Data for: Nitrous oxide emissions from groundnut and millets farms in semi-arid peninsular India

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions response curves for crops grown outside temperate regions have been rare and have thus far arrived at conflicting conclusions. Most studies reporting N2O emissions from tropical cropping systems have examined only one or two nitrogen fertilizer application rate(s) which precludes the possibility of discovering nonlinear changes in emission factors (EF, % of added N converted to N2O-N) with increasing fertilizer-N rates. To examine the relationship between N rates and N2O fluxes in a tropical region, we compared farming practices with three or four N rates for their yield-scaled impacts from three crops in peninsular India. We measured N2O fluxes during nine seasons between 2012 and 2015, with N application rates ranging between 0 and 70, 0 and 90, and 0 and 480 kg-N ha-1 for foxtail-millet (Setaria italica L., locally called korra), groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L., also called peanut) and finger-millet (Eleusine coracana L., locally called ragi), respectivel...,
The five study farms were in the Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Emissions during cultivation of Groundnut (peanut), Foxtail- and Finger- millet were studied at two, one and two farms, respectively. The measurement of GHG emissions, yield and other agro-economic indicators was performed for a total of nine seasons at three regional laboratories established by a coalition of partners interested in promoting climate smart farming in agro-ecological regions 8.2 and 3.0 of the semi-arid peninsula of India.
Soil characteristics and weather conditions
Each of the five experimental sites was a farmer owned and managed small-holder plot and was located in peninsular India between 12.77-14.66 N (Latitude), 77.20-77.75 E (Longitude) and 350-790 m (elevation above sea level). The experimental sites had sandy-loam and loamy-sand texture (680-750 g kg-1 Sand, 120-170 g kg-1 Silt and 130-170 g kg-1 Clay) and soil organic matter concentration varying between 3.2 and 14.3 g kg-1 (i.e., ..., No specific programs or softwares are needed to open the data files. The preprint provided with this submission will be available as a technical white paper on the website of Environmenetal Defense Fund.