Abstract
This paper reports a study in the wet tropics of Queensland on the fate of urea applied to a dry or wet soil surface under banana plants. The transformations of urea were followed in cylindrical microplots (10.3 cm diameter × 23 cm long), a nitrogen (N) balance was conducted in macroplots (3.85 m × 2.0 m) with 15N labelled urea, and ammonia volatilization was determined with a mass balance micrometeorological method. Most of the urea was hydrolysed within 4 days irrespective of whether the urea was applied onto dry or wet soil. The nitrification rate was slow at the beginning when the soil was dry, but increased greatly after small amounts of rain; in the 9 days after rain 20% of the N applied was converted to nitrate. In the 40 days between urea application and harvesting, the macroplots the banana plants absorbed only 15% of the applied N; at harvest the largest amounts were found in the leaves (3.4%), pseudostem (3.3%) and fruit (2.8%). Only 1% of the applied N was present in the roots. Sixty percent of the applied N was recovered in the soil and 25% was lost from the plant-soil system by either ammonia volatilization, leaching or denitrification. Direct measurements of ammonia volatilization showed that when urea was applied to dry soil, and only small amounts of rain were received, little ammonia was lost (3.2% of applied N). In contrast, when urea was applied onto wet soil, urea hydrolysis occurred immediately, ammonia was volatilized on day zero, and 17.2% of the applied N was lost by the ninth day after that application. In the latter study, although rain fell every day, the extensive canopy of banana plants reduced the rainfall reaching the fertilized area under the bananas to less than half. Thus even though 90 mm of rain fell during the volatilization study, the fertilized area did not receive sufficient water to wash the urea into the soil and prevent ammonia loss. Losses by leaching and denitrification combined amounted to 5% of the applied N.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
CAST (1992) Preparing US Agriculture for Global Climate Change. Task Force Report, No. 119. Waggoner PE Chair. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa, 96 pp
Chew PS & Pushparajah E (1995) Nitrogen management and fertilization of tropical plantation tree crops. In: Bacon PE (ed) Nitrogen Fertilization in the Environment, pp 225–293. Marcel Dekker, New York
De Datta SK, Trevitt ACF, Freney JR, Obcemea WN, Real JG & Simpson JR (1989) Measuring nitrogen losses from lowland rice using bulk aerodynamic and nitrogen-15 balance methods. Soil Sci Soc Am J 53: 1275–1281
Denmead OT (1983) Micrometeorological methods for measuring gaseous losses of nitrogen in the field. In: Freney JR & Simpson JR (eds) Gaseous Loss of Nitrogen from Plant-Soil Systems, pp 133–157. Martinus Nijhoff / Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague, The Netherlands
Denmead OT (1994) Measuring fluxes of CH4 and N2O between agricultural systems and the atmosphere. In: Minami K, Mosier A & Sass R (eds) CH4 and N2O; Global Emissions and Controls from Rice Fields and Other Agricultural and Industrial Sources, pp 209–234. Yokendo Publishers, Tokyo
Denmead OT, Simpson JR & Freney JR (1977) Direct field measurement of ammonia emission after injection of anhydrous ammonia. Soil Sci Soc Am J 41: 1001–4
Denmead OT, Freney JR, Jackson AV, Smith JWB, Saffigna PG, Wood AW & Chapman LS (1990) Volatilization of ammonia from urea and ammonium sulfate applied to sugar cane trash in north Queensland. Proc Aust Soc Sugar Cane Technol 1990 Conf, pp 72–78
Duenas G, Gomez MA, Hernandez T, Lopez T & Valiente M(1991) Nitrogen dynamics in a compacted red ferrallitic soil under bananas. Agrotecnia de Cuba 23: 3–4
FAO (1992) Fertilizer Use by Crop. International Fertilizer Industry Association, International Fertilizer Development Center and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Freney JR, Trevitt ACF, De Datta SK, Obcemea WN & Real JG (1990) The interdependence of ammonia volatilization and denitrification as nitrogen loss processes in flooded rice in the Philippines. Biol Fertil Soils 9: 31–36
Freney JR, Chen DL, Mosier AR, Rochester IJ, Constable GA & Chalk PM (1993) Use of nitrification inhibitors to increase fertilizer nitrogen recovery and lint yield in irrigated cotton. Fert Res 34: 37–44
Godefroy J & Dormoy M(1990) The dynamics of mineral fertilizers in a ferrisol inMartinique used for banana growing. Fruits (Paris) 45: 93–101
Godefroy J, Roose EJ & Muller M (1975) Estimation des pertes par les eaux de ruisellement et de drainage des elements fertilisants dans un sol de bananeraie du sud de la Cote d'Ivoire. Fruits (Paris) 30: 223–235
Kafkafi U, Peled A & Halevi Y (1969) Nitrogen fertilization in the banana plantation. Alonha Notea 23: 247–259
Lahav E & Turner DW (1983) Banana Nutrition. IPI Bulletin No 7. International Potash Institute, Bern, Switzerland
McShane TJ, Reghenzani JR, Prove BG & Moody PW. (1993) Nutrient balances and transport from sugarcane land – a preliminary report. Proc Aust Soc Sugar Cane Technol 1993 Conf, pp 268–275
Montaqut G, Martin-Prevel P & Lacoeville J (1965) Nutrition minerale comparee dans six essais. Fruits (Paris) 20: 398–410
Mosier AR and Schimel DS (1993) Nitrification and denitrification. In: Knowles R & Blackburn TH (eds) Nitrogen Isotope Techniques, pp 181–208. Academic Press Inc, San Diego
Myers RJK (1988) Nitrogen management of upland crops: From cereals to food legumes to sugarcane. In: Wilson JR (ed) Advances in Nitrogen Cycling in Agricultural Ecosystems, pp 257–273. CAB International, Wallingford 73
Mulvaney RL & Bremner JM(1979) A modified diacetyl monoxime method for colorimetric determination of urea in soil extracts. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 10: 1163–1170
Northcote KH (1979) A Factual Key for the Recognition of Australian Soils. Rellim Technical Publications, Glenside, South Australia
Parida GN, Ray DP, Nath N & Dora DK (1994) Effect of graded levels of NPK on growth of Robusta banana. Indian Agric 38: 43–50
Peoples MB, Freney JR & Mosier AR (1995) Minimizing gaseous losses of nitrogen. In: Bacon PE (ed) Nitrogen Fertilization in the Environment, pp 565–602. Marcel Dekker, New York
Plant RAJ (1998) Based extrapolation of land use-related nitrous oxide flux in the Atlantic zone of Costa Rica. Water, Air and Soil Pollution 105: 131–141
Prammanee P, Saffigna PG, Wood AW & Freney JR (1989) Loss of nitrogen from urea and ammonium sulphate applied to sugar cane crop residues. Proc Aust Soc Sugar Cane Technol 1989 Conf. pp 76–84
Prove BG & Moody PW (1995) Nutrient Balances and Transport from Agricultural and Rainforest Lands. Report to Horticultural Research and Development Corporation et al., 10 pp
Rayment GE & Higginson FR (1992) Australian Laboratory Handbook of Soil and Water Chemical Methods. Inkata Press, Melbourne
Ruz-Jerez BE, White RE & Ball PR (1994) Long-term measurement of denitrification in three contrasting pastures grazed by sheep. Soil Biol Biochem 26: 29–39
Singh J & Kashyap R (1992) Effect of spacing and levels of nitrogen on growth and yield of banana cv. Robusta. Adv Plant Sci 5: 203–207
Singh HP, Yadav IS & Singh KD (1990) Response of a plant crop of Dwarf Cavendish banana (Musa AAA, Cavendish) to nitrogen and potassium growing in a sandy loam soil in the sub-tropics.J Potassium Res6: 60–69
Sherlock RR, Black AS & Smith NP (1987) Micro-environment soil pH around broadcast urea granules and its relationship to ammonia volatilization. In: Bacon PE, Evans J, Storrier RR and Taylor AC (eds) Nitrogen Cycling in Temperate Agricultural Systems, pp 316–326. Australian Society of Soil Science, Riverina Branch, Wagga Wagga, Australia
SMSS (1983) Keys to Soil Taxonomy. Soil Management Support Services.Tech Monograph No. 6. USDA. US Government Printing Office, Washington, D C
Stace HCT, Hubble GD, Brewer R, Northcote KH, Sleeman JR, Mulcahy MJ & Hallsworth EG (1968) A Handbook of Australian Soils. Rellim Technical Publications, Glenside, South Australia
Stanford G & Legg JO (1984) Nitrogen and yield potential. In: Hauck RD (ed) Nitrogen in Crop Production, pp 263-272. American Society of Agronomy, Madison
Strong WM(1995) Nitrogen fertilization of upland crops. In: Bacon PE (ed) Nitrogen Fertilization in the Environment pp 129–169. Marcel Dekker, New York
Summerville WAT (1944) Studies in nutrition as qualified by development in Musa cavendishii L. Queensland J Agric Sci 1: 1–22
Veldkamp E & Keller M (1997) Fertilizer-induced nitric oxide emissions from agricultural soils. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 48: 69–77
Warner RM & Fox RL (1977) Nitrogen and potassium nutrition of Giant Cavendish banana in Hawaii. J Amer Soc Hort Sci 102: 739–743
Weier KL (1994) Nitrogen use and losses in agriculture in subtropical Australia. Fert Res 39: 245-257
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prasertsak, P., Freney, J., Saffigna, P. et al. Fate of urea nitrogen applied to a banana crop in the wet tropics of Queensland. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 59, 65–73 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009806826141
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009806826141