Abstract
High nitrogen (N) fertiliser inputs together with a low N use efficiency in intensive sugarcane systems indicate substantial losses of fertiliser N to the environment and therefore the need to reconsider N fertiliser rate management. However, the effect of N fertiliser rates on the fate of fertiliser N in plant and soil, and on N fertiliser loss is largely unknown. This study established the response of 15N fertiliser recoveries to N rates on a tropical commercial sugarcane farm in Australia on a Luvisol. The experiment over 10 months included three N fertiliser rates, 150, 200 (the recommended rate) and 250 kg N ha−1 applied as 15N-labelled urea (5 atom%) and a non-fertilised control. Fertiliser 15N uptake increased from 39 to 65 kg N ha−1 with increasing N rates, accounting for 26% of the N applied across N rates. Fertiliser 15N contributed 22–33% to total N uptake and increased soil-N uptake compared to the control. Fertiliser 15N in the soil down to 1.0 m at harvest was consistent across N rates (36–39 kg N ha−1), indicating a fixed capacity of the soil to immobilise fertiliser N. Increasing N rates did not contribute to increased sugar yield or retention of soil N but increased N fertiliser loss, ranging from 48 to 60% of the applied N. This study demonstrates that 50% of the applied N was lost from an intensive sugarcane system under current best management practices, highlighting the need to target these large environmental N losses in future recommendations.
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Acknowledgements
This study is funded by Sugar Research Australia and Queensland University of Technology. The authors would like to thank Farmacist for their assistance and Richard Kelly for the use of their property as a research site. Some of the data reported in this paper were obtained at the Central Analytical Research Facility at Queensland University of Technology.
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Takeda, N., Friedl, J., Rowlings, D. et al. No sugar yield gains but larger fertiliser 15N loss with increasing N rates in an intensive sugarcane system. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 121, 99–113 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-021-10167-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-021-10167-0