Iron pyrites for reducing ammonia volatilization losses from fertilizer urea applied to a sandy clay loam soil.

摘要

A laboratory incubation study was conducted on a sandy clay loam soil, collected from an experimental field under a rice-wheat cropping system in New Delhi, India, to determine if the addition of pyrites to urea could help in reducing ammonia volatilization (AV) losses. Urea at 56.6 mg N/100 g soil without or mixed with pyrite in 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 urea:pyrite ratios was surface applied. AV loss from urea without pyrite was slow after the first day of incubation, peaked at 7.75 mg N after 2 days of incubation and then tapered down to 1 mg N/day after 5 days of incubation. AV loss was lower when urea was mixed with pyrite and it decreased as the amount of pyrite in the mixture was increased. Total N loss through AV after 12 days of incubation was 16.48, 14.67, 11.44 and 8.2 mg N with urea (without pyrite) and 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 urea:pyrite mixtures, respectively. The results showed that iron pyrites could be used for reducing AV losses from the fertilizer urea applied to farm fields..