Effects of urease and nitrification inhibitors application on urea fate in soil and nitrate accumulation in lettuce

Abstract

The effects of amendment of urea with the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl)-thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) and the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) on urea trasformation in soil and nitrate accumulation in winter lettuce were studied in a cold greenhouse experiment. The DCD inhibited remarkably the nitrification process for more then two months, maintaining significantly higher levels of ammonium in soil solution compared to normal urea. The DCD did not decrease the ammonia volatilization but determined a significant reduction of plant nitrate concentration at final harvest. The treatment urea + NBPT showed a behavior slightly different from normal urea with a higher level of soil nitrate three weeks after nitrogen (N) fertilization. No effects on NO 3 plant accumulation were observed, but losses of NH 3 were significantly reduced.

Soil Solarization and Calcium Cyanamide Affect Plant Vigor, Yield, Nutritional Traits, and Nutraceutical Compounds of Strawberry Grown in a Protected Cultivation System

“…Our results on plant growth and vigor are consistent with those of D'Anna et al [3], who revealed that, regardless of the cultivars tested and in two experimental years, the number of shoots per crown in the solarized plots is significantly higher than in untreated plots. However, our outcomes are in contrast with those of Montemurro et al [34], who report that the addition of dicyandiamide to urea did not determine an increase of yield in lettuce grown under a protected environment as compared with the simple application of urea. Thus, as reported by Di Gioia et al [35], it seems that the crop growth response to N rate and source is the result of a complex interaction between plant genotype and several ecological factors that influence N availability during the crop season.…”

Field-Scale Evaluation of Calcium Ammonium Nitrate, Urea, and Urea Treated with N-(N-Butyl) Thiophosphoric Triamide Applied to Grassland in Ireland

“…Therefore, maximizing N response immediately after fertilizer application is an important agronomic and environmental consideration, which allows for that synthetic N to be rapidly removed from the soil and fertilizer, and sequestered into the crop biomass. Reduced N uptake can lead to high concentration of soil mineral N, increasing the risk of N losses to the environment (Montemurro et al 1998). Results obtained for T1 and T2 confirmed lower (P < 0.05) cumulative responses with urea (≈12 kg DM kg −1 N) compared with CAN (≈16 kg DM kg −1 N).…”

Improving Efficiency of Urea Fertilizers by Inhibition of Soil Urease Activity

“…In the greenhouse experiment of Montemurro et al (1998) (see page 246), fresh weight oflettuce plants was not significantly affected by nBTPTA, DCD, and nBTPTA+DCD, but the nitrate content in plants (mglg fresh weight), which was 2.182 in the urea-only treatment, was reduced insignificantly to 2.143 by nBTPTA and significantly to 1.650 and 1.736 by DCD and nBTPTA+DCD, respectively.…”

“…The average amount of urease + nitrification inhibitors is about 0.5% relative to weight of urea. Montemurro et al (1998) studied nBTPTA, DCD, and nBTPTA+DCD applied with urea on a clay soil (PH 7.8). The experiment was carried out in a cold greenhouse at Metaponto.…”