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Effect of Nitrogen Addition and Weed Interference on Soil Nitrogen and Corn Nitrogen Nutrition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John L. Lindquist ,
Sean P. Evans ,
Charles A. Shapiro  and
Stevan Z. Knezevic
John L. Lindquist*
Affiliation:
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583
Sean P. Evans
Affiliation:
Monsanto Company, Jerseyville, IL 62052
Charles A. Shapiro
Affiliation:
Haskell Agricultural Laboratory, University of Nebraska, Concord, NE 68728
Stevan Z. Knezevic
Affiliation:
Haskell Agricultural Laboratory, University of Nebraska, Concord, NE 68728
*
Corresponding author's E-mail: jlindquist1@unl.edu.
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Abstract

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Weeds cause crop loss indirectly by reducing the quantity of resources available for growth. Quantifying the effects of weed interference on nitrogen (N) supply, crop growth, and N nutrition may assist in making both N and weed management decisions. Experiments were conducted to quantify the effect of N addition and weed interference on soil nitrate-N (NO3-N) over time and the dependence of corn growth on NO3-N availability, determine the corn N nutrition index (NNI) at anthesis, and evaluate if relative chlorophyll content can be utilized as a reliable predictor of NNI. Urea was applied at 0, 60, and 120 kg N/ha to establish N treatments. Season-long weedy, weed-free, and five weed interference treatments were established by delaying weed control from time of crop planting to the V3, V6, V9, V15, or R1 stages of corn development. Soil NO3-N ranged from 20 kg N/ha without N addition to 98 kg N/ha with 120 kg N/ha added early in the season, but crop and weed growth reduced soil NO3-N to 10 kg N/ha by corn anthesis. Weed presence reduced soil NO3-N by up to 50%. Average available NO3-N explained 29 to 40% of the variation in corn shoot mass at maturity. Weed interference reduced corn biomass and NNI by 24 to 69%. Lack of N also reduced corn NNI by 13 to 46%, but reduced corn biomass by only 11 to 23%. Nondestructive measures of relative chlorophyll content predicted corn NNI with 65 to 85% accuracy. Although weed competition for factors other than N may be the major contributor to corn biomass reduction, the chlorophyll meter was a useful diagnostic tool for assessing the overall negative effects of weeds on corn productivity. Further research could develop management practices to guide supplemental N applications in response to weed competition.

La maleza causa pérdida indirecta del cultivo porque reduce la cantidad de recursos disponibles para su crecimiento. La cuantificación de los efectos de la interferencia de la maleza en el suministro de nitrógeno (N), crecimiento de cultivo y en la nutrición, es importante para la toma de decisiones relativas a la administración del N y al manejo de la maleza. Se realizaron experimentos para cuantificar los efectos de la administración de nitrógeno e interferencia de la maleza en el nitrato-N del suelo (NO3-N) al paso del tiempo y la dependencia del crecimiento de maíz con disponibilidad de NO3-N, para determinar el índice de nutrición del maíz (NN1) al espigamiento, y para evaluar si el contenido de clorofila relativa puede ser utilizada como un estimador confiable de (NN1). Urea fue aplicada a 0, 60 y 120 kg N/ha para establecer tratamientos de N. Se establecieron siete tratamientos: el primero, con largos períodos de abundante maleza, otro libre de maleza y cinco tratamientos con diferentes interferencias de maleza, a través de retrasar el control de la misma, cuando el maíz alcanzó las etapas V3, V6, V9, V15 y R1. El nitrato en el suelo se encontró en cantidades de 20 kg/ha sin adición de N. Cuando se aplicó 120 kg de N/ha, se registró una cantidad de 98 kg/ha de nitratos, al principio de la estación. Sin embargo, el crecimiento de la maleza y del cultivo redujeron el nitrato del suelo a 10 kg/ha hasta la antesis. La presencia de maleza, disminuyó el nitrato del suelo hasta un 50%. El promedio de NO3-N disponible explicó del 29 al 40% de la variación del crecimiento de los brotes del maíz, en la etapa de maduración. La interferencia de la maleza redujo la biomasa del maíz y del NN1 entre 24 y 69%. La falta de N redujo el NN1 del maíz de un 13 a un 46%, pero disminuyó la biomasa del maíz solamente del 11 al 23%. Las medidas no destructivas del contenido relativo de clorofila, estimaron el NN1 de maíz con un 65 a 80% de certeza. Mientras que la competencia de maleza para factores diferentes al N puede ser el factor más importante en la reducción de la biomasa del maíz; el medidor de clorofila fue una herramienta útil de diagnóstico para evaluar sobretodo los efectos negativos de la maleza en el rendimiento. Futuras investigaciones deben de desarrollar guías prácticas de manejo en aplicaciones suplementarias de N, en respuesta a la competencia de la maleza.

Keywords

Corn, Zea mays L. ‘DK589RR’Duration of weed interferencenitrogen uptakeresource acquisitioninterplant competitionnitrogen nutrition indexchlorophyll
Type
Weed Biology and Competition
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 50 - 58
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America

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