A. Bufogle et al., COMPARISON OF AMMONIUM-SULFATE AND UREA AS NITROGEN-SOURCES IN RICE PRODUCTION, Journal of plant nutrition, 21(8), 1998, pp. 1601-1614
Wetland rice agriculture is the major anthropogenic source of methane,
an important greenhouse gas. Methane emissions are less when ammonium
sulfate (AS) rather than urea is the nitrogen (N) source. However, an
agronomic advantage of AS over urea has not been established The obje
ctives of this study were: (i) to compare the effectiveness of AS, ure
a, and urea plus elemental sulfur (S) as sources of N in flooded rice
culture, (ii) to compare fertilizer recovery of each source of N from
application at preflood (PF) and panicle initiation (PI), and (iii) to
determine if there is a response to S by rice grown on a soil with a
less than optimum level of available S. 'Cypress' rice was drill-seede
d in a Crowley silt loam soil (fine, montmorillonitic, thermic Typic A
lbaqualf) of 7.25 to 10.75 mg S kg(-l). Ammonium sulfate, urea, or ure
a plus S was applied in split applications of 101 kg N ha(-1) PF and 5
0 kg N ha(-1) PI. Microplots with retainers and N-15-labeled N were us
ed. Unlabeled N was used in field plots. Microplots were harvested at
50% heading, while field plots were harvested at maturity. Dry matter
and total N accumulation at 50% heading and at maturity were similar r
egardless of N source. Grain dry matter yields were 8.54, 8.47, and 8.
79 Mg ha(-1) for AS, urea, and urea plus S treatments, respectively. G
reater N recovery was generally found from N application at PI than at
PF, but this was not reflected by an increase in grain yield. No resp
onse to S was detected, although grain yields were slightly higher whe
n S-containing fertilizers were used. Ammonium sulfate and urea were e
qually effective for flooded rice production in Louisiana.