Summary
The nitrogen balance for four different Egyptian soils cropped with corn and fertilized with increasing amounts of ammonium sulphate was studied in pot experiments. The tested soils were clay loam, calcareous sandy loam, sandy loam and sand. Nitrogen added as seeds, fertilizers, irrigation water and insecticides, nitrogen removed by the plants including thinned plants and fallen leaves and the nitrogen content of the soils before sowing and after the harvest were determined and used to draw the balance sheet.
The obtained results showed that nitrogen loss ranged between 6.8 and 51.5 per cent depending mainly on soil type and to some extent on the rate of applied ammonium sulphate. Nitrogen uptake by the corn plants was lowest from the clay loam soil and highest from the sandy soil. In all cases it increased slightly with the addition of nitrogen fertilizer. re]19720918
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allison, F. E., The enigma of soil nitrogen balance sheets. Adv. Agron. 7, 213–250 (1955).
Allison, F. E., Evaluation of incoming and outgoing processes that affect soil nitrogen. In Bartholomew, W. V. and Clark, F. E. (ed.) Soil Nitrogen. Am. Soc. Agron. Inc. Publisher Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. (1965).
Bartholomew, W. V. and Hiltbold, A. E., Recovery of fertilizer nitrogen by oats in the greenhouse. Soil Sci. 73, 193–201 (1952).
Black, C. A., Evans, D. D., White, J. L., Enominger, L. E., and Clark, F. E., Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Chemical and microbiological properties. Am. Soc. Agron. Inc. Publisher. Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. (1965).
Broadbent, F. E., Effect of fertilizer nitrogen on the release of soil nitrogen. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 29, 692–696 (1965).
Broadbent, F. E. and Clark, F., Denitrification. In Bartholomew, W. V. and Clark, F. E. (ed.), Soil Nitrogen. Am. Soc. Agron. Inc. Publisher. Madison, Wisconsin U.S.A. (1965).
Broadbent, F. E. and Norman, A. G., Some factors affecting the availability of the organic nitrogen in soil-a preliminary report. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. (1946) 11, 264–267 (1947).
Clark, F. E., Beard, W. E., and Smith, D. H., Dissimilar nitrifying capacities of soils in relation to losses of applied nitrogen. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 24, 50–54 (1960).
Jansson, S. L., Balance sheet and residual effects of fertilizer nitrogen in a 6-year study with N15. Soil Sci. 95, 31–37 (1963).
Legg, J. O. and Allison, F. E. A tracer study of nitrogen balance and residual nitrogen availability with 12 soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 31, 403–406 (1967).
Legg, J. O. and Stanford, G., Utilization of Soil and fertilizer N by oats in relation to the available N status of soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 31, 215–219 (1967).
Löwenstein, H., Engelbert, L. E., Attoe, O. J., and Allen, O. N., Nitrogen loss in gaseous form from soils as influenced by fertilizers and management. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 21, 397–400 (1957).
Mac Vicar, R., Garman, W. L., and Wall, R., Studies on nitrogen fertilizer utilization using N15. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 15, 265–268 (1950).
Martin, J. P. and Chapman, H. D., Volatilization of ammonia from surface fertilized soils. Soil Sci. 71, 25–34 (1951).
Martin, A. E., Henzell, E. F., Ross, P. J., and Haydock, K. P., Isotopic studies on the uptake of nitrogen by pasture grasses I. Recovery of fertilizer nitrogen from the soil: Plant system using Rhodes grass in pots. Australian J. Soil Research 1, 169–184 (1963).
Martin, A. E. and Skyring, G. W., General problems of nitrogen economy. II. Losses of nitrogen from the soil-plant system. Comm. Wealth Bureau of Pastures and Field crops, Hurley Berkshire, Eng. Bull. 46, 19–35 (1962).
Salter, R. M. and Green, T. C., Factors affecting the accumulation and loss of nitrogen and organic carbon in cropped soils. J. Am. Soc. Agron. 25, 622–630 (1933).
Sauchelli, V., The role of nitrogen in agriculture. In Sauchelli, V. (ed.), Fertilizer Nitrogen. Chapman and Hall, Ltd., London and Reinhold Pub. Corp., New York (1964).
Viets, F. G.Jr., The plant's need for and use of nitrogen. In Bartholomew, W. V. and Clark, F. E. (ed.) Soil Nitrogen. Am. Soc. Agron. Inc. Publisher, Madison, Wisconsin (1965).
Wahhab, A., Randhawa, M. S., and Alam, S. Q., Loss of ammonia from ammonium sulphate under different conditions when applied to soils. Soil Sci. 84, 249–255 (1957).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
El-Shakweer, M.H.A., Abdel-Ghaffar, A.S. & Barakat, M.A. Nitrogen balance studies for different Egyptian soils cropped with corn. Plant Soil 39, 341–349 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014801
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014801