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Date: Tuesday 6th September
Time: 11:00am
Venue: CSIRO conference room
Nitrogenous Gas Emissions from Agricultural Soils
Debra Turner, University of Melbourne.
Abstract
Due to the application of nitrogen (N) fertilizers and animal excreta agricultural soils emit large quantities of ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitric oxide (NO) to the atmosphere. As well as negative environmental effects, such as contribution to acid precipitation and enhancement of the greenhouse effect, the processes that produce these gases are the main cause of the low efficiency of N fertilizers. A series of field studies using various measurement techniques were carried out in Australia and China to quantify emissions of NH3, N2O and NO, to investigate how farming practices impact on the soil N dynamics responsible for their loss and to recommend strategies to reduce them. Measurement techniques employed included: micrometeorological methods to determine NH3 volatilization resulting from grazed pastures and fertilizer applications to crops; static and automated flow-through chambers to measure N2O and NOx emissions from pastures and crops; and 15N-labelled urea recovery from microplots. A few of the findings are summarized as follows:
- Ammonia loss following urea, ammonium sulfate and urea-ammonium nitrate fertilizer application to winter cereals in western Victoria varied with fertilizer type, soil moisture content and soil texture and ranged from 1.3 to 23% of N applied. Addition of a urease inhibitor [N-(n-butyl) thiophosphorictriamide] to a urea treatment reduced losses by more than 80%.
- Emissions of NOx and NH3 from a maize crop fertilized by deep-placed urea in northern China were 1.2% and 6.5% of the applied N, respectively.
- Significantly more fertilizer N was recovered in the grain of irrigated maize from a stubble incorporated treatment than a stubble burned treatment (P < 0.05), and more fertilizer N remained in the soil in the stubble burned treatment. Inclusion of a nitrification inhibitor (ATS) in the fertilizer formulation did not appear to have an impact on fertilizer N recovery.
- More NO and N2O was emitted from pasture with high phosphorus fertility than from low fertility paddocks likely due to restriction of legume growth by phosphorus deficiency. Overall, changing the land use from a mixed clover grass pasture to a wheat crop resulted in increased emissions of NO and N2O. Most of the N2O was emitted when the water filled pore space (WFPS) was high and most of the NO was emitted when the WFPS was low suggesting that the N2O was formed during denitrification and the NO was formed by nitrification.
About the speaker
Debra Turner graduated with a PhD degree from the University of Melbourne in 2010. Her PhD program and thesis, Quantification and Mitigation of Gaseous Nitrogen Emissions from Pasture and Cropping Systems, utilized various micrometeorological and soil-chamber methods to measure soil nitrogen (N) emissions in a range of agricultural systems in Australia and China. Included in these field-based studies was the investigation of the soil N dynamics associated with the processes responsible for the losses of nitrous oxide and NOx, namely nitrification and denitrification, and the management practices and soil properties that contribute to ammonia volatilization from fertilizer application to soils or by urine deposited to pastures by grazing animals.
Since 2009 Debra has worked on a CSIRO/University of Melbourne Collaborative Project, Mitigation of Methane emissions from the Northern Australian Beef Herd, which was integral in contributing to a recent CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund Cluster grant awarded to the University of Melbourne under the Sustainable Agriculture Flagship. She is currently employed on the Dairy Australia project, Supporting Mitigation and Adaptation in the Australian Dairy Industry (MAADI), where she uses open-path laser measurements and atmospheric dispersion modelling to investigate enteric methane emission from cows grazing various forage crops and pastures. She is also closely involved with the MAADI nitrous oxide measurements program led by DPI VIC for whom she arranged and oversaw the construction and implementation of the static, soil-chamber system for measuring emissions.
Debra is keenly aware of the difficulties faced by farmers and the agricultural industry to perform in an environmentally-friendly and sustainable manner while maintaining economic profitability. She is passionate about providing the excellent and necessary science to inform the industry and government of best management practices which include strategies that will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Date: Wednesday 17th August
Time: 11:00am
Venue: CSIRO conference room
Improving the Irrisat-SMS web interface
Maëlle Delay, CSIRO Land and Water, Griffith.
Abstract
Management of irrigation is an important issue in Australia. Irrigation scheduling by growers is usually based on inputs from weather, soil moisture and plant condition. Several tools exist to improve the data flow to growers. IrriGATEWAY is one of available on-line tools to help farmers to manage irrigation. This web site is a platform created by CSIRO-Land and Water. It is used by around 500 farmers from different farming areas and contains several different tools based on continuing research activities. One of the tools is irrisat-SMS. This tool informs growers, daily, of the amount of water they need to apply to the crop, converted in a time to run the (drip) irrigation system. One of the innovative aspects of this system is that this information is send directly by SMS to growers' mobile phones. To provide accurate volumes, irrisatSMS is based on three inputs: local weather station data, remote sensing data and irrigation and rain data from the grower.
This seminar will present how IrrisatSMS is working, what improvements have been made (the new interface will be shown) and what improvements are recommended to improve the ease of use of the web portal. The aim of the improvements to the web portal is to provide a reliable and accurate information flow and integration with the requirements of 500 different growers, each with their specific farming system.
About the speaker
Maëlle Delay is studying agronomy, with an option in Information of Communication Technologies applied to agronomy, in the ENITAB, a French engineering school in Bordeaux, France. She completed a three months internship in Griffith CSIRO Land and Water to improve the IrrisatSMS web interface. She will conclude the seminar with her personal experience, and her vision on the interaction between computer informatics and agriculture.
Date: Wednesday 3rd August
Time: 11:00am
Venue: CSIRO conference room
Efficency of treating winery wastewater
Ms Ophelie Horta, ENSCR, Rennes, France.
Abstract
The Riverina region is one of the biggest wine producers in Australia. Particularly, the Griffith region is well-known in New South Wales for its several large wineries. The production of wine needs a large quantity of water for the different steps, approximately 2.6 litres of water for every 1 litre of wine. Found in this water are the main components of the wine which are ethanol, glucose and fructose. They represent almost 90% of the composition of the water during the vintage. The water rejected by the wineries is different from other wastewater, considering its organic matter concentration. For environmental considerations, and in order not to overflow municipal wastewater treatment plants, most of the wineries have their own wastewater treatment plant. It enables to have treatments adapted to this particular composition, and the wineries can recycle the water treated.
Studies have been made to determine the concentrations of ethanol, glucose and fructose in the winery wastewater before any treatment, during and out of vintage, but there is a lack of knowledge about the concentrations of these compounds during the treatment of the water. The goal of the project has been to study the composition of winery wastewater at each step of the treatment. A conclusion can be made on the efficiency of the treatment plant considering the removal of the organic matter.
This seminar will present the results of the study, the conclusions that can be made towards the efficiency of the treatment, and a personal conclusion about my experience in Australia.
About the speaker
Ophelie Horta is studying chemical engineering applied to the environment, with options in analysis in the ENSCR, which is a French engineering school in Rennes, France. For her fourth year internship, she has been at Griffith CSIRO Land and Water the last three months working on the composition of winery wastewater. Her supervisor is Wendy Quayle.
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