Effect of Plant Residues-Treated Urea on Growth and N-Uptake of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

A pot experiment was carried out to study the effect of the  urea fertilizer treated with  corn or conocarpus residues on growth and N uptake  of wheat plant. Three kilograms of dry soil (Silt clay loam) were placed in a plastic pots and four levels of nitrogen (0, 60, 120 and 180 kg N ha -1) were added as urea. Urea was treated with  one of the following  methods : mix with the conocarpus leaves powder  at rate of 4% of dry soil weight, mix with the conocarpus roots powder  at rate of 4%  of dry soil weight dissolved in, aqueous extract of the corn root  at rate of  1/4 of the field capacity  ,or coated with dried aqueos extract of corn root at ratio of 10% of urea weight. Treatment included urea treated with the standard chemical inhibitor (PMA) was used. shoot dry  weight, N conc., N-uptake and N recovery were obtained. The results showed that treatment of urea fertilizer with water extract or coated  with corn root extract resulted in improved growth parameters as compared with a PMA and control treatments .However ,treating urea with leaves or root powders decreased plant growth parameters .Urea  coated with 10 % dried extract of corn roots gave the highest dry matter of 3.06 g pot-1 and nitrogen uptake of 69.90 mg pot-1 resulting  in saving of 60 kg N ha-1 to give the same results for control and PMA treatments.