Nitrogen use efficiency in a soil amended with different organic residues

• Author(s): Carneiro, J.P. ; Coutinho, J. ; Trindade, H.
• Date: 2014
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/2581
• Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco
• Subject(s): Nitrogen efficiency; Soil
• Document Type: Conference Object
• Language: English

Description

Nitrogen efficient use is important for economic and environmental sustainability of cropping systems. Three examples of fertilization practices considered to be able to contribute to the improvement of N use efficiency are: the use of a waste with higher C/N ratio, such as pulp mill sludge (Kirchmann and Bergström, 2003), specific application time and/or split application of nitrogen fertilizers (Roberts, 2008) and the use of nitrification inhibitors, such as the DCD (Zaman and Blennerhassett, 2010). In present study a field experiment was carried out from May 2006 to May 2008, in central Portugal, to evaluate agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (AE) and apparent N recovery efficiency (ARE), when different organic wastes (cattle slurry, sewage sludge and urban waste compost) were used as N sources in a double-cropping system producing maize and oats forage. The use of a nitrification inhibitor (DCD), the splitting application of residues and the use of an organic residue with high C/N ratio (pulp mill sludge) were evaluated as management practices that could improve N use efficiency.