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Efficient Nitrogen Use as Affected by Urea Application and Irrigation Sequence¹

ABSTRACT

On alkaline coarse-textured soils (Psamments) of Punjab, India, urea is applied after the irrigation event to minimize leaching and denitrification loss. However, placement of urea on the wet surface of alkaline soils promotes NH₃ volatilization. This experiment compared (i) urea, (ii) urea plus dicyandiamide (DCD), a nitrification inhibitor, (iii) urea plus phenylphosphorodiamidate (PPD), a urease inhibitor, and (iv) potassium nitrate (KNO₃) applied before or 20 h after the irrigation event. Grain yield of wheat (Triticum durum L. var. DWL5023) and N use efficiency were observed in a 2-yr study. During the first year all of the fertilizers were ¹⁵N labeled. Potassium nitrate gave the highest yield and maximum ¹⁵N recovery by the crop indicating that leaching and denitrification were not significant loss mechanisms. Grain yield was increased from 3.6 to 4.4 Mg ha^–1 and loss of urea-N was reduced from 42 to 16% by applying urea just prior to irrigation compared to following irrigation. DCD did not alter the effect of fertilizer timing with respect to irrigation on ¹⁵N recovery or wheat yield. Urea applied with PPD yielded 0.4 Mg ha^–1 more than urea alone when applied on wet soil. This suggests that NH₃ volatilization was the major N loss mechanism. This study suggested that for higher N use efficiency and grain yield of wheat, urea should be topdressed before the irrigation event on the coarsetextured soils.

¹ Contribution from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India, and the Agro-Economic Division of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), Muscle Shoals, AL 35662.

² Project Coordinator and Assistant Soil Chemist, ICAR, and Division Director and Soil Scientist, IFDC, respectively. Present address of J. C. Katyal is IFDC, P. O. Box 2040, Muscle Shoals, AL 35662.

Received for publication May 23, 1986.

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