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Pig Slurry Application and Irrigation Effects on Nitrate Leaching in Mediterranean Soil Lysimeters
Author(s) -
Daudén A.,
Quílez D.,
Vera M. V.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq2004.2290
Subject(s) - lysimeter , leaching (pedology) , nitrate , irrigation , environmental science , drainage , agronomy , fertilizer , leachate , chemistry , zoology , environmental chemistry , soil water , soil science , biology , ecology , organic chemistry
Land application of animal manures, such as pig slurry (PS), is a common practice in intensive‐farming agriculture. However, this practice has a pitfall consisting of the loss of nutrients, in particular nitrate, toward water courses. The objective of this study was to evaluate nitrate leaching for three application rates of pig slurry (50, 100, and 200 Mg ha −1 ) and a control treatment of mineral fertilizer (275 kg N ha −1 ) applied to corn grown in 10 drainage lysimeters. The effects of two irrigation regimes (low vs. high irrigation efficiency) were also analyzed. In the first two irrigation events, drainage NO 3 –N concentrations as high as 145 and 69 mg L −1 were measured in the high and moderate PS rate treatments, respectively, in the low irrigation efficiency treatments. This indicates the fast transformation of the PS ammonium into nitrate and the subsequent leaching of the transformed nitrate. Drainage NO 3 –N concentration and load increased linearly by 0.69 mg NO 3 –N L −1 and 4.6 kg NO 3 –N ha −1 , respectively, for each 10 kg N ha −1 applied over the minimum of 275 kg N ha −1 An increase in irrigation efficiency did not induce a significant increase of leachate concentration and the amount of nitrate leached decreased about 65%. Application of low PS doses before sowing complemented with sidedressing N application and a good irrigation management are the key factors to reduce nitrate contamination of water courses.