Effect of methods of application on the efficiency of urea broadcast onto lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Summary We evaluated the effect of different methods of application on the efficiency of urea broadcast at a rate of 100 kg N ha^-1 onto lowland rice (Oryza sativa L. var. SPR 60) in a field experiment conducted on a Phimai soil (Fluvic Tropaquepts) during the dry season of 1989. Analysis of the floodwater on the first day after the fertilizer application showed a high initial concentration of urea-N. Addition of the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (nBTPT), broadcast with the urea into the floodwater, caused an apparent reduction in the rate of urea disappearance and a subsequent accumulation of NH₃–N in the floodwater; this ureas inhibitor also suppressed the rise in floodwater pH, with a resultant reduction in the partial pressure of ammonia (pNH₃) compared with the unamended urea application. The use of nBTPT did not decrease the N loss from broadcast urea not did it increase the grain yield. Among the different methods of applying broadcast urea that we tested, the broadcast application of granular urea onto drained soil shortly after removing floodwater followed by flooding 2 days later appeared to be a good N management practice, offering considerable potential for improving the efficiency of urea applied to lowland rice crops.