World Sulfur Use Efficiency for Cereal Crops
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Agronomy Journal
Abstract
Sulfur (S) is an essential plant nutrient needed for higher crop
yields and improved nutritional value. In recent decades, the
occurrence of S deficiency has increased and fertilizer S use may
steadily increase. This may lead to inefficient crop utilization of
S and result into negative footprints on the environment. The
objective of this work was to estimate world fertilizer sulfur use
efficiency (SUE) for major cereal crops grown around the world.
A 10-yr data set (2005–2014) was obtained from the Food and
Agriculture Organization, the US Geological Survey, and an
array of other published research articles. Statistical analysis
was performed using MS Excel to obtain total area for world
and cereal crops, grain yield, and fertilizer S applied. The difference
method [(Total grain S – grain S derived from the soil)/S
applied] was used to compute world SUE. Cereal crops included
in this study were barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), maize (Zea mays
L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.), millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.), wheat
(Triticum aestivum L.), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.), rye (Secale
cereale L.), and oat (Avena sativa L.). Cereal production increased
from 2669 M Mg in 2005 to 3346 M Mg in 2014. Sulfur use
efficiency for cereal crops was estimated to be 18%. This low SUE
may be attributable to S leaching from the soil profile, immobilization,
retention in residues, and adsorption. As increased quantities
of fertilizer S are likely to be applied in future to meet the
ever-growing demand for food, SUE could decline below 18%.
Description
Keywords
World Sulfur, Efficiency, Cereal Crops
Citation
Aula, L., Dhillon, J. S., Omara, P., Wehmeyer, G. B., Freeman, K. W., & Raun, W. R. (2019). World sulfur use efficiency for cereal crops. Agronomy Journal, 111(5), 2485-2492. doi:10.2134/agronj2019.02.0095