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Title: FERTILIZATION AND IRRIGATION OF BERMUDAGRASS ON HIGH PHOSPHORUS SOILS

Author
item Rowe, Dennis
item Sistani, Karamat
item Brink, Geoffrey

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2003
Publication Date: 10/1/2003
Citation: Rowe, D.E., Sistani, K.R., Brink, G.E. 2003. Fertilization and irrigation of bermudagrass on high phosphorus soils [abstract]. Agronomy Abstracts. CD-ROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: When manure nutrients accumulate to high levels in the soil, nutrient management plans often require land application rates to be linked to crop utilization. For confined animal production, the producer is concerned with maximizing crop utilization to minimize land use area. This research determined yields of hay and N, P, K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Zn, and Cu with a modest irrigation of 'Alicia' hybrid bermudagrass growing on land which had been fertilized with poultry litter for over 50 years and was fertilized in this research at 9 Mg/ha or 18 Mg/ha or 18 Mg/ha. In a factorial treatment arrangement, half of the plots were fertilized with 67.2 kg/ha ammonium nitrate. Once a week during the summer, if rainfall was less than 2 cm for prior 7 d, 2.5 cm of irrigation was applied by sprinkler. In this five year study irrigation increased dry matter harvest by 30%, and uptake of N, P, and K by 25, 35, and 32%, respectively. Inorganic N fertilization increased N yield but did not increase other yields. For those producers with irrigation options, irrigation might reduce the land application area needed for each ton of litter produced while producing a marketable hay during drought.