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Factors affecting the efficiency of urea for pot-grown ryegrass

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

Catherine J. Watson
Catherine J. Watson
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, Agricultural and Food Chemistry Research Division, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5PX, Northern Ireland
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Extract

Urea can be an inefficient nitrogen source, compared with ammonium nitrate, on calcareous soils (Ernst & Massey, 1960) and under dry conditions (Murphy, 1978) as a result of ammonia volatilization. However, the interaction between factors which can affect the performance of urea is not clearly understood. The risk of ammonia volatilization would appear to be higher on light soils with a low cation exchange capacity than on heavier soils (Fenn & Hossner, 1985). Field trials in the Netherlands indicated that a minimum of 5 mm of rain must fall within 2 days of application to give good dry-matter yields with urea (Van Burg, Dilz & Prins, 1982). In addition ammonia volatilization has been affected by initial soil moisture content in some studies (Fenn & Escarzaga, 1977) but not in others (Gasser, 1964).

Type
Short Notes
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 109 , Issue 3 , December 1987 , pp. 611 - 614
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

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