Ammonia Volatilization Loss and Corn Nitrogen Nutrition and Productivity with Efficiency Enhanced UAN and Urea under No-tillage

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 6610
• Main Authors: Liu, Shuangli, Wang, Xiaohui, Yin, Xinhua, Savoy, Hubert J., McClure, Angela, Essington, Michael E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 29.04.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/449/1736; 704/172/169/209; Agriculture; Ammonia; Ammonia - metabolism; Ammonium; Ammonium nitrate; Carbon Dioxide - chemistry; Carbon Dioxide - metabolism; Corn; Crop yield; Efficiency; Fertilizers; Grain; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Nitrification; Nitrification - drug effects; Nitrogen - metabolism; Nitrous Oxide; Nutrition; Organophosphorus Compounds - chemistry; Organophosphorus Compounds - pharmacology; Plant nutrition; Polymers; Polymers - chemistry; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Soil - chemistry; Tillage; Urea; Urea - chemistry; Urea - pharmacology; Urease; Urease - antagonists & inhibitors; Vegetables; Volatilization; Volatilization - drug effects; Zea mays - drug effects; Zea mays - growth & development; Zea mays - metabolism; United States > US; Tennessee
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-42912-5
• ISSN: 2045-2322

New urease and nitrification inhibitors and polymer coatings were introduced in recent years, but their effects on N loss and plant N nutrition were scarcely examined in agronomic no-tillage production systems. A field experiment of urea treated with efficiency enhancers was conducted on no-tillage corn ( Zea mays L.) in Tennessee, the USA during 2013–2015. A field experiment on urea and ammonium nitrate (UAN) treated with efficiency enhancers was carried out on no-tillage corn in Tennessee in 2014 and 2015. Urea treated with N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT) at concentrations of 20% (NBPT 1 ), 26.7% (NBPT 2 ), or 30% (NBPT 3 ) and polymer coated urea (PCU) were effective but maleic-itaconic copolymer treated urea was ineffective in reducing ammonia volatilization loss and improving N nutrition, grain yield, and N agronomic use efficiency of corn compared with untreated urea. Specifically, NBPT 1 , NBPT 2 , or NBPT 3 treated urea and PCU reduced the total ammonia volatilization loss by 29.1–78.8%, 35.4–81.9%, 77.3–87.4%, and 59.1–83.3% during the 20 days after N applications, but increased grain yield by 15.6–31.4%, 12.9–34.8%, 18.7–19.9%, and 14.6–41.1%, respectively. The inhibitory effect of NBPT on ammonia volatilization did not improve with NBPT concentration increased from 20% to 30%. UAN treated with NBPT 3 or a combination of urease and nitrification inhibitors resulted in 16.5–16.6% higher corn yield than untreated UAN only when they were surface applied. In conclusion, when urea-containing fertilizers are surface applied without any incorporation into the soil under no-tillage, their use efficiencies and performances on corn can be enhanced with an effective urease inhibitor in areas and years with noticeable urea N losses.