TY - JOUR
T1 - A slow release brown coal-urea fertiliser reduced gaseous N loss from soil and increased silver beet yield and N uptake
AU - Saha, Biplob K.
AU - Rose, Michael T.
AU - Wong, Vanessa N.L.
AU - Cavagnaro, Timothy R.
AU - Patti, Antonio F.
PY - 2019/2/1
Y1 - 2019/2/1
N2 - Increasing crop yield and fertiliser nitrogen (N)-use efficiency is important for productive agricultural systems with a reduced environmental footprint. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of slow release brown coal-urea (BCU) fertiliser on the gaseous N losses, biomass yield and N uptake by silver beet (Beta vulgaris L.) compared to commercial urea. Two soils were amended with urea, BCU 1 (22% N) or BCU 2 (17% N) as N-fertiliser at the rate of 50 or 100 kg N ha−1. Five gas sampling periods were undertaken to measure the loss of N as N2O and NH3. After 10 weeks, biomass, N concentration, and N uptake of silver beet, and mineral and mineralisable N of post-harvest soil were measured. BCU substantially increased fertiliser N availability and uptake by silver beet, reduced N2O emission by 29% and NH3 emission by 36% compared to urea alone, irrespective of soil type. Compared to urea, BCU blends increased biomass yield by 27% and 23% in a Tenosol and Dermosol soil, respectively. In addition, application of BCU fertiliser substantially enhanced the potentially mineralisable N and organic carbon content of soil. These results provide evidence that granulation of urea with brown coal (BC) can increase silver beet N-use efficiency and yield in different soil types, and more work is now required to validate this technology for other crops.
AB - Increasing crop yield and fertiliser nitrogen (N)-use efficiency is important for productive agricultural systems with a reduced environmental footprint. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of slow release brown coal-urea (BCU) fertiliser on the gaseous N losses, biomass yield and N uptake by silver beet (Beta vulgaris L.) compared to commercial urea. Two soils were amended with urea, BCU 1 (22% N) or BCU 2 (17% N) as N-fertiliser at the rate of 50 or 100 kg N ha−1. Five gas sampling periods were undertaken to measure the loss of N as N2O and NH3. After 10 weeks, biomass, N concentration, and N uptake of silver beet, and mineral and mineralisable N of post-harvest soil were measured. BCU substantially increased fertiliser N availability and uptake by silver beet, reduced N2O emission by 29% and NH3 emission by 36% compared to urea alone, irrespective of soil type. Compared to urea, BCU blends increased biomass yield by 27% and 23% in a Tenosol and Dermosol soil, respectively. In addition, application of BCU fertiliser substantially enhanced the potentially mineralisable N and organic carbon content of soil. These results provide evidence that granulation of urea with brown coal (BC) can increase silver beet N-use efficiency and yield in different soil types, and more work is now required to validate this technology for other crops.
KW - Biomass yield
KW - Brown coal
KW - Fertiliser N use efficiency
KW - Humic acid
KW - Slow release fertiliser
KW - Urea
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052632802&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.145
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.08.145
M3 - Article
C2 - 30176489
AN - SCOPUS:85052632802
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 649
SP - 793
EP - 800
JO - Science of The Total Environment
JF - Science of The Total Environment
ER -
