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Leaching and Crop Uptake of Nitrogen and Phosphorus from Pig Slurry as Affected by Different Application Rates
Author(s) -
Bergström Lars,
Kirchmann Holger
Publication year - 2006
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/jeq2006.0003
Subject(s) - lysimeter , leaching (pedology) , slurry , zoology , fertilizer , nitrogen , chemistry , agronomy , phosphorus , environmental science , environmental engineering , soil water , biology , soil science , organic chemistry
ABSTRACT The influence of increasing pig slurry applications on leaching and crop uptake of N and P by cereals was evaluated in a 3‐yr study of lysimeters filled with a sandy soil. The slurry was applied at N rates of 50 (S50), 100 (S100), 150 (S150), and 200 (S200) kg ha −1 during 2 of the 3 yr. The P rates applied with slurry were: 40 (S50), 80 (S100), 120 (S150), and 160 (S200) kg ha −1 yr −1 Simultaneously, NH 4 NO 3 and Ca(H 2 PO 4 ) 2 were applied at rates of 100 kg N ha −1 and 50 kg P ha −1 , respectively, to additional lysimeters (F100), while others were left unfertilized (F0). During the 3‐yr period, the leaching load of total N tended to increase with increasing slurry application to, on average, 139 kg ha −1 at the highest application rate (S200). The corresponding N leaching loads (kg ha −1 ) in the other treatments were: 75 (F0), 103 (F100), 93 (S50), 120 (S100), and 128 (S150). The loads of slurry‐derived N in the S100, S150, and S200 treatments were significantly larger ( P < 0.05) than those of fertilizer‐derived N. In contrast, P leaching tended to decrease with increasing input of slurry, and it was lower in all treatments that received P at or above 50 kg P ha −1 yr −1 with slurry or fertilizer than in the unfertilized treatment. The crop use efficiency of added N and P was clearly higher when NH 4 NO 3 and Ca(H 2 PO 4 ) 2 were used rather than slurry (60 vs. 35% for N, 38 vs. 6–9% for P), irrespective of slurry application rate. Therefore, from both a production and water quality point of view, inorganic fertilizers seem to have environmental benefits over pig slurry when used on sandy soils.