Abstract
The effect of low and high doses of mineral and organic fertilization on the quality of top yield and root mass of alfalfa and effect of mineral and organic fertilization on formation of quality of soil organic matter in dry condition were studied in a field trial. Alfalfa was grown on leached chernozem soil without irrigation at the experimental field of Institute of Forage Crops, Pleven, Bulgaria. The doses of 70, 140 and 210 kg/ha mineral nitrogen (active ingredient) were tested as ammonium nitrate and well-rotted cattle manure. It was found dry mass yield of alfalfa fertilized with manure was to 15.9% higher as compared to dry mass yield obtained from alfalfa fertilized with mineral fertilizer. Sustainable yield index showed the alfalfa crop was more stable under organic fertilization. Alfalfa accumulated to 6027 kg/ha dry root mass for 4-year period of growing. There was from 614 to 1371 kg/ha root mass additional with manure application. Manure treated plants showed higher values for nitrogen in dry root mass/nitrogen in dry aboveground mass ratio and plant available nitrogen. In addition to nitrogen alfalfa add a considerable amount of organic matter to the soil. Humic acids content after mineral fertilization increased to 50.0% as compared to unfertilized control and threefold after manure. Humus content in the soil after manure fertilization was from 10.9 to 41.9% higher as compared to humus content after mineral one.
Highlights
The conservation of soil fertility issue is highly important nowadays and in the future agricultural research
The following scheme was used: N0P300K150 – control; N70P300K150 - N applied as mineral fertilizer; N140P300K150 - N applied as mineral fertilizer; N210P300K150 - N applied as mineral fertilizer; N70P300K150 - N applied as manure; N140P300K150 - N applied as manure; N210P300K150 - N applied as manure
The prolonged drought period occurred in May and June and reflected in relatively low dry mass yield
Summary
The conservation of soil fertility issue is highly important nowadays and in the future agricultural research. Legumes contribute to sustainability of the agriculture for many reasons: reduce mineral fertilizers reducing N2O production and increase N2-fixation, renew and enrich the soil fertility due to their deep reaching root systems, quick decompose their root biomass and accumulate in to the soil (Luscher et al, 2014; Kusvuran et al, 2014) They have become very popular in sustainable cropping practices, as fix atmospheric nitrogen, which can be transferred to a subsequent crop through mineralization of the residues (Luscher et al, 2014). Increased attention is being paid to developing such a plant nutrition systems that maintain or enhance soil productivity through a balanced use of mineral fertilizers combined with organic sources of plant nutrients, including biological nitrogen fixation (Singh et al, 2012; Dwivedi, 2014). Objectives of this study were: effect of low and high doses of mineral and organic fertilization on the quality of top yield and root mass of alfalfa and effect of mineral and organic fertilization on formation of quality of soil organic matter in dry condition of this region
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