Influence of Zeolite on Nitrogen Fractions, Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Nitrogen Uptake of Maize
C. H. Ravali *
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Rajendranaagar, PJTSAU, Hyderabad, 500030, India.
K. Jeevan Rao
International Programmes, (Retd), PJTSAU, Hyderabad, India.
T. Anjaiah
Department of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Rajendranaagar, PJTSAU, Hyderabad, 500030, India.
K. Suresh
Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Rajendranaagar, PJTSAU, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Imbalanced use of fertilizers for agricultural production has now become a global concern. As a result, studies on how to use efficient methods to reduce nutrient applications at the same time increasing or maintaining crop yield, reducing nutrient losses and improving nutrient use efficiency are imperative. Accordingly, a pot study was conducted to evaluate whether zeolite application might improve selected soil properties, nitrogen use efficiency during maize cultivation. Among all treatments, irrespective of the nitrogen level, NUE (N recovery and agronomic use efficiency of N) showed an increasing trend with the increase of zeolite levels, nitrogen levels and their combination. The highest N recovery and agronomic NUE was obtained in N200Z7.5 (Nitrogen @ 200 kg ha-1 + Zeolite @ 7.5 t ha-1), was on par with N200Z5 (Nitrogen @ 200 kg ha-1 + Zeolite @ 5 t ha-1). N uptake by maize at harvest was highest in N200Z7.5 (Nitrogen @ 200 kg ha-1 + Zeolite @ 7.5 t ha-1).
Keywords: Ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, NUE, niitrogen uptake.