International Journal of
Physical Sciences

  • Abbreviation: Int. J. Phys. Sci.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1992-1950
  • DOI: 10.5897/IJPS
  • Start Year: 2006
  • Published Articles: 2557

Full Length Research Paper

Reducing ammonia loss from urea and improving soil exchangeable ammonium and available nitrate in non waterlogged soils through mixing zeolite and sago (Metroxylon sagu) waste water

O. Latifah1, O. H. Ahmed1 and A. M. Nik Muhamad2
  1Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University Putra Malaysia Bintulu Sarawak Campus, 97008 Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia. 2Department of Forest Management, Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 24 January 2011
  •  Published: 18 February 2011

Abstract

 

Ammonia loss from urea significantly reduces urea-N use efficiency. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of mixing urea with zeolite and sago (Metroxylon sagu) waste water on ammonia volatilization, soil exchangeable ammonium and available nitrate compared with urea alone. The mixtures significantly reduced ammonia loss by 22 to 41% compared with urea alone (straight urea, 46% N). All the mixtures of zeolite and sago waste water with urea significantly increased soil exchangeable ammonium by (39 to 49 ppm) and available nitrate by (0.23 to 2.06 ppm). The mixtures also temporarily reduced soil pH. The temporary reduction of soil pH may have retarded urea hydrolysis. It could be possible to improve the efficiency of urea-N applied to high value crops by addition of zeolite and sago waste water.

 

Key words: Urea, ammonia loss, sago waste water, exchangeable ammonium, available nitrate.

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This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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