Nitrogen oxides emission from soils bearing a potato crop as influenced by fertilization with treated pig slurries and composts

Abstract

Nitrous oxide, nitric oxide and denitrification losses from an irrigated soil amended with organic fertilizers with different soluble organic carbon fractions and ammonium contents were studied in a field study covering the growing season of potato ( Solanum tuberosum). Untreated pig slurry (IPS) with and without the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD), digested thin fraction of pig slurry (DTP), composted solid fraction of pig slurry (CP) and composted municipal solid waste (MSW) mixed with urea were applied at a rate of 175 kg available N ha −1, and emissions were compared with those from urea (U) and a control treatment without any added N fertilizer (Control). The cumulative denitrification losses correlated significantly with the soluble carbohydrates, dissolved N and total C added. Added dissolved organic C (DOC) and dissolved N affected the N 2O/N 2 ratio, and a lower ratio was observed for organic fertilizers than from urea or unfertilized controls. The proportion of N 2O produced from nitrification was higher from urea than from organic fertilizers. Accumulated N 2O losses during the crop season ranged from 3.69 to 7.31 kg N 2O–N ha −1 for control and urea, respectively, whereas NO losses ranged from 0.005 to 0.24 kg NO–N ha −1, respectively. Digested thin fraction of pig slurry compared to IPS mitigated the total N 2O emission by 48% and the denitrification rate by 33%, but did not influence NO emissions. Composted pig slurry compared to untreated pig slurry increased the N 2O emission by 40% and NO emission by 55%, but reduced the denitrification losses (34%). DCD partially inhibited nitrification rates and reduced N 2O and NO emissions from pig slurry by at least 83% and 77%, respectively. MSW+U, with a C:N ratio higher than that of the composted pig slurry, produced the largest denitrification losses (33.3 kg N ha −1), although N 2O and NO emissions were lower than for the U and CP treatments. This work has shown that for an irrigated clay loam soil additions of treated organic fertilizers can mitigate the emissions of the atmospheric pollutants NO and N 2O in comparison with urea.