TITLE:
Management and Reduction of Chemical Nitrogen Consumption in Agriculture
AUTHORS:
Abedin Zafari, Mohammad Hossein Kianmehr
KEYWORDS:
Compound Fertilizer; Pellet; Densification; Compost; Slow-Release; Nitrogen
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.3 No.12A,
December
31,
2012
ABSTRACT: Nitrogen is an
effective material for improving the crop production. There is a big concern
about rising chemical nitrogen usage as fertilizer in soil, because some forms
of nitrogen absorbs in soil and causes an increase of environment and water
pollution and decrease fertilizer efficiency. Composted cow manure is an
important resource of organic nitrogen which improves the soil conditions.
However, low density of composted cow manure and inconstant nutrient content
are two factors that limit the application of composted cow manure. The
densification technology is an effective solution for both problems. In this
research first the capability of single screw extruder for production of
fertilizer pellets including composted cow manure and nitrogen fertilizer was
studied and then the effect of fertilizer pellet on the reduction of chemical
nitrogen consumption was evaluated. The response of basil plants was determined
in three treatments: T1 control (no fertilizer), T2 (nitrogen fertilizer) and T3 (pellet). The results showed that
pelletization can be used as a proper method for slow-release nitrogen
fertilizer; enhance nitrogen uptake and reducing the chemical nitrogen consumption.
The results also showed that all basil responses (chlorophyll content, total
weight, leaves weight, root weight and leaf area) were significantly affected
by application of N fertilizer and pellet. While maximum recorded parameters
were observed with application pellet.