Pedosphere 15(1): 59--65, 2005
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2005 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
Ammonia volatilization losses from urea applied to wheat on a paddy soil in Taihu Region, China
FAN Xiao-Hui, SONG Yong-Sheng, LIN De-Xi, YANG Lin-Zhang and ZHOU Jian-Min
Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China). Email: xhfan@issas.ac.cn
ABSTRACT
      Ammonia volatilization losses from urea applied as a basal fertilizer and a top dressing at tillering stage in a wheat field of Taihu Region, China, were measured with a micrometeorological technique. Urea as fertilizer was surface broadcast at 81 (low N) and 135 (high N) kg N ha-1 as basal at the 3-leaf stage of the wheat seedling on December 2002, and 54 (low N) and 90 (high N) kg N ha-1 as top dressing on February 2003. Ammonia volatilization losses occurred mainly in the first week after applying N fertilizer and mainly during the period after basal fertilizer application, which accounted for more than 80% of the total ammonia volatilization over the entire wheat growth period. Regression analysis showed that ammonia volatilization was affected mainly by pH and NH4+-N concentration of the surface soil and air temperature. Ammonia volatilization flux was significantly correlated with pH and NH4+-N concentration of the surface soil and with daily air average temperature and highest temperature. Thus, application of urea N fertilizer to wheat should consider the characteristics of ammonia volatilization in different periods of N application so as to reduce ammonia losses.
Key Words:  ammonia volatilization, urea, wheat
Citation: Fan, X. H., Song, Y. S., Lin, D. X., Yang, L. Z. and Zhou, J. M. 2005. Ammonia volatilization losses from urea applied to wheat on a paddy soil in Taihu Region, China. Pedosphere. 15(1): 59-65.
View Full Text



Copyright © 2024 Editorial Committee of PEDOSPHERE. All rights reserved.
Address: P. O. Box 821, 71 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, China    E-mail: pedosphere@issas.ac.cn
Technical support: Beijing E-Tiller Co.,Ltd.