Mineralization of urea,coated urea and nitrification inhibitor treated urea in different rice growing soils

Mineralization of urea, sulphur coated (SCU), neem cake coated urea (NCU) and N-Serve treated urea (NSU) was studied in four important rice growing soils of India, namely, an alluvial soil (Entisol-Fluvent), a black cotton soil (Vertisol-Ustert), two laterite soils (Oxisol-Acrothox) and an acid sulphate soil (Entisol-Sulphaquent) for a period of four weeks at a temperature of 30°C ± 2°C and a water tension of 1/3 bar. Hydrolysis of urea was faster in alkaline alluvial and black cotton soils than in acid laterite and acid sulphate soil. NH₄-N content in soil was the highest with N-Serve during the entire period of study. SCU maintained lower NH₄-N in soil than urea only during the first two weeks of incubation. N-Serve was much more effective in inhibiting nitrification than neem cake in all the soils. Inhibition of nitrification by neem cake was most at the end of first week in alkaline and at the end of second week in all other soils. Coating of urea with neem cake imparted both slow-release and nitrification inhibiting properties.