A coupled soil water and nitrogen balance model for flooded rice fields in India

Abstract

Quantification of nitrate losses is important for devising measures to ensure sustainability of soil fertility and groundwater resources and for the development of crop nutrient management protocols. Hence, in the present study a simple model for assessing concentration of nitrate in water percolating out of the flooded rice (Oryza Sativa) fields is presented. The model considers all the important nitrogen (N) transformation processes that take place in flooded rice fields such as urea hydrolysis, volatilization, nitrification, mineralization, immobilization, denitrification, crop uptake and leaching. It is based on coupling of soil water and N-balance models. The coupled model also accounts for weather, and timings and amounts of water and fertilizer applications. All the N-transformations except plant uptake and leaching are considered to follow first-order kinetics. A heuristic procedure is developed for selection of the rate constants of the transformation processes for different soil and environmental conditions. The model is evaluated by comparing simulation results with published data of three field experiments conducted at two locations namely G.B. Pant University Farm, Pantnagar, UP and IARI Research Farm, New Delhi of India, respectively. The simulation results show that urea hydrolysis is completed within 7 days of fertilizer application. It was also observed that the volatilization loss of N varies from 25 to 33% of the applied fertilizer and 75% of the total volatilization loss occurs within 7 days of urea application. The modeled leaching losses from the field experiments varied from 20 to 30% of the applied N. The N-uptake by the crop increased immediately after the application of fertilizer and decreased at 60 days after transplanting. The model is sufficiently general to be used in a wide range of conditions for quantification of nutrient losses by leaching and developing water and fertilizer management strategies for rice in irrigated areas.