Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T10:22:19.991Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of cultivation and nitrification inhibitor on soil nitrogen availability after a grass ley and on the response of the following cereal crop to fertilizer nitrogen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

J. Webb
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, ADAS, Woodthome, Wolverhampton WV6 8TQ, UK
M. Froment
Affiliation:
Bridget's Experimental Husbandry Farm, Martyr Worthy, Winchester, Hants SO2I IAP, UK
R. Sylvester-Bradley
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, ADAS, Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge CB2 2DR, UK

Summary

Three experiments carried out at Bridget's Experimental Husbandry Farm, Hampshire between 1984 and 1987 on clay loam and silty clay loam soils over chalk investigated the response of winter wheat grown after grass to spring-applied fertilizer nitrogen. The influence of method of establishment and the use of a nitrification inhibitor were also studied. Yields were similar whether the crops were established by direct drilling or following ploughing. Crops required between 88 and 209 kg N/ha nitrogen fertilizer for optimum yield. There was no consistent difference in nitrogen requirement nor were there consistent differences in nitrogen offtake (which is the amount of N in kg/ha removed in harvested grain) or apparent fertilizer recovery following ploughing or direct drilling. The use of a nitrification inhibitor increased grain yield when applied in the autumn without fertilizer, but not when applied with fertilizer in the spring.

Type
Crops and Soils
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Burns, I. G.Greenwood, D. J. (1982). Estimation of year to year variations in nitrate leaching in different soils and regions of England and Wales. Agriculture and Environment 7, 3545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cameron, K. C.Wild, A. (1984). Potential aquifer pollution from nitrate leaching following the ploughing of temporary grassland. Journal of Environmental Quality 13, 274278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clement, C. R.Williams, T. E. (1967). Leys and soil organic matter. II. Accumulation of nitrogen in soils under different leys. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 69, 133138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, D. B., Eagle, D.Finney, F. (1972). Soil Management. Ipswich: Farming Press.Google Scholar
Department of the Environment (1986). Nitrate in Water. A Report by the Nitrate Co-ordination Group. Department of the Environment Central Directorate of Environmental Protection. Pollution Paper No. 26. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Dowdell, R. J.Cannell, R. Q. (1975). Effect of ploughing and direct drilling on soil nitrate content, Journal of Soil Science 26, 5361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, S. S. D., Cripps, A. C.Smith-Carrington, A. (1982). Nitrate leaching to ground water. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London 296, 477489.Google Scholar
Gateley, T. F. (1975). The effects of fertilizer nitrogen and the number of years in tillage on the yield of barley grain (cv. Nessa). Irish Journal of Agricultural Research 14, 225235.Google Scholar
George, B. J. (1984). Design and interpretation of nitrogen response experiments. In The Nitrogen Response of Cereals, pp. 133150. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Heard, A. J. (1965). The effect of nitrogen content of residues of leys. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 64, 329334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horne, B. (1973). Leys and soil fertility. Part 1. Crop production. Experimental Husbandry 23, 86103.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1986).Analysis of Agricultural Materials, 3rd edn. MAFF Reference Book 427. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1988). Fertiliser Recommendations. MAFF Reference Book 209, London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Pollard, F., Elliot, J. G., Ellis, F. B.Barnes, B. T. (1982). Comparison of direct drilling, reduced cultivation and ploughing on the growth of cereals. 4. Spring barley and winter wheat on silt loam soils over chalk. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 97, 621629.Google Scholar
Powlson, D. S.Jenkinson, D. S. (1981). A comparison of the organic matter, biomass, adenosine triphosphate and mineralisable nitrogen contents of ploughed and direct drilled soils. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 97, 713721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, G. A.Ashworth, G. (1982). Use of nitrification inhibitors to improve recovery of mineralised nitrogen by winter wheat. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 33, 12191226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, G. A., Penny, A.Hewitt, M. V. (1985). Effects of nitrification inhibitors on uptakes of mineralised nitrogen and on yields of winter cereals grown on sandy soil after ploughing old grassland. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 36, 915924.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryden, J. C. (1984). The flow of nitrogen in grassland. Proceedings of the Fertiliser Society, London. London: Purley Press.Google Scholar
Sylvester-Bradley, R., Dampney, P. M. R.Murray, A. W. A. (1984). The response of winter wheat to nitrogen. In The Nitrogen Requirement of Cereals (Eds Needham, P., Archer, J. R., Sylvester-Bradley, R.Goodlass, G.), pp. 151176. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Sylvester-Bradley, R., Bloom, T., Vaidyanathan, L. V.Murray, A. W. A. (1988). Apparent recovery of fertilizer nitrogen by winter wheat. In Nitrogen Efficiency in Agricultural Soils (Eds Jenkinson, D. S.Smith, K. A.), pp. 2737. London: Elsevier Applied Science.Google Scholar
Tas, M. (1976). Nitrogen requirement of winter wheat. Part 1. Nitrogen requirements of winter wheats following oneor three-year leys. Experimental Husbandry 35, 115121.Google Scholar
Thompson, N., Barrie, I. A.Ayles, M. (1981). The Meteorological Office Rainfall and Evaporation Calculation System: MORECS(02 1981). UK Meteorological Office Hydrological Memorandum No. 45. Bracknell: Meteorological Office.Google Scholar
Tottman, D. R. (1987). The decimal code for the growth stage of cereals, with illustrations. Annals of Applied Biology 110, 441454.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaidyanathan, L. V. (1984). Soil and fertilizer nitrogen use by winter wheat. In The Nitrogen Requirement of Cereals (Eds Needham, P., Archer, J. R., Sylvester-Bradley, R.Goodlass, G.), pp. 107118. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Williams, T. E., Clement, C. R.Heard, A. J.(1960). Soil nitrogen status of leys and subsequent wheat yields. Proceedings of the Eighth International Grassland Congress (Eds Boyle, P. J.Raymond, L. W.), pp. 237241. Oxford: Alden Press.Google Scholar