Harvest index–yield relationship for estimating crop residue in cold continental climates

Abstract Soil carbon (C) balance largely depends on the amount of crop residue inputs into soils and those inputs are affected by harvest index (HI), the ratio of harvested product to total shoot dry matter. The objective of this study was to establish the relationship between HI and yield for major crops to improve the estimation of aboveground crop residue inputs to agricultural soils in cold continental climates. We analyzed yield and HI data for 11 major crops from published field studies in a cold continental climate. Significant linear relationships between HI and crop yield were determined for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), maize (Zea mays L.), oat (Avena sativa L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.), chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), lentil (Lens culinaris L.), soybean (Glycine max L.), canola (Brassica napus L.), and flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) (R2 = 0.19–0.65, P   0.05) affected by cultivar when the grain yield effect was included. These results indicated that cultivar effect appears to be largely captured through crop yield, so it does not appear to be essential to know the cultivar to estimate the HI for an annual series of regional yields from different cultivars. The developed relationships between HI and crop yield allow improved estimation of residue inputs in cold continental climates.

[1]  Enli Wang,et al.  Sustainable limits to crop residue harvest for bioenergy: maintaining soil carbon in Australia's agricultural lands , 2015 .

[2]  David Rogosa,et al.  Comparing nonparallel regression lines. , 1980 .

[3]  Matthew P. Reynolds,et al.  Physiological and Genetic Changes of Irrigated Wheat in the Post–Green Revolution Period and Approaches for Meeting Projected Global Demand , 1999 .

[4]  Bernd Schilling,et al.  Estimation of past and recent carbon input by crops into agricultural soils of southeast Germany , 2014 .

[5]  Root carbon input in organic and inorganic fertilizer-based systems , 2012, Plant and Soil.

[6]  Xuesong Zhang,et al.  Regional scale cropland carbon budgets: Evaluating a geospatial agricultural modeling system using inventory data , 2015, Environ. Model. Softw..

[7]  S. Kumudini.  Trials and tribulations: a review of the role of assimilate supply in soybean genetic yield improvement , 2002 .

[8]  Luis Guanter,et al.  Agricultural Green Revolution as a driver of increasing atmospheric CO2 seasonal amplitude , 2014, Nature.

[9]  H. Janzen,et al.  An approach for estimating net primary productivity and annual carbon inputs to soil for common agricultural crops in Canada , 2007 .

[10]  Roberto C. Izaurralde,et al.  Management effects on soil C storage on the Canadian prairies , 1998 .

[11]  R. Lal,et al.  Soil Carbon Sequestration Impacts on Global Climate Change and Food Security , 2004, Science.

[12]  C. Campbell,et al.  Soil Organic Matter as Influenced by Crop Rotations and Fertilization , 1993 .

[13]  Gregg Marland,et al.  Cropland carbon fluxes in the United States: increasing geospatial resolution of inventory-based carbon accounting. , 2010, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[14]  Biswapati Mandal,et al.  The potential of cropping systems and soil amendments for carbon sequestration in soils under long‐term experiments in subtropical India , 2007 .

[15]  N. Ziadi,et al.  Carbon sequestration in an intensively cultivated sandy loam soil in the North China Plain as affected by compost and inorganic fertilizer application , 2014 .

[16]  L. M. Vleeshouwers,et al.  Carbon emission and sequestration by agricultural land use: a model study for Europe , 2002 .

[17]  W. Neil Adger,et al.  Estimating above-ground Carbon Fluxes from UK Agricultural Land , 1996 .

[18]  B. Ma,et al.  Field‐Grown Bt and non‐Bt Corn: Yield, Chemical Composition, and Decomposability , 2011 .

[19]  R. Hay,et al.  Harvest index: a review of its use in plant breeding and crop physiology , 1995 .

[20]  Jane M. F. Johnson,et al.  Estimating Source Carbon from Crop Residues, Roots and Rhizodeposits Using the National Grain-Yield Database , 2006 .

[21]  Donald L. Smith,et al.  Genetic improvement of spring barley cultivars grown in eastern Canada from 1910 to 1988 , 2004, Euphytica.

[22]  Y. Kuzyakov,et al.  Carbon input by plants into the soil. Review. , 2000 .

[23]  W. Schapaugh,et al.  Relationship Between Harvest Indices and other Plant Characteristics in Soybean1 , 1980 .

[24]  F. Javidfar,et al.  RELATIONSHIP AMONG YIELD COMPONENTS AND SELECTION CRITERIA FOR YIELD IMPROVEMENT IN WINTER RAPESEED (BRASSICA NAPUS L.) , 2003 .