To burn or not to burn: The question of straw burning and nitrogen fertilization effect on nitrous oxide emissions in sugarcane

Jorge Chalco Vera; Alejandro Valeiro; Gabriela Posse; Martín Moisés Acreche

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.172

To burn or not to burn: The question of straw burning and nitrogen fertilization effect on nitrous oxide emissions in sugarcane

Sci Total Environ. 2017 Jun 1:587-588:399-406. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.172. Epub 2017 Feb 27.

Authors

Jorge Chalco Vera¹, Alejandro Valeiro², Gabriela Posse³, Martín Moisés Acreche⁴

Affiliations

¹ Estación Experimental INTA Famaillá, Ruta Provincial 301, km 32, 4132 Famaillá, Tucumán, Argentina; CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Electronic address: chalcovera.jorge@inta.gob.ar.
² Estación Experimental INTA Famaillá, Ruta Provincial 301, km 32, 4132 Famaillá, Tucumán, Argentina.
³ Instituto de Clima y Agua, CIRN-CNIA, Repetto y Los Reseros s/n, 1686 Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
⁴ CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Estación Experimental INTA Salta, Ruta Nacional 68, km 172, 4400 Salta, Argentina.

PMID: 28249749
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.172

Abstract

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is the main greenhouse gas emitted from farming systems and is associated with nitrogen (N) fertilizer application as well as decomposition of organic matter present in the environment. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of post-harvest straw burning and synthetic N fertilization on the dynamics of N₂O emissions in the sugarcane-soil system in Tucuman, Argentina, compared with a native forest. Close-vented chambers were used to capture N₂O during three consecutive growing seasons. The highest N₂O emissions from the sugarcane-soil system coincided with the period of high soil and air temperatures, rainfall and soil N content. The effect of synthetic N fertilization on annual cumulative N₂O emission was 7.4-61.5% higher in straw burned than in unburned treatments, especially during a wet growing season. There was a significant effect of treatments on N₂O emission factors among growing seasons: 0.58-1.67% and 0.94-3.34% in the unburnt and burnt treatments, respectively. The emission factors for sugarcane are highly dependent on rainfall, temperature and crop management practices; regarding the latter, avoiding straw burning and reducing N soil availability, assessing alternative N fertilizers or new application modes such as split rates, seem to be the key for mitigating N₂O emissions from the sugarcane-soil system in Tucumán, Argentina.

Keywords: Argentina; Baseline vegetation; IPCC factors; Soil moisture; Soil organic matter.