The Effect of Limestone and Stabilized Nitrogen Fertilizers Application on Soil pH Value and on the Forage Production of Permanent Grassland

Abstract

The changes of soil pH and dry forage yield of permanent grassland after application of dolomitic limestone and stabilized nitrogen fertilizers are described in this paper. The small‑plot experiment was located on semi‑natural grassland at Bohemian‑Moravian Highlands, near village Kameničky (Czech Republic), with poor and acidic soil. The experiment was divided into two blocks, within one of whose dolomitic limestone was applied in autumn 2013. In each block, 4 experimental treatments were applied: 1. control (untreated), 2. Urea, 3. Urea with inhibitor of urease, 4. Urea with inhibitor of nitrification. After liming, the pH/CaCl2 soil values increased in both the first as well as the second year after application. Fertilizing by urea, namely urea with inhibitors, did not significantly influence the pH/CaCl2 values. Dry forage productions in both years were comparable. In comparison to the untreated variants, significant increase in dry forage yield was achieved after application of urea and urea with urease inhibitors. The impact of stabilized fertilizers on the yield was not proven. In case of the limed variants, yield drop by 1.12 t/ha (average of both years) was observed; the yield decrease may be connected with disturbance of production potential of the stable community of plant species that had been adapted to acidic locations.