Nitrogen Loss When Using Organic and Mineral Fertilizers on Soddy Podzolic Sandy-Loam Soil in Central Russia

Abstract

This chapter presents information on the nitrogen (N) balance in the long-term field experiment and some supporting data from a lysimeter experiment. The long-term field experiment treatments included different rates of manure/fertilizer application and also were separated by the type of the incorporated nitrogen: N from the mineral fertilizer only, N from farmyard manure (FYM) only, N from a combination of the fertilizer and FYM. The lowest calculated average annual N loss in the long-term field experiment was in the treatment of FYM 10 t ha⁻¹ (N loss of 12 kg ha⁻¹ or 24% of the N input), while the highest loss was calculated for the treatment FYM 10 t ha⁻¹ + N100P50K120 (N loss of 92 kg ha⁻¹ or 61% of the N input). On average, the mineral N content in the soil layer 0–60 cm declined during the autumn-winter-early spring period by 12 kg N ha⁻¹ for zero fertilizer treatment, by 9 kg N ha⁻¹ for the treatment of 20 t FYM ha⁻¹, by 16 kg N ha⁻¹ for the treatment 10 t FYM ha⁻¹ + N50P25K60 and by 34 kg N ha⁻¹ for the treatment N100P50K120. In the four-year lysimeter experiment, the highest concentrations of mineral N in the lysimeter waters were measured in autumn. On the average, for four years of the experiment, the lowest annual N loss with the lysimeter waters was 15.3 kg N ha⁻¹ in the control treatment and the highest—111.7 kg N ha⁻¹ in the treatment of 320 t FYM ha⁻¹. Most of the mineral N in the lysimeter waters was in the nitrate form (91–95%).