Abstract
Two field experiments, in which differing amounts and types of plant residues were incorporated into a red earth soil, were conducted at Katherine, N.T., Australia. The aim of the work was to evaluate the effect of the residues on uptake of soil and fertilizer N by a subsequent sorghum crop, on the accumulation and leaching of nitrate, and on losses of N.
Stubble of grain sorghum applied at an exceptionally high rate (~ 18 000 kg ha−1) reduced uptake of N by sorghum by 13% and depressed the accumulation of nitrate under a crop and particularly under a fallow.
Loss of fertilizer N, movement of nitrate down the profile, and uptake by the crop was studied in another experiment after application of N as15NH4 15NO3 to field microplots. By four weeks after fertilizer application 14% had been lost from the soil-plant system and by crop maturity 36 per cent had been lost. The pattern of15N distribution in the profile suggested that losses below 150 cm had occurred during crop growth. The recovery of15N by the crop alone ranged from 16 to 32 per cent. There was an apparent loss of N from the crop between anthesis and maturity. Residue levels common to sorghum crops in the region (~ 2000 kg ha−1) did not significantly affect uptake by a subsequent sorghum crop, N losses, or distribution of nitrate in the profile.
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Myers, R. The effect of plant residues on plant uptake and leaching of soil and fertilizer nitrogen in a tropical red earth soil. Fertilizer Research 4, 249–260 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049481
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01049481