Abstract
Accurate prediction of plant-available N release from sewage sludge is necessary to optimize crop yields and minimize NO3− leaching to groundwater. We conducted a 1.5-year study with three maize crops to determine N mineralization from an urban sewage sludge from Barueri, State of São Paulo, Brazil, and its potential to contaminate groundwater with NO3−. The soil at the experimental site was a loamy/clayey-textured Dark Red Dystroferric Oxisol. The treatments consisted of: plots without chemical fertilization or sludge, plots with complete chemical fertilization, and plots receiving four different doses of sewage sludge. Dose 1 was calculated at the agronomic N rate, while doses 2, 3 and 4 were, respectively, two, four, and eight times dose 1. The inorganic N addition increased with the rate of biosolid application. The high NO3− concentrations in relation to NH4+ were associated with intense soil nitrification. High N losses occurred for the first 27 days after soil sludge incorporation, even at the lowest dose, suggesting that land application of sewage sludge based on the N requirement of the crop may be overestimating the amount of sewage sludge to be applied.
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Vieira, R.F., Maia, A.H.N. & Teixeira, M.A. Inorganic nitrogen in a tropical soil with frequent amendments of sewage sludge. Biol Fertil Soils 41, 273–279 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-004-0803-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-004-0803-x