Publication Date:
1993-05-01
Description:
Greenhouse, field and laboratory studies were conducted to determine if N availability to corn (Zea mays L.) and NO3 leaching were affected by encapsulating conventional granular fertilizer within peat pellets (organo-mineral fertilizers or OMF). In the greenhouse, total N uptake by three 6-wk crops of corn from soil fertilized with NH4NO3 was 9.1% higher than the mean from soils fertilized with OMF made with urea (OMF-urea) or with NH4NO3 (OMF-AN). Total N uptake was 5.1% higher from soils fertilized with OMF-AN than OMF-urea. Differences in total N uptake among the fertilizers were constant across crops. In two field trials, total N uptake was slightly higher (4%) from soil fertilized with commercial NH4NO3 than with OMF-AN. In a laboratory experiment, NO3 from commercial NH4NO3 fertilizer leached more readily from soil than NO3 from OMF-AN. Approximately 95% of the NO3 from commercial NH4NO3 fertilizer leached from 3-cm soil cores in the first 50 mL of leachate whereas only 26% of the NO3 contained in OMF-AN leached. In another trial, NO3 from commercial NH4NO3 fertilizer leached more deeply than NO3 from OMF-AN after application of 2.5 cm irrigation water to soil in 63-cm leaching columns. Virtually no NO3 was retained within the OMF-AN pellet after leaching, suggesting that the retention of NO3 by OMF-AN used in our work is of limited duration. The OMF is an effective source of N to crops and is less prone to NO3 leaching losses than commercial NH4NO3 fertilizer when rain occurs soon after application. More work is required to determine the effect of pellet size and composition on NO3 retention, NO3 leaching losses and crop availability of N. Key words: Nitrate leaching, corn, organo-mineral fertilizers
Print ISSN:
0008-4271
Electronic ISSN:
1918-1841
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Permalink
