Tillage and Fertilizer Management Effects on Soil-Atmospheric Exchanges of Methane and Nitrous Oxide in a Corn Production System

Abstract

Land application of poultry litter (PL) presents an opportunity to improve soil productivity and disposal of poultry waste. We investigated methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from agricultural soil receiving PL and ammonium nitrate (AN) fertilizers using surface (SA), soil incorporation (SI), and subsurface band (BA) application methods in conventional (CT) and no-tillage (NT) systems on a Decatur silt loam soil in North Alabama. Plots under CT and NT were sinks of CH 4 in spring, summer, and fall. In winter, the plots had net emissions of 3.32 and 4.24 g CH 4 ha -1 day -1 in CT and NT systems, respectively. Plots which received AN were net emitters of CH 4 and N 2 O, whereas plots which received PL were net sinks of CH 4 . Plots which received PL using SA or SI methods were net emitters of N 2 O, whereas under PL using BA application, the plots were net sinks of N 2 O. Our study indicates that using subsurface band application of PL was the most promising environmentally sustainable poultry waste application method for reducing CH 4 and N 2 O emissions from agricultural soil in NT and CT corn production systems on the Decatur soil in north Alabama.