Ignacio Orona-Castillo

Nutrients Use Efficiency in Legume Crops to Climatic Changes

Legumes, with the ability of 88% of the species examined to date to form nodules with rhizobia and fix nitrogen, are second only to the Gramineae in their importance to humans. Legume species are going to play a very important role in relationship to the nutrient use and efficiency in agriculture under climate changes resulting from human activity. Climate change associated with increased human caused CO2 pollution will affect weather patterns, resulting in increased global temperatures and rainfall, more extreme events, and regional changes in annual mean temperatures and precipitation. These changes will impact all inhabitants in the world, including through food production. The effects may be direct, for example via increased photosynthesis or indirect via changes in soil microclimate affecting rates of mineralization of nutrients. In this sense, climate change may have beneficial as well as detrimental consequences for agriculture and crop nutrient use efficiency. Some research indicates that warmer temperatures lengthen growing seasons and increased carbon dioxide in the air results in higher yields. Together these would increase nutrient demand from some crops and potentially may lead to either increased nutrient use efficiency or reduced efficiency for example via inability to supply adequate P resulting in reduced N fixation. While changes, will likely vary significantly by region a warming climate and decreasing soil moisture can also result in production patterns shifting northward and an increasing need for irrigation. These shifts in production system are also likely to lead to changes in nutrient use efficiency by legumes.

Bioinoculants and organic fertilizers in the production of silage corn

Introduction : The forage production in the Comarca Lagunera is intensive, so there is not enough time that allows the soil to recover. Silage corn crop in this region is second in importance with respect to the harvested area; that is why it is essential to search for strategies to recover the quality of the soils without affecting the yield. Method : The production of silage corn was evaluated with the hybrid P3258W, from Pioneer. A commercial bio-inoculant was applied to the soil at doses of 0, 20 and 40 l ha-1, in combination with seven sources of fertilizer: vermicompost at 5 and 10 t ha -1 , dairy cow manure in 80 t ha -1 , inorganic fertilizer (191-75-30 NPK), and a commercial organic fertilizer at doses of 2.5 and 5 l ha-1 and the control. The experimental design was in randomized blocks, and the treatments in a split-plot arrangement, where the main plot was the bio-inoculant and the subplot was the source of fertilization. The variables evaluated were fresh and dry forage yield, plant height at harvest; soil samples taken after the harvest were evaluated for: organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity, inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus. In plant samples taken at harvest, total nitrogen and phosphorus were determined. Results : There was significant differences in yield with respect to the fertilizer source and the best treatment was manure applied at a dose of 80 t ha -1 . In the characteristics of the soil: organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus showed significant differences among doses of soil bio-innoculant and among fertilizer sources. For plant nitrogen, differences were significant among doses of bio-inoculant and among fertilizer sources. In the case of plant phosphorus, the analysis showed a significant interaction among doses of bio-inoculant and fertilizer sources. Conclusion : The production of silage corn can be carried out using bio-inoculants and organic fertilizers without affecting the yield and improving the content of organic matter, nitrogen phosphorus in the soil.

Assessing Environmental and Social Dimensions of Water Issues Through Sustainability Indicators in Arid and Semiarid Zones

Enrique Troyo-Dieguez1, Arturo Cruz-Falcon1, Alejandra Nieto-Garibay1, Ignacio Orona-Castillo2 , Bernardo Murillo-Amador1, Jose Luis Garcia-Hernandez2 and Alfredo Ortega-Rubio1 1Programa de Agricultura en Zonas Aridas, Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CIBNOR, S.C.). La Paz, Baja California Sur; 2Facultad de Agricultura y Zootecnia (FAZ), Universidad Juarez del Estado de Durango, Gomez Palacio, Durango; Mexico