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Effect of Nitrogen Fertilization and Residual Nitrogen on Biomass Yield of Switchgrass

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Abstract

Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., grown for biomass has been extensively researched where the annual precipitation >760 mm and the climate varies from humid to moist-subhumid. Research is needed for areas that receive <700 mm of precipitation, where the climate varies from dry-subhumid to semiarid. The objectives were to determine (1) the effect of nitrogen fertilization on biomass production, (2) the effect of residual nitrogen on biomass production, (3) the nitrogen yield from harvested biomass, and (4) the concentration of soil organic carbon (SOC) from switchgrass plots. Plots were fertilized annually with nitrogen at the rates of 0, 40, 80, and 120 kg ha−1 from 2008 to 2011 and unfertilized from 2012 to 2015. The biomass yield varied with N rate × production year interactions (P < 0.05), and biomass yield as a function of N rate was either linear or curvilinear depending upon production year. When fertilized, the biomass yield averaged 4.4, 9.4, 11.6, and 13.2 ± 0.4 Mg ha−1 for the 0, 40, 80, and 120 kg ha−1 N rates, respectively. Residual nitrogen sustained high biomass yields for 1 year after fertilization ceased. The nitrogen harvested in biomass varied with N rate × production year interactions (P < 0.05), and the harvested nitrogen yield as a function of N rate was linear each year. Fertilization increased the concentration of SOC an average of 1.0 ± 0.2 mg g−1 of soil. The data suggest that producers could occasionally skip a year of nitrogen fertilization without detrimentally impacting the production of switchgrass biomass.

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Abbreviations

USDA:

US Department of Agriculture

SOC:

Soil organic carbon

N:

Nitrogen

P:

Phosphorus

K:

Potassium

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Acknowledgements

Funding for this research was provided by the USDA Agricultural Research Service. All programs and services of the USDA are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis, without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, or handicap. Mention of a trademark or a proprietary product does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product by USDA and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products.

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  1. USDA Agricultural Research Service, Southern Plains Range Research Station, 2000 18th Street, Woodward, OK, 73801, USA

    Tim L. Springer

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Springer, T.L. Effect of Nitrogen Fertilization and Residual Nitrogen on Biomass Yield of Switchgrass. Bioenerg. Res. 10, 648–656 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-017-9827-6

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