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Efficiency of fallow as a store for fertilizer nitrogen in a semi-arid region

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

N. G. Seligman ,
Sala Feigenbaum ,
R. W. Benjamin  and
Dvora Feinerman
N. G. Seligman
Affiliation:
The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Sala Feigenbaum
Affiliation:
The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
R. W. Benjamin
Affiliation:
The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
Dvora Feinerman
Affiliation:
The Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, 50250, Israel
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Summary

Fertilizer nitrogen recovery under fallow and under a wheat crop (Triticum aestivum L., cv. Miriam) grown on a deep loessial silty loam (Calcixerollic Xerochrept), was studied with 15N labelled KNO3. The labelled nitrogen was applied (at a rate of 180kg/ha) to 30 cm diameter microplots enclosed in hard plastic tubes that protruded 5 cm above the soil surface. In the 1st year of the experiment there was a long dry spell during the main part of the growing season and plant dry-matter yields were low. The 2nd year was wet, with heavy rain early in the season. About one-third of the fertilizer N applied to the fallow was lost from the top 60 cm layer in the 1st year. Most of the fertilizer N remaining in the soil as mineral N at the end of the first season was lost in the 2nd year. The possible reasons for such low N-conservation efficiency are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 105 , Issue 2 , October 1985 , pp. 245 - 249
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

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