Carbon and nitrogen cycling in a tropical Brazilian soil cropped with sugarcane and irrigated with wastewater

Rafael Marques Pereira Leal, Lilian Pittol Firme, Uwe Herpin, Adriel Ferreira da Fonseca, Célia Regina Montes, Carlos Tadeu dos Santos Dias and Adolpho José Melfi

Agricultural Water Management, 2010, vol. 97, issue 2, 271-276

Abstract: Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics in agro-systems can be altered as a consequence of treated sewage effluent (TSE) irrigation. The present study evaluated the effects of TSE irrigation over 16 months on N concentrations in sugarcane (leaves, stalks and juice), total soil carbon (TC), total soil nitrogen (TN), NO3--N in soil and nitrate (NO3-) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in soil solution. The soil was classified as an Oxisol and samplings were carried out during the first productive crop cycle, from February 2005 (before planting) to September 2006 (after sugarcane harvest and 16 months of TSE irrigation). The experiment was arranged in a complete block design with five treatments and four replicates. Irrigated plots received 50% of the recommended mineral N fertilization and 100% (T100), 125% (T125), 150% (T150) and 200% (T200) of crop water demand. No mineral N and irrigation were applied to the control plots. TSE irrigation enhanced sugarcane yield but resulted in total-N inputs (804-1622kgNha-1) greater than exported N (463-597kgNha-1). Hence, throughout the irrigation period, high NO3- concentrations (up to 388mgL-1 at T200) and DOC (up to 142mg L-1 at T100) were measured in soil solution below the root zone, indicating the potential of groundwater contamination. TSE irrigation did not change soil TC and TN.

Keywords: Wastewater; irrigation; Water; reuse; Saccharum; spp.; Nitrate; Dissolved; organic; carbon; Tropical; soil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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