Efficiency of fertilizers as nitrogen sources to banana plantations under drip irrigation

Abstract

In a field experiment with bananas under drip irrigation in the semiarid and warm Jordan Valley, on a highly calcareous soil, application of urea, ammonium nitrate and potassium nitrate were compared. All treatments received equal amounts of N, P and K. The rate of growth and yield were higher on plots receiving urea and ammonium nitrate than on those receiving potassium nitrate. This was explained by a continuous balanced nitrate-ammonium-nitrogen nutrition in the first two treatments, while in the potassium nitrate treatment more nitrate than ammonium was available to the plants during the earlier growth period. Ammonium concentrations found in the soil profile indicate a partial inhibition of nitrification in the drip-irrigated system.