Effect of organic manures, crop residues and green manure (Sesbania aculeata) on nitrogen and phosphorus transformations in a sandy loam at field capacity and under waterlogged conditions

Abstract

The influence of the water regime on mineralization and immobilization of N and P was investigated in a calcareous sandy loam incubated with cattle, poultry and green manure (Sesbania aculeata), and wheat and rice straw in a pot experiment. At field capacity, N released from poultry and green manure during the first 4 weeks of incubation was 45% and 59%, respectively. During the next 12 weeks, only around 40% more organic N was mineralized from both sources. In contrast, addition of cattle manure resulted in a period of net N immobilization lasting up to 4 weeks. By the end of 16 weeks of incubation only about 19010 of the added N was mineralized. High rates of N immobilization were observed during the first 4 weeks of incubation of rice or wheat straw with C/N ratios of 78 and 85, respectively. The N mineralization kinetics of poultry and green manure and of untreated soil showed an initial fast reaction followed by a slow release of inorganic N and could be described by two simultaneous first-order reactions. Under waterlogged conditions mineralized N was lost simultaneously in significant amounts possibly through nitrification — denitrification reactions. At field capacity, the largest amount of Olsen P was accumulated in the soil amended with poultry manure, followed by cattle manure. Results from other treatments did not differ much from those of the untreated soil. About 15% of P from poultry manure was mineralized during the 1st week of incubation. In contrast to the field-capacity moisture regime, marked increases in Olsen P in the soils amended with green manure and crop residues were observed under water-logged conditions.