Recovery of cover-crop-N in the soil-plant system in the Guinea savannah zone of Ghana

Abstract

In order to understand the efficiency of residue-N use and to estimate the minimum input required to obtain a reasonable level of crop response, it is important to quantify the fate of the applied organic-N. The recovery of N from 15N-labelled Crotalaria juncea was followed in the soil and the succeeding maize crop. Apparent N recovery (ANR) by maize from unlabelled Crotalaria juncea, Crotalaria retusa, Calopogonium mucunoides, Mucuna pruriens and mineral fertilizer at three locations were also evaluated. The maize crop recovered 4.7% and 7.3% of the 15N-labelled C. juncea-N at 42 days after sowing (DAS) and at final harvest, respectively. The corresponding 15N recovery from the soil was 92.4% and 58.5%. The highest mean ANR of 57.4% was with mineral fertilizer, whereas the mean ANR of 14.3% from C. retusa was the lowest. A large pool substitution and added-N interaction effect was observed when comparing N recovery from the labelled and unlabelled C. juncea. The amount of residue-N accounted for by the isotope dilution method at 42 DAS was 97.1% and at final harvest 65.8%. The large residue-N recovery in the soil organic-N pool explains the residual effect usually observed with organic residue application.