Fate of N from Green Manures and Ammonium Sulfate

By means of ^15N tracer technique the fate of N in ammonium sulfate,milk vetch,sesbania and azolla,and the availability of their residual N were studied in a microplot experiment.Results showed that a) at the end of the first crop of early rice,both plant recovery and loss of N from ammonium sulfate were the highest whereas those from azolla were the lowest with those from milk vetch and sesbania in between;the sequence was reversed in terms of recovery of N in soil;the net residual N from ammonium sulfate was very low,about 1/7-1/4 of that from green manures,indicating that chemical N fertilizer contributes little to the soil N reserve;b) plant recovery of the residual N was low and it did not always decrease with time;the total plant recovery (from the second to the fifth crops) of the residual N from various test fertilizers was only 8-11% of the total N originally applied;c) the plant recovery of the residual N from ammonium sulfate was the highest,followed by those from milk vetch and sesbania,and that from azolla was the lowest,no matter in which cropping season (from the second to the fifth);N availability ratio showed the same trend,indicating that chemical N fertilizer helps renovate soil organic N,maintain and increase availability of soil N.

Fate of N from Green Manures and Ammonium Sulfate

By means of ^15N tracer technique the fate of N in ammonium sulfate,milk vetch,sesbania and azolla,and the availability of their residual N were studied in a microplot experiment.Results showed that a) at the end of the first crop of early rice,both plant recovery and loss of N from ammonium sulfate were the highest whereas those from azolla were the lowest with those from milk vetch and sesbania in between;the sequence was reversed in terms of recovery of N in soil;the net residual N from ammonium sulfate was very low,about 1/7-1/4 of that from green manures,indicating that chemical N fertilizer contributes little to the soil N reserve;b) plant recovery of the residual N was low and it did not always decrease with time;the total plant recovery (from the second to the fifth crops) of the residual N from various test fertilizers was only 8-11% of the total N originally applied;c) the plant recovery of the residual N from ammonium sulfate was the highest,followed by those from milk vetch and sesbania,and that from azolla was the lowest,no matter in which cropping season (from the second to the fifth);N availability ratio showed the same trend,indicating that chemical N fertilizer helps renovate soil organic N,maintain and increase availability of soil N.