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Title: 15N Uptake from Manure and Fertilizer Sousrces by Three Consecutive Crops Under Controlled Conditions.

Author
item QUIROGA-GARZA, H - INIFAP, MEXICO
item CUETO-WONG, J - INIFAP, MEXICO
item LINDEMANN, W - NMSU, LAS CRUCES, MN
item Delgado, Jorge

Submitted to: Brazilian Journal of Soil Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/2009
Publication Date: 11/20/2009
Citation: Quiroga-Garza, H.M., Cueto-Wong, J.A., Lindemann, W.C., Delgado, J.A. 2009. 15N Uptake from Manure and Fertilizer Sousrces by Three Consecutive Crops Under Controlled Conditions. Brazilian Journal of Soil Science. 33:1249-1258.

Interpretive Summary: The North Central “La Comarca Lagunera” region (25° 31’ N, 103° 14’ W), is one of the most important dairy production areas of Mexico. We conducted the first isotopic nitrogen (15N) labeled manure study in Mexico to assess the potential to supply nitrogen (N) to three consecutive forage crops with a combination of organic 15N (15N-manure) and inorganic 15N (15NH4)2SO4 treatments. The organic N (manure) treatment supplied twice the amount of N than the inorganic N ((NH4)2SO4) treatment. Input N remaining in the soil after three forage crops ranged from 82 to 88% for the organic N and from 37 to 44% for the inorganic N. Our study shows that we can use these isotopic 15N techniques to study the potential to cycle N from organic N sources such as dairy manure, now in a field study. Our data shows that organic and inorganic N inputs must be considered as an important source of N for intensive forage production systems of this important agricultural region of Mexico. This study clearly shows the potential of organic N fertilizer to supply large quantities of N to sequential forage crops. This data illustrates that management of organic and inorganic N inputs must be a part of nutrient management plans for intensive forage production system, in Mexico, since both N sources are capable of supplying significant amounts of N. There is potential to use isotopic 15N techniques to label and study N cycling from organic sources such as dairy manure in Mexico.

Technical Abstract: The North Central “La Comarca Lagunera” region (25° 31’ N, 103° 14’ W), is one of the most important dairy production areas of Mexico. We conducted the first isotopic nitrogen (15N) labeled manure study in Mexico to assess the potential to supply nitrogen (N) to three consecutive forage crops with a combination of organic 15N (15N-manure) and inorganic 15N (15NH4)2SO4 treatments. Organic N treatments were 0, 55, 110, and 220 g dry manure pot-1. Inorganic N treatments were 0, 220, and 440 mg (NH4)2SO4-N pot-1. Total aboveground forage N recovery from labeled organic N was 101, 141 and 226 mg N per pot-1 for the 55, 110 and 220 g dry manure pot-1 treatments, respectively. The total forage N recovery of inorganic N was 48 and 111 mg inorganic N pot-1 recovered for 220 and 440 mg (NH4)2SO4-N pot-1 treatment, respectively. The organic N (manure) treatment supplied twice the amount of N than the inorganic N ((NH4)2SO4) treatment. Input N remaining in the soil after three forage crops ranged from 82 to 88% for the organic N and from 37 to 44% for the inorganic N. Since no leaching or run-off was induced in this study, all N losses were hypothesized to be caused by gaseous N pathways, ranging from 4 to 11% for the organic N inputs and from 34 to 39% for the inorganic N. We propose that our low values of recovery for organic 15N inputs of about 9% were lower than those reported in the literature, due to the high N inputs of 1084, 2171 and 4342 mg N pot-1 for the 55, 110 and 220 g manure pot-1, respectively, and the high initial soil NO3-N. This data shows that management of organic and inorganic N inputs must be part of nutrient management plans for intensive forage production systems, since both N sources are capable of supplying significant amounts of N. There is potential to use isotopic 15N techniques to label and study N cycling from organic sources, such as dairy manure in Mexico.