Sulfur and nitrogen responses by barley and wheat on a sandy soil in a semi-arid environment
M. K. Conyers![https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9811-4679](/media/client/orcid_16x16.png)
A Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, NSW Department of Primary Industries, PMB Pine Gully Road, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
B AgGrow Agronomy and Research, 7 Francine Court, Yoogali, NSW 2680, Australia.
C Retired from NSW Department of Primary Industries.
D 1 Rhynd Farm Cottages, Leuchars, St Andrews, KY16 ODR, UK.
E Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Charles Sturt University, Pugsley Place, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
F Corresponding author. Email: mconyers@bigpond.net.au
Crop and Pasture Science 71(10) 894-906 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP20280
Submitted: 4 August 2020 Accepted: 2 October 2020 Published: 19 November 2020
Abstract
Soil testing guidelines for sulfur (S) under dryland cropping in south-eastern Australia are not well developed. Our objective was to assess the value of soil and tissue tests for S and nitrogen (N), because the two minerals frequently interact), in predicting S-deficient sites and hence increasing the probability of response to application of S (and N). Here, we report three proximal experiments in 2014–16 for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on a sandy soil in a semi-arid environment near Merriwagga in western New South Wales. The trials contained a factorial combination of four rates of each of applied N as urea and S as high-grade gypsum.
Responses to S were obtained for dry matter (DM) quantity and nutrient content at flowering in 2014, but no grain-yield response was obtained in any year. DM response to applied S was obtained when the concentration of S in the DM was increased from 0.08% in barley and 0.09% in wheat without S application to 0.10–0.11% in both crops with S applied as gypsum. Because we obtained no grain-yield responses to applied S, the 0.10% S in grain was likely to have been adequate for both crops in these experiments. A pool of subsoil S was accessed during each season and this compensated for any DM deficiencies of S by the time of grainfill. Shallow soil tests (0–10 cm) for S can therefore indicate sufficiency but not necessarily deficiency; therefore, in grain-cropping areas, we recommend soil S tests on the same samples as used for deep N testing (to 60 cm) and that an S-budgeting approach be used following the soil tests. Furthermore, for marginal nutritional circumstances such as occurred in this study, the supporting use of N : S ratio is recommended, with values >17 in DM or grain likely to indicate S deficiency for both barley and wheat.
Keywords: phosphorus, plant testing, soil testing, soil sulfur, yield response.
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