Can mineralization of soil organic nitrogen meet maize nitrogen demand?

Abstract

Aims High-yielding maize-based crop systems require maize to take up large quantities of nitrogen over short periods of time. Nitrogen management in conventional crop systems assumes that soil N mineralization alone cannot meet rapid rates of crop N uptake, and thus large pools of inorganic N, typically supplied as fertilizer, are required to meet crop N demand. Net soil N mineralization data support this assumption; net N mineralization rates are typically lower than maize N uptake rates. However, net N mineralization does not fully capture the flux of N from organic to inorganic forms. Gross ammonification may better represent the absolute flux of inorganic N produced by soil N mineralization.