Premium
Equivalency of Broiler Litter to Ammonium Nitrate as a Cotton Fertilizer in an Upland Soil
Author(s) -
Tewolde H.,
Adeli A.,
Sistani K. R.,
Rowe D. E.,
Johnson J. R.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2009.0244
Subject(s) - lint , loam , litter , human fertilization , zoology , fertilizer , agronomy , yield (engineering) , poultry litter , broiler , mathematics , biology , soil water , nutrient , ecology , materials science , metallurgy
Estimates of litter value based on crop yield equivalency to inorganic fertilization may reflect the actual value of litter more accurately than estimates based on its N, P, and K content. The primary objective of this research was to identify a rate of broiler litter that results in cotton lint yield equivalent to inorganic N fertilization and to estimate litter value based on this yield equivalency. The research was conducted in northern Mississippi in 2002 to 2004 in a Loring silt loam upland soil. Cotton was fertilized with six broiler litter rates ranging between 2.2 and 13.4 Mg ha −1 or six NH 4 NO 3 –N rates ranging between 34 and 168 kg ha −1 or was not fertilized. Lint yield calculated based on fitted models peaked at 1033 kg ha −1 when cotton was fertilized with 94 kg ha −1 NH 4 NO 3 –N, which is similar to the 90 kg N ha −1 local recommendation. Lint yield of cotton fertilized with litter (8.7 Mg ha −1 ) peaked at 1156 kg ha −1 , which is a 123 kg ha −1 lint yield increase over NH 4 NO 3 –N. The economic optimum NH 4 NO 3 –N rate was 72 kg ha −1 , which produced 88 kg ha −1 less lint than the economic optimum litter rate of 5.2 Mg ha −1 Fertilization with 3.7 Mg ha −1 litter produced lint yield equivalent to the locally recommended 90 kg ha −1 NH 4 NO 3 –N. The N fertilizer replacement value of litter calculated based on this equivalency exceeded the value calculated using the traditional method by ≈27%. These results overall show that fertilizing cotton in this soil with litter increased lint yield above that possible with conventional inorganic fertilization by 12% and that broiler litter is substantially more valuable than can be estimated from its N, P, and K contents.