The fate of urea 15N in a subtropical rain-fed maize system: influence of organic amendments
Dai H. Nguyen A , Peter R. Grace
A * , David W. Rowlings A , Johannes Biala A and Clemens Scheer A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Queensland University of Technology, George Street, Brisbane, Qld 4001, Australia.
Soil Research 60(3) 252-261 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR21101
Submitted: 12 April 2021 Accepted: 29 August 2021 Published: 8 November 2021
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Context: Organic amendments (OAs) from agricultural and non-agricultural industries provide an alternative source of nitrogen (N) and other nutrients for crop production, especially with increasing costs of synthetic fertilisers.
Aims: This study examined the fate of urea in combination with OA in the form of raw mill mud, composted mill mud and high N compost in a maize field experiment on a sandy loam soil in a rain-fed subtropical environment.
Methods: OAs (346 kg N ha−1) were incorporated at sowing with 15N labelled urea (200 kg N ha−1) applied 28 days later, including a no OA control.
Key results: Grain yield, aboveground biomass and roots were not significantly different across all treatments, averaging 8.1, 17.4 and 1.3 t ha−1 at harvest. Total N uptake was 249.1 kg N ha−1 (on average) with fertiliser, native soil N and OAs sources accounting for 49.5, 44 and 6.5% of the total N uptake respectively. There was no significant difference in N fertiliser recovery between the OA treatments and the unamended control, with 61.7 and 3.7% of the applied N recovered in the plant and soil (to 100 cm), respectively, at harvest. Nitrogen fertiliser losses were equivalent to 33.6% of the applied N and were attributed to N leaching after extensive rainfall events late in the growing season.
Conclusions: OAs with high mineral and/or organic N content at time of application can supply significant amounts of plant available N but high levels of soil mineral N at sowing may hinder their full potential.
Implications: Reducing N loss and cost, and improving overall soil fertility by replacing synthetic N fertilisers with OAs may contribute to more environmentally sustainable crop production.
Keywords: 15N, compost, fertiliser, leaching, maize, mill mud, nitrogen, organic wastes.
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