nan Yadvinder-Singh

Large granules, nests or bands: Methods of increasing efficiency of fall-applied urea for small cereal grains in North America

In North America where the climate is cool enough only one crop is grown yearly, N fertilizers are sometimes applied in the previous fall rather than in the spring for fall- or spring-sown cereal grains. However, in areas where snow accumulates in winter, fall application of N fertilizers is generally inferior to spring application. Substantial nitrification takes place in winter and subsequent N loss occurs primarily in early spring by denitrification after the snow melt. Immobilization of N is also greater with fall- than spring-applied N fertilizers. Nitrogen is more efficiently retained in the soil as NH4 and thus more effectively used by plants if formation of nitrite (NO2) and NO3 is reduced or prevented by inhibiting nitrification. The nitrification is reduced when urea is placed in bands, because of high pH, ammonia concentration and osmotic pressure in the soil. The rate of nitrification is further reduced when urea is placed in widely-spaced nests (a number of urea prills placed together at a point below the soil surface) or as large urea granules (LUG) by reducing contact between the nitrifying bacteria and the NH4 released upon urea hydrolysis. A further reduction in nitrification from LUG can be obtained by addition of chemical nitrification inhibitors (such as dicyandiamide (DCD)) to LUG. The concentration of a chemical inhibitor required to suppress nitrification decreases with increasing granule size. The small soil-fertilizer interaction zone with placement of urea in nests or as LUG also reduces immobilization of fertilizer N, especially in soils amended with crop residues. The efficiency of fall-applied N is improved greatly by placing urea in nests or as LUG for small cereal grains. Yields of spring-sown barley from nests of urea or LUG applied in the fall are close to those obtained with spring-applied urea prills incorporated into the soil. Delaying urea application until close to freeze-up is also improved the efficiency of fall-applied N. This increased effectiveness of urea nests or LUG is due to slower nitrification, lower N loss over the winter by denitrification, and reduced immobilization of applied N. Fall application of LUG containing low rates of DCD slows nitrification, reduces over-winter N loss, and causes further improvement in yield and N uptake of winter wheat compared to urea as LUG alone in experiments in Ontario; in other experiments in Alberta there is no yield advantage from using a nitrification inhibitor with LUG for barley. Placement of LUG or nests of urea in soil is an agronomically sound practice for reducing N losses. This practice can eliminate or reduce the amount of nitrification inhibitor necessary to improve the efficiency of fall-applied urea where losses of mineral N are a problem. The optimum size of urea nest or LUG, and optimum combination of LUG and an efficient nitrification inhibitor need to be determined for different crops under different agroclimatic conditions. The soil (texture, CEC, N status), plant (winter or spring crop, crop geometry, crop growth duration and cultivar) and climatic (temperature, amount and distribution of precipitation) factors should be taken into account during field evaluation of LUG. There is a need to conduct region-specific basic research to understand mechanisms and magnitudes of N transformations and N losses in a given ecosystem. Prediction of nitrification from LUG or urea nests in various environments is needed. In nitrification inhibition studies with LUG and chemical nitrification inhibitors, measurements of nitrifier activity will be useful. Finally, there is need for development of applicators for mechanical placement of LUG or urea prills in widely-spaced nests in soil.

Leaching losses of urea-N applied to permeable soils under lowland rice

Application of 120 kg urea-N ha−1 to lowland rice grown in a highly percolating soil in 10 equal split doses at weekly intervals rather than in 3 equal split doses at 7, 21 and 42 days after transplanting did not significantly increase rice grain yield and N uptake. Results suggest that leaching losses of N were not substantial. In lysimeters planted with rice, leaching losses of N as urea, NH4+, and NO3- beyond 30 cm depth of a sandy loam soil for 60 days were about 6% of the total urea-N and 3% of the total ammonium sulphate-N applied in three equal split doses. Application of urea even in a single dose at transplanting did not result in more N leaching losses (13%) compared to those observed from potassium nitrate (38%) applied in three split doses. Nitrogen contained in potassium nitrate was readily leached during the first week of its application. More N was lost from the first dose of N applied at transplanting than from the second or third dose. Data pertaining to yield, N uptake and per cent N recovery by rice revealed that the performance of different fertilizer treatments was inversely related to susceptibility of N to leaching.

The value of poultry manure for wetland rice grown in rotation with wheat

Poultry manure applied alone or in combination with urea at different N levels was evaluated as a N source for wetland rice grown in a Fatehpur loamy sand soil. Residual effects were studied on wheat which followed rice every year during the three cropping cycles. In the first year, poultry manure did not perform better than urea but by the third year, when applied in quantities sufficient to supply 120 and 180 kg N ha−1, it produced significantly more rice grain yield than the same rates of N as urea. Poultry manure sustained the grain yield of rice during the three years while the yield decreased with urea. Apparent N recovery by rice decreased from 45 to 28% during 1987 to 1989 in the case of urea, but it remained almost the same (35, 33 and 37%) for poultry manure. Thus, urea N values of poultry manure calculated from yield or N uptake data following two different approaches averaged 80, 112 and 127% in 1987, 1988 and 1989, respectively. Poultry manure and urea applied in 1:1 ratio on N basis produced yields in between the yields from the two sources applied alone. After three cycles of rice-wheat rotation, the organic matter in the soil increased with the amount of manure applied to a plot. Olsen available P increased in soils amended with poultry manure. A residual effect of poultry manure applied to rice to supply 120 or 180 kg N ha−1 was observed in the wheat which followed rice and it was equivalent to 40 kg N ha−1 plus some P applied directly to wheat.

Efficiency of N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide in retarding hydrolysis of urea and ammonia volatilization losses in a flooded sandy loam soil amended with organic materials

Using a forced-draft chamber technique, the suppression of NH3 volatilization losses by applying N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) was studied in an alkaline sandy loam soil amended with green manure or wheat straw. Applied urea was completely hydrolysed in 12, 8 and 6 days in unamended, green manure and wheat straw amended soil, respectively. By applying 0.5% (w/w of urea) NBPT, complete hydrolysis of urea was delayed up to 16 days in the unamended soil, whereas in wheat straw amended soil urea hydrolysis was completed by the 12th day even when it was treated with 2% NBPT. Applied at 1 or 2% level, NBPT delayed the NH3 volatilization to the 4th day after application of urea in green manure or wheat straw amended soil. Hydrolysis of urea was more effectively retarded by applying NBPT in the unamended soil than in soil amended with green manure or wheat straw. In the unamended soil, 7.1% of the applied urea was lost through NH3 volatilization. The losses were reduced to 1.2 and 0.7% by applying 0.5 and 1% NBPT, respectively. Enhanced NH3 volatilization caused by the green manure or wheat straw was counteracted by applying NBPT.

Fertilizer requirement of rice-wheat and maize-wheat rotations on coarse-textured soils amended with farmyard manure

Field experiments with rice-wheat rotation were conducted during five consecutive years on a coarse-textured low organic matter soil. By amending the soil with 12t FYM ha−1, the yield of wetland rice in the absence of fertilizers was increased by 32 per cent. Application of 80 kg N ha−1 as urea could increase the grain yield of rice equivalent to 120 kg N ha−1 on the unamended soil. Although the soil under test was low in Olsens P, rice did not respond to the application of phosphorus on both amended and unamended soils. For producing equivalent grain yield, fertilizer requirement of maize grown on soils amended with 6 and 12 t FYM ha−1 could be reduced, respectively to 50 and 25 per cent of the dose recommended for unamended soil (120 kg N + 26.2 kg P + 25 kg K ha−1). Grain yield of wheat grown after rice on soils amended with FYM was significantly higher than that obtained on unamended soil. In contrast, grain yield of wheat which followed maize did not differ significantly on amended or unamended soils.

Evaluation of press mud cake as a source of nitrogen and phosphorus for rice–wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India

Press mud cake (PMC) is an important organic source available for land application in India. Adequate information regarding availability of nitrogen and phosphorous contained in PMC to rice–wheat (RW) cropping system is lacking. In field experiments conducted for 4xa0years to study the effect of PMC application to rice as N and P source in RW system, application of 60xa0kg N ha−1 along with PMC (5xa0t ha−1) produced grain yield of rice similar to that obtained with the 120xa0kg N ha−1 in unamended plots. In the following wheat, the residual effects of PMC applied to preceding rice were equal to 40xa0kg N and 13xa0kg P ha−1. Immobilization of soil and fertilizer N immediately after the application of PMC was observed in laboratory incubation. The net amount of N mineralized from the PMC ranged from 16% at 30xa0days to 43% at 60xa0days after incubation. Available P content in the soil amended with PMC increased by about 60% over the unamended control within 10xa0days of its application. The P balance for the no-PMC treatment receiving recommended dose of 26xa0kg P ha−1 year−1 was −13.5xa0kg P ha−1 year−1. The P balance was positive (+42.3 to 53.5xa0kg P ha−1 year−1) when PMC was applied to rice. Application of PMC increased total N, organic carbon, and available P contents in the soil.

Response of wetland rice to fertilizer N in a soil amended with cattle, poultry and pig manures

Abstract During the period 1984–1986, field experiments were conducted to study the response of wetland rice to N application in a loamy sandy soil amended with cattle (60 kg N ha −1 ), poultry (80 kg N ha −1 ) and pig (75 kg N ha −1 ) manures. In the absence of urea-N, cattle, pig and poultry manures increased the rice grain yield by 37, 43 and 98%, respectively. Rice yield increased linearly with the application of N, whether or not the soil was amended with organic manure. Urea-N equivalents of cattle, pig and poultry manures varied from 21 to 53, 17 to 65 and 50 to 123 kg ha −1 , respectively. Apparent recovery in the crop of N from poultry manure varied from 38 to 82% as compared to 51 to 69% from urea and 10 to 25% from cattle and pig manures. Nitrogen in poultry manure mineralized at a faster rate than that of cattle and pig manures. After the harvest of rice, the three organic manures exhibited residual effects in terms of increased soil organic carbon, available P and yield of succeeding crop of wheat.

Effect of time of application on the effectiveness of zinc sulphate and zinc oxide as sources of zinc for wheat

Field experiments with wheat were conducted for two years on flood plain alluvial soils to study the effectiveness of soil application of zinc sulphate and zinc oxide at 0, 15, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days after sowing. Yield and zinc uptake of wheat increased significantly with the application of zinc. Delaying the application of both zinc sulphate and zinc oxide up to 45 days of sowing did not adversly affect the zinc nutrition of wheat. However, delaying the application for 75 or 90 days after sowing eliminated the response. Zinc sulphate, when applied within 60 days of sowing performed better than zinc oxide. In a laboratory study, zinc sulphate maintained a higher level of zinc in the soil solution than zinc oxide at least over a 3-week period.