Rate and Timing of Meat and Bone Meal Applications Influence Growth, Yield, and Soil Water Nitrate Concentrations in Sweet Corn Production
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Title: Rate and Timing of Meat and Bone Meal Applications Influence Growth, Yield and Soil Water Nitrate Concentrations in Sweet Corn Production
Comments:
This study used meat and bone meal (MBM) as an organic fertilizer to estimate their effects on sweet corn and soil water nitrate concentration at two locations. Six application rates (0, 112, 224, 336, 448 and 672 kg N ha-1) and two application times (preplant and split application) were included in this work, the sweet corn growth, yield and quality, and soil water nitrate concentration were focused. The results demonstrated that the growth of roots and shoots, yield and relative leaf chlorophyll content of sweet corn increased with the increase of application rates, and the split application of MBM reduced nitrate-nitrogen losses compared with single application before planting.
Meat and bone meal, as an organic fertilizer, is a feasible measure for agricultural sustainable development. In my opinion, this study is interesting, but there are not enough data to support the findings.
Comments to the author:
Please carefully recheck grammar and spelling through the text.
Abstract: Please carefully check and modify the abstract.
L14-L15: Zea mays should be in italic.
L15: Change “concentrations” to “concentration”
L18: Change “concentrations” to “concentration”
L19-L20: Maybe changed to “The Split-plot was designed four replicates, which randomly arranged in complete block.”
Keywords:
L26: Zea mays should be in italic.
- Introduction:
L20: Change “Annual production of MBM in U.S. and Canada combined was 2.5 million metric tons in 2004” to “The combined annual production of MBM in U.S. and Canada was 2.5 million metric tons in 2004”
L43: Change “to” to “with”
L45: Change “increased” to “increase”; Change “suppression of” to “suppress”
L61-L62: Please revise the “West et al. [17] reported increased sweet corn yield attributed to in-season N application 61 from feather meal, with its high N content.”
L61-L69: Please use a uniform reference format that is consistent with the context.
L76: Change “0 - 672 kg N ha-1” to “0, 112, 224, 336, 448 and 672 kg N ha-1”; Change “timings” to “times”
L77: Change “concentrations” to “concentration”
- Materials and Methods:
L86: Change “Aug. 2015” to “August, 2015”
L88 and L93: Change “22° C” to “22°C”
L90: Change “2016” to “, 2016”; Change “timing” to “time”
L91: Change “differed” to “was different”
L101: Change “100% applied” to “applied 100%”
L102: Change “50% preplant with 50% applied one month after planting” to “applied 50% before planting and 50% one month after planting”
L108: Change “the” to “of the”
L109: Change “(0-448 kg ha-1)” to “(0, 112, 224, 336 and 448 kg ha-1)”
L115: Change “obtained” to “was obtained”
L116: Delete “on”; Delete “(Ahmad et al., 2016)”
Table 2: Change “5” to “5.0”
L129: Change “Apr.” to “April”
L131: Change “Aug.” to “August”
L156-L193: Change “° C” to “°C”
L178: Change “100” to “100%”
- Results: Please carefully check and modify this part. Moreover, in your results, there are not enough data and graphs to support your findings.
L222 and L223: Change “rate” to “rates”
- Discussion: Please carefully check and modify this part. Moreover, please use a uniform reference format that is consistent with the context, example, L310 “Maresma et al. [33]”.
L292: Change “0 - 672 kg N ha-1” to “0, 112, 224, 336, 448 and 672 kg N ha-1”
L296: Change “yields from rates” to “yields from rate”
L300: Change “validates” to “validated”
L301: Change “is” to “was”
L311: Change “is” to “was”
L316: Change “are” to “were”
L321 and L326: Change “rates” to “rate”
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors,
manuskrypt ID: agronomy-1361629. Title: „Rate and Timing of Meat and Bone Meal Applications Influence Growth, Yield and Soil Water Nitrate Concentrations in Sweet Corn Production.”
I find undertaken topic interesting, relevant and needed. The use of MBM as a substitute for mineral fertilizers provides both economic and environmental benefits. This work makes an original contribution to knowledge of environmental protection and practical agriculture.
Numerous studies have shown that MBM contributes to soil fertility, higher crop yields and better quality of agricultural produce.
There is little research on the content of nitrates in soil water after the application of MBM, therefore this work is needed and provides a new perspective on this topic.
The most important conclusion from this work is: „Nitrate-nitrogen losses were reduced by 20% at Waimānalo and 40% at Poamoho when MBM was applied in split applications. These findings suggest that MBM is an effective nitrogen source for sweet corn and a split application of MBM may reduce the potential for pollution.” I wrote comments in the work, in the tooltips.
Kind regards,
Reviewer
Comments for author File: Comments.pdf
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The additional data has been added, this version has been improved significantly, it can be accepted.
