Premium
Ammonia losses from urea applied to winter wheat over four consecutive years and potential mitigation by urease inhibitors
Author(s) -
Schraml Martine,
Weber Andreas,
Heil Kurt,
Gutser Reinhold,
Schmidhalter Urs
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.201700554
Subject(s) - urease , urea , fertilizer , ammonia , chemistry , nitrogen , zoology , ammonia volatilization from urea , phosphoric acid , environmental chemistry , agronomy , biochemistry , organic chemistry , biology
Urea is not only the most important mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer worldwide, but it is also the mineral N fertilizer with one of the highest potential for ammonia (NH 3 ) losses. The European emission inventory guidebook estimates an average loss of 16% of the applied urea as NH 3 . For mitigating NH 3 losses from urea, the best option would be to immediately incorporate the fertilizer. However, the addition of a urease inhibitor (UI) represents a potent alternative. In a multi‐year experiment from 2002 to 2005, 17 measurement periods were conducted in winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) and on bare soil in Southern Germany to evaluate the extent of NH 3 losses following the application of urea and to determine the mitigating effect of urease inhibitors. In all measurement periods, 80 kg N ha −1 as urea without or with the UI N‐(n‐butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (nBTPT) 0.3% w/w or N‐(isopropoxycarbonyl) phosphoric acid triamide (IPAT) 0.4% w/w were applied. For 6–24 d following fertilizer application, NH 3 emissions were continuously measured using a dynamic chamber system. Generally, low NH 3 emissions were detected from urea, varying between 0.1 and 2.7% of the N applied to winter wheat and between 2.6 and 16.3% of the N applied on bare soil. Addition of the UIs IPAT and nBTPT had a significant effect on the course of NH 3 emissions and reduced losses on average by 32% and 24%, respectively.