation of plants with an increased production of mass, ...
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Self-seeding: an innovative management system
US researchers have investigated the potential for rye and wheat cover crops to perpetuate themselves, saving time and money for farmers while providing environmental benefits Winter cover crops provide important ecological functions that include nutrient cycling and soil cover. Although cover crop benefits to agroecosystems are well documented, cover crop use in agronomic farming systems ...
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Where is your soil water? Crop yield has the answer
Crop yield is highly dependent on soil plant-available water, the portion of soil water that can be taken up by plant roots. Quantitative determination of the maximum amount of plant-available water in soil using traditional methods on soil samples remains challenging, especially at the scale of an entire field. However, a map of plant-available water capacity for a field would be instrumental in ...
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