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Nitrous oxide emission from an irrigated cotton field under semiarid subtropical conditions

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Abstract

In a 1-year study, quantification of nitrous oxide (N2O) emission was made from a flood-irrigated cotton field fertilized with urea at 100kg N ha−1 a−1. Measurements were made during the cotton-growing season (May–November) and the fallow period (December–April). Of the total 95 sampling dates, 77 showed positive N2O fluxes (range, 0.1 to 33.3g N ha−1 d−1), whereas negative fluxes (i.e., N2O sink activity) were recorded on 18 occasions (range, −0.1 to −2.2g N ha−1 d−1). Nitrous oxide sink activity was more frequently observed during the growing season (15 out of 57 sampling dates) as compared to the fallow period (3 out of 38 sampling dates). During the growing season, contribution of N2O to the denitrification gaseous N products was much less (average, 4%) as compared to that during the fallow period (average, 21%). Nitrous oxide emission integrated over the 6-month growing period amounted 324g N ha−1, whereas the corresponding figure for the 6-month fallow period was 648g N ha−1. Subtracting the N2O sink activity (30.3g N ha−1 and 3.8g N ha−1 during the growing season and fallow period, respectively), the net N2O emission amounted 938g N ha−1 a−1. Results suggested that high soil moisture and temperature prevailing under flood-irrigated cotton in the Central Punjab region of Pakistan though favor high denitrification rates, but are also conducive to N2O reduction thus leading to relatively low N2O emission.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Muhammad Boota Choudhary for maintaining the cotton field. An equipment grant by the Alexander-von-Humboldt Stiftung is also sincerely acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Institute for Agriculture & Biology, P.O. Box 128, Jhang Road, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan

    Tariq Mahmood, Rehmat Ali & Ume Robab

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, 54590, Pakistan

    Javed Iqbal

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  1. Tariq Mahmood
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  2. Rehmat Ali
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  3. Javed Iqbal
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  4. Ume Robab
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Correspondence to Tariq Mahmood.

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Mahmood, T., Ali, R., Iqbal, J. et al. Nitrous oxide emission from an irrigated cotton field under semiarid subtropical conditions. Biol Fertil Soils 44, 773–781 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-008-0276-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-008-0276-4

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