The Experts below are selected from a list of 4578 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Guy R. Larocque - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Modeling water and soil quality environmental impacts associated with bioenergy crop production and biomass removal in the Midwest USA.
Ecological Modelling, 2011Co-Authors: Susan E. Powers, James C. Ascough, R.g. Nelson, Guy R. LarocqueAbstract:The removal of corn stover or production of herbaceous crops such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) or big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) as feedstocks for bioenergy purposes has been shown to have significant benefits from an energy and climate change perspective. There is potential, however, to adversely impact water and soil quality, especially in the United States Corn Belt where stover removal predominantly occurs and possibly in other areas with herbaceous energy crops depending upon a number of geo-climatic and economic factors. The overall goal of this research was to provide a thorough and mechanistic understanding of the relationship between stover and herbaceous crop production management practices and resulting range of impacts on soil and water quality, with a focus on eastern Iowa, USA. Comparisons of the production of herbaceous bioenergy crops to continuous corn (Zea mays L.) and corn-soybean (Glycine max L.) rotations on five different soils representative of the region were performed. Indices for total nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) loss to surface water and groundwater, total soil loss due to water and wind erosion, and cumulative soil carbon loss were derived to assess long-term sustainability. The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) agroecosystem model was used to quantify the sustainability indices and to generate sufficient data to provide a greater understanding of variables that affect water and soil quality than previously possible. The results clearly show the superiority of herbaceous crop production from a soil and water quality perspective. They also show, however, that compared to Traditional Cropping Systems (e.g., corn-soybean rotations with conventional tillage), soil and water quality degradation can be reduced under certain conditions at the same time stover is removed.
Musa Abubakar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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improving the production and utilization of cowpea as food and fodder
Field Crops Research, 2003Co-Authors: B. B. Singh, Shirley A Tarawali, S Fernandezrivera, Hakeem A Ajeigbe, Musa AbubakarAbstract:Abstract Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is an important food legume and an integral part of Traditional Cropping Systems in the semi-arid regions of the tropics. The estimated worldwide area under cowpea is about 14 million ha of which West Africa alone accounts for about 9.3 million ha with annual production of about 2.9 Mt. Cowpea grains are consumed as food and the haulms are fed to livestock as a nutritious fodder. Farmers often grow a short-duration spreading variety for grain and a long-duration spreading variety for fodder, but the grain and fodder yields are poor due to low yield potential of the spreading varieties and also due to early cessation of rains. Therefore, IITA in collaboration with ILRI has initiated a systematic programme to develop medium-maturing, semi-erect, dual-purpose varieties with higher grain and fodder yields and with enhanced fodder quality. By crossing the late, Traditional spreading varieties with improved early, semi-erect varieties, a semi-erect group of medium-maturing, dual-purpose varieties has been developed which yield over 1.5 t ha −1 grain and 2.5 t ha −1 haulms. Despite the high grain and fodder yields, the haulms of improved dual-purpose varieties have similar crude protein content (17–18%) and dry matter digestibility (64–71%) compared to the local varieties. Controlled sheep feeding experiments have shown an average live weight gain of about 80 g per animal per day with 200–400 g per day of cowpea haulms as a supplement to a basal diet of sorghum stover. This was 100% higher than the average live weight gain of animals fed sorghum fodder alone. These results indicate that improved dual-purpose varieties can play an important role in enhancing crop–livestock integration in West Africa.
William Salas - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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modeling biogeochemical impacts of bioenergy buffers with perennial grasses for a row crop field in illinois
Gcb Bioenergy, 2012Co-Authors: Gayathri Gopalakrishnan, Maria Cristina Negri, William SalasAbstract:Current research on the environmental sustainability of bioenergy has largely focused on the potential of bioenergy crops to sequester carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and possible impacts on water quality and quantity. A key assumption in these studies is that bioenergy crops will be grown in a manner similar to current agricultural crops such as corn and hence would affect the environment similarly. In this study, we investigate an alternative Cropping system where bioenergy crops are grown in buffer strips adjacent to current agricultural crops such that nutrients present in runoff and leachate from the Traditional row-crops are reused by the bioenergy crops (switchgrass, miscanthus and native prairie grasses) in the buffer strips, thus providing environmental services and meeting economic needs of farmers. The process-based biogeochemical model Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) was used to simulate crop yield, nitrous oxide production and nitrate concentrations in leachate for a typical agricultural field in Illinois. Model parameters have been developed for the first time for miscanthus and switchgrass in DNDC. Results from model simulations indicated that growing bioenergy crops in buffer strips mitigated nutrient runoff, reduced nitrate concentrations in leachate by 60–70% and resulted in a reduction of 50–90% in nitrous oxide emissions compared with Traditional Cropping Systems. While all the bioenergy crop buffers had significant positive environmental benefits, switchgrass performed the best with respect to minimizing nutrient runoff and nitrous oxide emissions, while miscanthus had the highest yield. Overall, our model results indicated that the bioenergy crops grown in these buffer strips achieved yields that are comparable to those obtained for Traditional agricultural Systems while simultaneously providing environmental services and could be used to design sustainable agricultural landscapes.
Uffe Jorgensen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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biomass productivity and radiation utilisation of innovative Cropping Systems for biorefinery
Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 2017Co-Authors: Kiril Manevski, Poul Erik Laerke, Xiurong Jiao, Sanmohan Santhome, Uffe JorgensenAbstract:Abstract In order to supply future biorefineries there is a need to sustainably intensify the biomass production on current agricultural land. The aim of this work was to determine biomass yield and associated radiation utilisation for novel perennial grasses and annual crops in rotations optimised for biomass production, and compare their performance with Traditional Cropping Systems commonly used in northern European agriculture. Measurements of biomass yield from 2012 to 2015 at two Danish sites differing in soil type and climatic conditions were conducted in three main Cropping Systems: i ) optimised rotation of annual crops (maize, beet, hemp/oat, triticale, winter rye and winter rapeseed), ii ) perennial crops intensively fertilised (festulolium, reed canary, cocksfoot and tall fescue), low-fertilised (miscanthus) or unfertilised (grass-legume mixtures) and iii ) Traditional Systems (continuous monocultures of maize and triticale, and a rotation of spring barley − winter barley − winter rapeseed). The results showed that on sandy loam soil, the highest biomass yield (mean of three years following the establishing year) was achieved by festulolium (20.4 Mg ha −1 ), followed by tall fescue (18.5 Mg ha −1 ), optimised rotation (16.7 Mg ha −1 ), reed canary (15.9 Mg ha −1 ) and cocksfoot (15.2 Mg ha −1 ). On coarse sandy soil, the highest biomass was achieved by tall fescue (17.7 Mg ha −1 ), followed by cocksfoot (15.9 Mg ha −1 ), reed canary (14.3 Mg ha −1 ) and optimised rotation (13.9 Mg ha −1 ). The biomass yield of Traditional Cropping Systems varied between 11 and 18 Mg ha −1 , with continuous maize being the most productive. Although Traditional maize produced similar or higher biomass yields than the novel Cropping Systems, the novel Systems are expected to reduce environmental impact and have positive effects on biodiversity. The fraction of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation ( fIpar ), the accumulated intercepted photosynthetically active radiation ( Ipar ) and the radiation use efficiency ( RUE ) were determined from canopy radiations measured biweekly for three years. These results showed a higher annual Ipar (800–1200 MJ m −2 ) but lower RUE (1.0–2.0 g MJ −1 ) for the most productive perennial crops than for the most productive annual crops such as maize and beet ( Ipar = 600–750 MJ m −2 , RUE = 2.3–3.0 g MJ −1 ), with variations depending on crop species, management actions and prevailing meteorological conditions. The lower aboveground RUE of perennial crops than of annual crops indicates differences in photosynthesis efficiencies and partitioning of assimilates to non-harvested plant parts and calls for further breeding of the perennial crops to improve their RUE .
Susan E. Powers - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Modeling water and soil quality environmental impacts associated with bioenergy crop production and biomass removal in the Midwest USA.
Ecological Modelling, 2011Co-Authors: Susan E. Powers, James C. Ascough, R.g. Nelson, Guy R. LarocqueAbstract:The removal of corn stover or production of herbaceous crops such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) or big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) as feedstocks for bioenergy purposes has been shown to have significant benefits from an energy and climate change perspective. There is potential, however, to adversely impact water and soil quality, especially in the United States Corn Belt where stover removal predominantly occurs and possibly in other areas with herbaceous energy crops depending upon a number of geo-climatic and economic factors. The overall goal of this research was to provide a thorough and mechanistic understanding of the relationship between stover and herbaceous crop production management practices and resulting range of impacts on soil and water quality, with a focus on eastern Iowa, USA. Comparisons of the production of herbaceous bioenergy crops to continuous corn (Zea mays L.) and corn-soybean (Glycine max L.) rotations on five different soils representative of the region were performed. Indices for total nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) loss to surface water and groundwater, total soil loss due to water and wind erosion, and cumulative soil carbon loss were derived to assess long-term sustainability. The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) agroecosystem model was used to quantify the sustainability indices and to generate sufficient data to provide a greater understanding of variables that affect water and soil quality than previously possible. The results clearly show the superiority of herbaceous crop production from a soil and water quality perspective. They also show, however, that compared to Traditional Cropping Systems (e.g., corn-soybean rotations with conventional tillage), soil and water quality degradation can be reduced under certain conditions at the same time stover is removed.