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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Greenhouse Gas Fluxes from an Irrigated Sweet Corn (Zea mays L.)–Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Rotation

^a USDA-ARS, Vegetable and Forage Research Unit, 24106 N. Bunn Rd., Prosser, WA 99350
^b Washington State Univ., Irrigated Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 24106 N. Bunn Rd., Prosser, WA 99350
^c Washington State Univ., Dep. of Crop and Soil Sciences, Pullman, WA 99164-6420

^* Corresponding author (hal.collins{at}ars.usda.gov).

Received for publication July 27, 2007. Intensive agriculture and increased N fertilizer use have contributed to elevated emissions of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O). In this study, the exchange of CO₂, N₂O, and CH₄ between a Quincy fine sand (mixed, mesic Xeric Torripsamments) soil and atmosphere was measured in a sweet corn (Zea mays L.)–sweet corn–potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) rotation during the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons under irrigation in eastern Washington. Gas samples were collected using static chambers installed in the second-year sweet corn and potato plots under conventional tillage or reduced tillage. Total emissions of CO₂–C from sweet corn integrated over the season were 2071 and 1684 kg CO₂–C ha^–1 for the 2005 and 2006 growing seasons, respectively. For the same period, CO₂ emissions from potato plots were 1571 and 1256 kg of CO₂–C ha^–1. Cumulative CO₂ fluxes from sweet corn and potato fields were 17 and 13 times higher, respectively, than adjacent non-irrigated, native shrub steppe vegetation (NV). Nitrous oxide losses accounted for 0.5% (0.55 kg N ha^–1) of the applied fertilizer (112 kg N ha^–1) in corn and 0.3% (0.59 kg N ha^–1) of the 224 kg N ha^–1 applied fertilizer. Sweet corn and potato plots, on average, absorbed 1.7 g CH₄–C ha^–1 d^–1 and 2.3 g CH₄–C ha^–1 d^–1, respectively. The global warming potential contributions from NV, corn, and potato fields were 459, 7843, and 6028 kg CO₂–equivalents ha^–1, respectively, for the 2005 growing season and were 14% lower in 2006.

Abbreviations: CT, conventional tillage • GHG, greenhouse gas • GSM, gravimetric soil moisture • GWP, global warming potential • IPCC, International Panel on Climate Change • IR, inter-row • IS, in-season • NV, non-irrigated native vegetation • R, row • RT, reduced tillage • SBD, soil bulk density • UAN, urea ammonium nitrate • WFPS, water-filled pore space