Gerardo Besga Salazar - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Gerardo Besga Salazar

Agrociencia, 2019

espanolLas formaciones herbosas Nardus, con numerosas especies, son algunos de los habitats mas v... more espanolLas formaciones herbosas Nardus, con numerosas especies, son algunos de los habitats mas vastos de las zonas montanosas de Europa y su contenido de proteina bruta (CP) es una de las propiedades estudiadas para el manejo de pastoreo sustentable. La espectroscopia del infrarrojo cercano (NIRS) y la espectroscopia visible e infrarrojo cercano (VNIRS) son tecnologias alternativas para medir el contenido de CP en pastos y forrajes. A pesar de ser un metodo rapido, barato y respetuoso con el ambiente, se deben tomar en cuenta problemas relacionados con la presentacion de la muestra a considerar, en especial en condiciones de campo. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el potencial de la VNIRS para estimar el contenido de CP en formaciones herbosas con Nardus, con numerosas especies, en muestras no procesadas en condiciones de campo (en el sitio) y muestras procesadas escaneadas en condiciones de laboratorio. La hipotesis fue que se pueden desarrollar modelos de calibracion preci...

An investigation was eonducted to assess the value of herbage nutrient ratios for diagnosing nutr... more An investigation was eonducted to assess the value of herbage nutrient ratios for diagnosing nutritional status of pasture plants, and to determine the K/P ratio whieh corresponded to good nutritional balance between these elements. A P x K x N factorial trial with 6 rates of P, 3 rates of K and 2 rates of N was established on a newly-sown pasture of white clover and ryegrass. Herbage was cut 4 times in the following year and measurements of DM production and ehemical composition of white clover and total herbage were made. For each treatment, potential responses to P and K (PRP and PR]<) were calculated, these being the maximum additional yields which have been obtained with higher applications of P alone or K alone, respectively. Values for (PRP - PR|<) were plotted against K/P ratios in white clover and total herbage. White clover K/P ratios greater than 5.4 were nearly always associated with positive values of (PRP - PR]<) in total herbage (i.e. P more deficient than K)...

Food systems will have to provide increasing amounts of products at lower environmental costs. Li... more Food systems will have to provide increasing amounts of products at lower environmental costs. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a methodology that can be used in agricultural systems to quantify input flows, materials and energy, as well as processes needed to obtain a food product. Selection of the appropriate impact categories and use of the corresponding indicators is of upmost importance to promote agricultural sustainability. A key aspect to guarantee the success of the concept and use of environmental impact thinking in agriculture is the involvement of farmers in the calculation of sustainability indicators. The objective of this work is to develop an online GIS-based platform for extensive crops with four decision-support tools (DST): crop varieties, fertilization, irrigation, and risk of plant disease appearance, at the same time that agricultural sustainability indicators can be calculated, in a plot basis. Selected indicators are: a) Carbon footprint, b) Water footprint, and ...

Desde junio de 2015 esta a disposicion de los agricultores colaboradores del proyecto LIFE sigAGR... more Desde junio de 2015 esta a disposicion de los agricultores colaboradores del proyecto LIFE sigAGROasesor la nueva version de la plataforma web. Una de las novedades de esta version V2 es la incorporacion de imagenes procedentes de teledeteccion para la estimacion del desarrollo del cultivo en cada parcela, dentro del funcionamiento de la Herramienta de Ayuda a la Decision en Riego. La HAD RIEGO es una herramienta muy util para conocer en tiempo real en cada campana y a nivel de cada parcela en que momento y cuanto tengo que regar. Es una de las pocas aplicaciones a nivel nacional que integra ademas automaticamente los datos de prediccion meteorologica proporcionados por AEMET en el calculo de las necesidades de riego. De este modo, permite anticiparse a las necesidades de agua del cultivo que no van a cubrirse con la precipitacion y estimar con mas seguridad un riego eficiente. El proyecto LIFE sigAGROasesor es un proyecto nacional de caracter publico, innovador y pionero que persig...

Agriculture, 2021

This study aimed to estimate the environmental impact of barley production in the Basque Country,... more This study aimed to estimate the environmental impact of barley production in the Basque Country, Northern Spain, using cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, as well as to assess how methodological choices (i.e., the use of IPCC 2019 Guidelines versus allocation methods) can influence such estimation. The production of mineral fertiliser and the direct emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) resulting from the application of nitrogen (N) fertiliser were identified as the two main contributors (40% and 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions, respectively) to the environmental impact of barley production. Pertaining to GHG emissions themselves, the use of calcium ammonium nitrate fertiliser was found to be the main contributor. Therefore, the optimization of N fertiliser application was established as a key process to reduce the environmental impact of barley production. The fertiliser-related release of N and phosphorous (P) to the environment was the main contributor to part...

Geoderma, 2021

Abstract The growing global demand for livestock products has increased the scale of livestock fa... more Abstract The growing global demand for livestock products has increased the scale of livestock farming. The management and disposal of large quantities of manures has become a serious environmental challenge. At the same time, there is a need for providing nutrients to plants in a sustainable way, in particular nitrogen (N). In this sense, a better understanding of N availability from livestock manures when applied to the soil will help to improve their use as fertilizers. It was hypothesized that the mineralization dynamics of the manures might be different depending on their composition and the presence of wheat. This work is performed to evaluate the effect of cattle manure (CM), hen manure (HM), and dairy slurry (DS), at two N rates when wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was grown or not (bare soil) on i) protease, amidase, and urease activities and ii) dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and mineral N dynamics in soil solutions. A pot experiment was carried out in a greenhouse¸ and CM, HM, and DS were applied at 170 and 340 kg N ha−1 rates in the presence or absence of plants. Soil cores and solution samples were taken throughout the wheat growing period. Protease and amidase activities were higher for CM and DS applied at the highest N rate, respectively. Urease activity increased when wheat was grown with the lower N rate in the three manures. The DS caused higher concentrations of DOC and ammonium the day after its application than when HM and CM were used. During the first month, the nitrate concentration increased and was highest with HM, followed by DS and CM. However, the nitrate concentrations decreased in the treatments with plants after tillering. Wheat N uptake at harvest was highest with HM, followed by DS and CM. Mineralization dynamics were different in the three manures, which implies that the application times must be different.

Geoderma, 2020

Rapid urbanization followed by economic crisis frequently results in the presence of degraded aba... more Rapid urbanization followed by economic crisis frequently results in the presence of degraded abandoned urban plots inside or in the periphery of cities. Urban greening can be a low-cost solution for their reclamation but, inevitably, the necessary plants require an appropriate medium to grow and thrive. In this study, Technosols were explored as a suitable option to simultaneously face two common challenges of many cities, i.e., the reclamation of degraded abandoned city plots and the recycling of industrial and urban wastes. To this purpose, a mesocosm experiment was carried out to assess the suitability of six different Technosols (resulting from the combination of the following four ingredients: CDW: construction and demolition wastes; BIO: bio-stabilized material from a municipal composting plant; BENT: recycled bentonites from a local industry; TS: topsoil from vacant public plots) for the reclamation of abandoned city plots. The six Technosols were prepared in triplicate and then installed in 12 m 2 experimental cells. Control cells

Historia Agraria Revista de agricultura e historia rural, 2019

Soils in Lea-Artibai County (northern Spain) show three significant features: frequent absence of... more Soils in Lea-Artibai County (northern Spain) show three significant features: frequent absence of A horizons, higher nutrient concentrations in the surface mineral horizon of past or present arable fields compared to those in forest or shrubland, and the common presence of calcareous horizons in arable fields which is out of character with the region’s humid climate. Farmers stopped applying lime around 1950, so the third feature is interpreted as the result of over-liming since the eighteenth century. The “maize revolution” that began in the mid-seventeenth century relied upon a three-crop rotation system using bracken as a primary fertilizer along with animal manure and lime obtained from local kilns that burned gorse. Extraction of these plant materials resulted in a negative phosphorus balance of phosphorus and the acidification of shrubland soils. The county could not accommodate these various land uses in the early twentieth century, and extraction of leaf litter from forests ...

Agrociencia, 2019

espanolLas formaciones herbosas Nardus, con numerosas especies, son algunos de los habitats mas v... more espanolLas formaciones herbosas Nardus, con numerosas especies, son algunos de los habitats mas vastos de las zonas montanosas de Europa y su contenido de proteina bruta (CP) es una de las propiedades estudiadas para el manejo de pastoreo sustentable. La espectroscopia del infrarrojo cercano (NIRS) y la espectroscopia visible e infrarrojo cercano (VNIRS) son tecnologias alternativas para medir el contenido de CP en pastos y forrajes. A pesar de ser un metodo rapido, barato y respetuoso con el ambiente, se deben tomar en cuenta problemas relacionados con la presentacion de la muestra a considerar, en especial en condiciones de campo. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el potencial de la VNIRS para estimar el contenido de CP en formaciones herbosas con Nardus, con numerosas especies, en muestras no procesadas en condiciones de campo (en el sitio) y muestras procesadas escaneadas en condiciones de laboratorio. La hipotesis fue que se pueden desarrollar modelos de calibracion preci...

An investigation was eonducted to assess the value of herbage nutrient ratios for diagnosing nutr... more An investigation was eonducted to assess the value of herbage nutrient ratios for diagnosing nutritional status of pasture plants, and to determine the K/P ratio whieh corresponded to good nutritional balance between these elements. A P x K x N factorial trial with 6 rates of P, 3 rates of K and 2 rates of N was established on a newly-sown pasture of white clover and ryegrass. Herbage was cut 4 times in the following year and measurements of DM production and ehemical composition of white clover and total herbage were made. For each treatment, potential responses to P and K (PRP and PR]<) were calculated, these being the maximum additional yields which have been obtained with higher applications of P alone or K alone, respectively. Values for (PRP - PR|<) were plotted against K/P ratios in white clover and total herbage. White clover K/P ratios greater than 5.4 were nearly always associated with positive values of (PRP - PR]<) in total herbage (i.e. P more deficient than K)...

Food systems will have to provide increasing amounts of products at lower environmental costs. Li... more Food systems will have to provide increasing amounts of products at lower environmental costs. Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a methodology that can be used in agricultural systems to quantify input flows, materials and energy, as well as processes needed to obtain a food product. Selection of the appropriate impact categories and use of the corresponding indicators is of upmost importance to promote agricultural sustainability. A key aspect to guarantee the success of the concept and use of environmental impact thinking in agriculture is the involvement of farmers in the calculation of sustainability indicators. The objective of this work is to develop an online GIS-based platform for extensive crops with four decision-support tools (DST): crop varieties, fertilization, irrigation, and risk of plant disease appearance, at the same time that agricultural sustainability indicators can be calculated, in a plot basis. Selected indicators are: a) Carbon footprint, b) Water footprint, and ...

Desde junio de 2015 esta a disposicion de los agricultores colaboradores del proyecto LIFE sigAGR... more Desde junio de 2015 esta a disposicion de los agricultores colaboradores del proyecto LIFE sigAGROasesor la nueva version de la plataforma web. Una de las novedades de esta version V2 es la incorporacion de imagenes procedentes de teledeteccion para la estimacion del desarrollo del cultivo en cada parcela, dentro del funcionamiento de la Herramienta de Ayuda a la Decision en Riego. La HAD RIEGO es una herramienta muy util para conocer en tiempo real en cada campana y a nivel de cada parcela en que momento y cuanto tengo que regar. Es una de las pocas aplicaciones a nivel nacional que integra ademas automaticamente los datos de prediccion meteorologica proporcionados por AEMET en el calculo de las necesidades de riego. De este modo, permite anticiparse a las necesidades de agua del cultivo que no van a cubrirse con la precipitacion y estimar con mas seguridad un riego eficiente. El proyecto LIFE sigAGROasesor es un proyecto nacional de caracter publico, innovador y pionero que persig...

Agriculture, 2021

This study aimed to estimate the environmental impact of barley production in the Basque Country,... more This study aimed to estimate the environmental impact of barley production in the Basque Country, Northern Spain, using cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, as well as to assess how methodological choices (i.e., the use of IPCC 2019 Guidelines versus allocation methods) can influence such estimation. The production of mineral fertiliser and the direct emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) resulting from the application of nitrogen (N) fertiliser were identified as the two main contributors (40% and 30% of all greenhouse gas emissions, respectively) to the environmental impact of barley production. Pertaining to GHG emissions themselves, the use of calcium ammonium nitrate fertiliser was found to be the main contributor. Therefore, the optimization of N fertiliser application was established as a key process to reduce the environmental impact of barley production. The fertiliser-related release of N and phosphorous (P) to the environment was the main contributor to part...

Geoderma, 2021

Abstract The growing global demand for livestock products has increased the scale of livestock fa... more Abstract The growing global demand for livestock products has increased the scale of livestock farming. The management and disposal of large quantities of manures has become a serious environmental challenge. At the same time, there is a need for providing nutrients to plants in a sustainable way, in particular nitrogen (N). In this sense, a better understanding of N availability from livestock manures when applied to the soil will help to improve their use as fertilizers. It was hypothesized that the mineralization dynamics of the manures might be different depending on their composition and the presence of wheat. This work is performed to evaluate the effect of cattle manure (CM), hen manure (HM), and dairy slurry (DS), at two N rates when wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was grown or not (bare soil) on i) protease, amidase, and urease activities and ii) dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and mineral N dynamics in soil solutions. A pot experiment was carried out in a greenhouse¸ and CM, HM, and DS were applied at 170 and 340 kg N ha−1 rates in the presence or absence of plants. Soil cores and solution samples were taken throughout the wheat growing period. Protease and amidase activities were higher for CM and DS applied at the highest N rate, respectively. Urease activity increased when wheat was grown with the lower N rate in the three manures. The DS caused higher concentrations of DOC and ammonium the day after its application than when HM and CM were used. During the first month, the nitrate concentration increased and was highest with HM, followed by DS and CM. However, the nitrate concentrations decreased in the treatments with plants after tillering. Wheat N uptake at harvest was highest with HM, followed by DS and CM. Mineralization dynamics were different in the three manures, which implies that the application times must be different.

Geoderma, 2020

Rapid urbanization followed by economic crisis frequently results in the presence of degraded aba... more Rapid urbanization followed by economic crisis frequently results in the presence of degraded abandoned urban plots inside or in the periphery of cities. Urban greening can be a low-cost solution for their reclamation but, inevitably, the necessary plants require an appropriate medium to grow and thrive. In this study, Technosols were explored as a suitable option to simultaneously face two common challenges of many cities, i.e., the reclamation of degraded abandoned city plots and the recycling of industrial and urban wastes. To this purpose, a mesocosm experiment was carried out to assess the suitability of six different Technosols (resulting from the combination of the following four ingredients: CDW: construction and demolition wastes; BIO: bio-stabilized material from a municipal composting plant; BENT: recycled bentonites from a local industry; TS: topsoil from vacant public plots) for the reclamation of abandoned city plots. The six Technosols were prepared in triplicate and then installed in 12 m 2 experimental cells. Control cells

Historia Agraria Revista de agricultura e historia rural, 2019

Soils in Lea-Artibai County (northern Spain) show three significant features: frequent absence of... more Soils in Lea-Artibai County (northern Spain) show three significant features: frequent absence of A horizons, higher nutrient concentrations in the surface mineral horizon of past or present arable fields compared to those in forest or shrubland, and the common presence of calcareous horizons in arable fields which is out of character with the region’s humid climate. Farmers stopped applying lime around 1950, so the third feature is interpreted as the result of over-liming since the eighteenth century. The “maize revolution” that began in the mid-seventeenth century relied upon a three-crop rotation system using bracken as a primary fertilizer along with animal manure and lime obtained from local kilns that burned gorse. Extraction of these plant materials resulted in a negative phosphorus balance of phosphorus and the acidification of shrubland soils. The county could not accommodate these various land uses in the early twentieth century, and extraction of leaf litter from forests ...