Leaching and crop recovery of15N from ammonium sulphate and labelled maize (Zea mays) material in lysimeters at a site in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The fate of 15N-ammonium sulphate fertilizer that was applied to four lysimeters in the 1990/91 summer was studied over three consecutive growing seasons during which either maize or wheat was grown. Aboveground portions of tSN-labelled maize plants from the first harvest were applied to four other lysimeters at 5 t ha -1. Two lysimeters in each of the sets of four were assigned a low and a high moisture treatment using irrigation. In both moisture treatments, plant recovery of fertilizer-15N in the first season was 27 % and a further 2% was recovered by plants during the next two seasons. During the second and third seasons, total recovery of 15N by aboveground plant portions from lysimeters that received t5N-labelled maize material was equivalent to 2.5% of applied fertilizer-15N. This corresponded to ca. 18% recovery of the 15N added in maize material. Leaching of fertilizer-N over the three growing seasons did not exceed 0.3% in total. During the first season, a maximum of 0.25 kg N ha -I , equivalent to 0.25% of the applied fertilizer-N, was leached in the high moisture treatment. This represented 1.8% of the nitrate load in leachates. Less than 0.002% of the applied fertilizer-N was leached in the low moisture treatment during the first season.

Fertilizer Use Efficiency and Nitrate Leaching in a Tropical Sandy Soil

“…The observed mineral N fertilizer use efficiencies were within the 25 to 80% range reported elsewhere (Bergström, 1987; Kamukondiwa and Bergström, 1994b; Korenkov et al, 1975; Jokela and Randall, 1997). Kamukondiwa and Bergström (1994b) reported first‐season average mineral N fertilizer uptake efficiency by maize of 27.3% on similar soils at a nearby site in Zimbabwe, although the study was conducted during seasons characterized by long dry spells.…”

“…The observed mineral N fertilizer use efficiencies were within the 25 to 80% range reported elsewhere (Bergström, 1987; Kamukondiwa and Bergström, 1994b; Korenkov et al, 1975; Jokela and Randall, 1997). Kamukondiwa and Bergström (1994b) reported first‐season average mineral N fertilizer uptake efficiency by maize of 27.3% on similar soils at a nearby site in Zimbabwe, although the study was conducted during seasons characterized by long dry spells. Although the 15 N isotope technique is known to under‐ or overestimate mineral N fertilizer use efficiency due to the so‐called added nitrogen interaction (ANI) effect (Jenkinson et al, 1985), the error in this study was assumed to be too low due to the low soil organic matter content of the soil.…”

Organic matter technologies for integrated nutrient management in smallholder cropping systems of southern Africa

“…Low quality organic materials do not provide soluble C and N to enhance the soil microbial activity, and may immobilize N availability, markedly reducing crop production subsequent to incorporation of maize stover (Kamukondiwa and Bergstorm, 1994). Production of high quality biomass, in contrast, in combination with small amounts of inorganic nutrient inputs, can be used to enhance N ®xation and nutrient cycling ef®ciency (Snapp, 1994;Kumwenda et al, 1997).…”

The Fate of Nitrogen During Agricultural Intensification in East Africa: Nitrogen Budgets in Contrasting Agroecosystems

“…Globally, about 15% of applied fertilizer N is estimated to be lost through $${{\mathrm{N}\mathrm{O}}_{3}}^{-}$$ leaching in maize systems (Zhou & Butterbach‐Bahl, 2013). Studies in SSA show leaching losses of roughly 10%–20% of added fertilizer (Kamukondiwa & Bergström, 1994; Kimetu et al., 2006; Mapanda et al., 2012; Nyamangara et al., 1994), though losses of 5% and 35% have also been observed (Poss & Saragoni, 1992; Sogbedji et al., 2000).…”