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Effects of long-term cattle manure application on soil properties and soil heavy metals in corn seed production in Northwest China

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Abstract

To evaluate the effects of manure application on continuous maize seed production, 10-year cattle manure on soil properties, heavy metal in soil and plant were evaluated and investigated in calcareous soil. Results showed that manure application increased soil organic matter, total and available nutrients, pH, and electrical conductivity (EC), and the most massive rate caused the highest increase. Manure application led to an increase in exchangeable fraction and an increase of availability of heavy metal. Residual fraction was dominant among all metals, followed by the fraction bound to Fe and Mn oxides. Manure application involved accumulation of heavy metal on corn, but the accumulation in the stem is higher than that in the seed. Manure application led to a high deficiency of total Zn and high accumulation of total Cd in the soil of corn seed production, which should be a risk for safety seed production in calcareous soil in Northwest China.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the anonymous reviewers for their efforts in further improving this article. Also, we thank Dr. Wenlin Bai from Shenyang Agricultural University for his critical review on this article. This project was financially supported by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 91025002/ 010106) and the Key Laboratory Program of Characteristic Resources of Hexi Corridor (grant no. XZ1006).

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  1. School of Agriculture and Biotechnology of Hexi University, Zhangye, 734000, Gansu, China

    Yunchen Zhao, Zhibin Yan, Jiahai Qin & Zhanwen Xiao

  2. Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Yunchen Zhao

  3. Gansu Dunhuang Seed Co., Ltd, Jiuquan, 735000, Gansu, China

    Zhibin Yan

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  1. Yunchen Zhao
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Zhao, Y., Yan, Z., Qin, J. et al. Effects of long-term cattle manure application on soil properties and soil heavy metals in corn seed production in Northwest China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 21, 7586–7595 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2671-8

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