Sole Urea Research Articles

Effect of Supplementation with Non-Conventional Feeds on Feed Intake and Body Weight Change of Washera Sheep Fed Urea Treated Finger Millet Straw

This study was conducted at Bure Agricultural college during 2010. The objectives of the study were to evaluate the effect of supplementation with noug seedcake (NSC), wheat bran (WB) and their mixtures on feed intake and live weight change of growing lambs. Twenty five growing Washera lambs with initial live weight of 17.8 +1.72 (mean + SD) were used in feeding trial were used. The lambs were blocked based on their initial live weight and randomly assigned to one of the five treatments, giving five animals per treatment. The treatments consisted of feeding of sole urea treated finger millet straw as control (T1) and supplementation of the basal diet with mixtures of NSC & WB at 100:0, 70:30, 30:70 and 0:100% for T2, T3, T4 and T5, respectively. The level of supplementation was 300 g/d on dry matter (DM) basis. Supplementation of NSC, WB and their mixtures significantly increased the intake of total DM (743-843 g/d) and total CP (99–134.34 g/d) when compared to control (589.49g/d) and (49.4 g/d) respectively. Lambs in control group consumed higher urea treated millet straw DM (589.49g/d) as compared to the supplemented treatments (443-543 g/d).Supplementation of urea treated millet straw with concentrates (T2-T5) promoted higher daily weight gain which ranged between 50.2-71.3 g/day. Among the supplemented treatments, lambs supplemented with the higher proportion of WB (70%) in T4 and sole WB (100%) in T5 gained more weight than the lambs in T2 and T3. Therefore, it could be concluded that supplementation of sole WB (T5) and mixtures of 70% WB + 30% NSC (T5) could be recommended as optimal level for better utilization of nutrients and animal performance on a given basal diet.

Residual Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management Approach on the Growth and Yield of Amaranthus (Amaranthus cruentus L.) on an Acidic Soil of Southeastern Nigeria

A field experiment was conducted at the experimental farm of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, to ascertain the residual effect of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM) on the growth and yield of amaranthus (amaranthus cruentus L) on an acidic soil of Southeastern Nigeria. The treatment comprised of sole urea (UA) applied at 6.25t/ha, sole CaCO3 (LM) applied at 4t/ha, sole pig waste (PW) applied at 10t/ha, combination of 5t/ha of pig waste + 3.125t/ha of urea +5t/ha of mulch (PW+UA+ML), combination of 5t/ha of pig waste + 3.125t/ha of urea +5t/ha of mulch + 2t/ha of CaCO3 (PW+UA+ML+LM), combination of 5t/ha of pig waste + 3.125t/ha of urea + 5t/ha + CaCO3 (PW+UA+ LM) and a control (C). The treatments were replicated three times in a Randomized Complete Block Design and were applied once in August 2010. The test crop amaranthus was planted in 2010 and 2011 on the same piece of land. The results obtained showed that PW+UA+ML+LM significantly (P < 0.05) increased the plant height at the two years, with the values of 46 cm and 39cm respectively. It also significantly (P < 0.05) increased the dry matter yield, nitrogen and potassium concentration in the plants. The study showed that the combination of PW+UA+ML+LM improved most of the plant parameters tested and had a lasting residual effect in the soil.

Identification and Characterization of Proteins Involved in Rice Urea and Arginine Catabolism

Rice (Oryza sativa) production relies strongly on nitrogen (N) fertilization with urea, but the proteins involved in rice urea metabolism have not yet been characterized. Coding sequences for rice arginase, urease, and the urease accessory proteins D (UreD), F (UreF), and G (UreG) involved in urease activation were identified and cloned. The functionality of urease and the urease accessory proteins was demonstrated by complementing corresponding Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants and by multiple transient coexpression of the rice proteins in Nicotiana benthamiana. Secondary structure models of rice (plant) UreD and UreF proteins revealed a possible functional conservation to bacterial orthologs, especially for UreF. Using amino-terminally StrepII-tagged urease accessory proteins, an interaction between rice UreD and urease could be shown. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic urease activation complexes seem conserved despite limited protein sequence conservation for UreF and UreD. In plant metabolism, urea is generated by the arginase reaction. Rice arginase was transiently expressed as a carboxyl-terminally StrepII-tagged fusion protein in N. benthamiana, purified, and biochemically characterized (K(m) = 67 mm, k(cat) = 490 s(-1)). The activity depended on the presence of manganese (K(d) = 1.3 microm). In physiological experiments, urease and arginase activities were not influenced by the external N source, but sole urea nutrition imbalanced the plant amino acid profile, leading to the accumulation of asparagine and glutamine in the roots. Our data indicate that reduced plant performance with urea as N source is not a direct result of insufficient urea metabolism but may in part be caused by an imbalance of N distribution.

NaOH/urea aqueous solutions improving properties of regenerated‐cellulosic fabrics

AbstractThe application of sodium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide containing urea solutions has been utilized for regenerated‐cellulosic material activation. The treatments resulted in the reorganization of cellulose fibers, hence accessibility and reactivity. In this study, sodium hydroxide–urea solutions were applied to lyocell and viscose‐knitted fabrics as finishing treatment to improve the accessibility and physical properties of textiles. Besides the mixtures, different concentrations of sole sodium hydroxide and sole urea treatment were applied. The different concentrations of urea, sodium hydroxide, and sodium hydroxide–urea mixtures were used with small increment to detect suitable concentrations and mixture ratios applied for fabrics modification. The results showed the effectiveness of applying the mixture solutions of alkali–urea particularly to CV‐knitted fabrics for improving pilling behavior, whereas for CLY fabrics, the standard alkali solutions showed the best pilling performance. The utilization of urea and sodium hydroxide–urea mixture played an important role for regenerated‐cellulosic fabrics where high alkali concentrations is not preferred to avoid fabric damages and where a mixture system could inhibit some of these aspects. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010

Comparative response of varied irrigated maize to organic and inorganic fertilizer application

The response of varied irrigated maize (Zea mays) to organic and inorganic fertilizer N, was evaluated at Kasinthula Agricultural Station (2003–2006), Malawi to determine the optimum nutrient and irrigation frequency combinations for soil–water and nutrient management which will address water stress and low soil fertility problem. Hybrid maize variety (DK 8031) was planted on ridges spaced at 0.75 × 0.25 m in a split-plot design replicated three times, with four irrigation frequencies as main plots and fertilizer sources as subplots. Irrigation frequencies comprised: water balance scheduling at 40% depletion, and irrigating 40 mm every 3–4 days, 7 days and 14 days. The nitrogen sources were compost (C), farmyard manure (FYM), urea (U) and their mixtures [(2U:C); (U:2C); (2U:FYM); and (U:2FYM)]. Organic manure was banded three weeks before planting. Data on grain yield was collected and subjected to ANOVA using the Genstat and LSD 0.05 test separating statistical significant means. There was positive ( P < 0.01) and highly significant interactions between maize grain yield, crop water productivity (CWP) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The water balance scheduling at 40% soil moisture depletion had highest grain yields, CWP and NUE among the four irrigation frequencies that was not significantly different to 40 mm every 3–4 days and every 7 days obtained with nitrogen sourced from sole Urea which were not significantly different to mean grain yields, CWP and NUE from (2U:C) and (2U:FYM). CWP was optimally maximised in sole urea (9.8, 8.8 kg mm −1 ha −1) and mixed treatments of 2U:C (8.2, 7.2 kg mm −1 ha −1) or 2U:FYM (8.2–8.9 kg mm −1 ha −1) for maize irrigated every 7 days and at 40% depletion using soil water balance schedule respectively. The greatest NUE of 53.5 kg kg N −1 under (2U:FYM) treatments was experienced at 40% depletion irrigation schedule and was also not significantly different to sole urea and (2U:FYM) treatments (52.8 and 51.6 kg kg N −1) irrigated at 40% depletion and every 3–4 days irrigation schedule respectively. The minimum NUE 19.8 kg kg N −1was observed in FYM treatments irrigated every 14 days. Generally, yields were optimized in the 40% depletion and 40 mm in 7 days in the 2U:C and 2U:FYM treatment. Maize fertilized with sole organic N sources was lowest in CWP and NUE in all irrigation regimes, and exhibited high water dependencies. An increase in irrigation frequency and urea ratio increased maize yield and NUE, while CWP decreased. It can, therefore, be concluded that with adequate water and high inorganic N ratio, there is great potential to facilitate N release from organic matter. In times of water shortage, sole urea can better or more easily be utilized than organic nitrogen sources.

Nitrogen Use Efficiency, 15N Balance, and Nitrogen Losses in Flooded Rice in an Inceptisol

The low efficiency of fertilizer nitrogen (N) in flooded rice is mainly attributed to the losses of nitrogen taking place from rice field through ammonia volatilization, denitrification, leaching, and runoff. A field experiment was conducted during the wet season of 1994 and 1995 on a sandy loam soil (Typic Ustochrept). Objective was to study nitrogen use efficiency and 15N balance in rice (CV Pusa Basmati-1) and nitrogen losses in flooded rice fields through ammonia volatilization, denitrification, and leaching as influenced by sources and levels of N. Rice was grown with three sources of nitrogen, i.e., urea, urea+coated calcium carbide (CCC), and urea+farmyard manure (FYM) each at three levels, i.e., 60, 120, and 180 kg N ha−1. The results revealed that 50% of urea N could be supplemented through FYM for higher N use efficiency. The variety Pusa Basmati‐1 responded only up to 120 kg N ha−1. Application of N, half as urea and half as FYM, resulted in the highest fertilizer N recovery by the crop (30.6%), the highest retention of fertilizer N in soil (39.1%), and the minimum unaccounted‐for fertilizer N (30.3%). Application of coated calcium carbide along with urea significantly improved the fertilizer N recovery by the crop (24.4%) and reduced the unaccounted for fertilizer‐N (47.6%) over that of sole application of urea. The direct measurements of nitrogen losses were less than the unaccounted‐for fertilizer N. Ammonia volatilization was the major pathway of N loss from the rice field. Application of coated calcium carbide along with urea reduced denitrification and leaching loss of N but enhanced the volatilization loss of ammonia over the sole urea application.

Maize Yield as Affected by Organic Inputs and Urea in the West African Moist Savanna

Nutrient depletion is a major constraint to crop production for moist savanna soils, and inputs of nutrients are required to overcome this constraint. The impact of sole and combined applications of organic inputs (OIs) [fresh tree prunings, Pueraria phaseoloides (Roxb.) Benth. residues, and manure] and urea [(NH2)2CO] on maize (Zea mays L.) performance was investigated at four sites in West Africa. Interactions between OIs and urea resulting in added benefits from their mixed rather than sole application were quantified, and likely causes were evaluated. Maize in the mixed treatments, receiving 45 kg ha−1 urea N and 45 kg ha−1 N as OIs, produced 1.6 and 3.7 Mg ha−1 grain in Sékou and Glidji, respectively. Based on the yields from sole application of either OIs or urea, added benefits from the mixture were 0.49 Mg ha−1 grain (P &lt; 0.001) in Sékou and 0.58 Mg ha−1 (P &lt; 0.15) in Glidji. These benefits were generated during grain filling, which was characterized by drought, and they were likely caused by improved soil water conditions with mixed applications compared with sole applications. Nitrogen recovery from urea was higher in the combined treatments (44% in Sékou and 32% in Glidji) relative to the sole urea treatments (22% in Sékou and 15% in Glidji). Positive interactions between OIs and urea occurred at two of four sites and were likely caused by improved soil water conditions after applying OIs. Organic inputs can alleviate constraints to crop growth other than N depletion and, as such, improve the use efficiency of N fertilizer.

Organic and chemical sources of nitrogen: its effect on nitrogen transformation and rice productivity under submerged conditions

SummaryA field experiment was carried out in three wet seasons of 1982, 1983 and 1984 with various combinations of urea and organic nitrogen sources to investigate the nitrogen transformation and productivity of rice crop in a waterlogged situation. The treatments used were: (i) control (No), (ii) FYM + urea, (iii)Sesbania+ urea, (iv) urea, the levels of nitrogen being 60 and 90 kg/ha and the proportion being 50:50 between organic and chemical sources where such combination was used. The soil samples were analysed for ammonium, hydrolysable and non-hydrolysable forms of nitrogen at 15, 30 and 45 days after transplanting. The release of hydrolysable and non-hydrolysable nitrogen was superior in theurea-Sesbaniacombination while the release of NH4·N was slightly better in FYM-urea combination. Yield of rice and apparent nitrogen use efficiency were highest in sole urea treatment and almost similar in FYM-urea andSesbania+ urea combinations. A statistical nitrogen-transformation model outlined the relationship among the various forms of soil nitrogen under submergence. The model suggested a strong correlation among the different forms of nitrogen during the earlier period of submergence.