Journal article

Fertiliser timing and use of inhibitors to reduce N2O emissions of rainfed wheat in a semi-arid environment

AJ Wallace, RD Armstrong, RH Harris, ON Belyaeva, PR Grace, DL Partington, C Scheer

Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems | SPRINGER | Published : 2018

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) management is critical to the profitability of grain production systems, however careful management of fertiliser is needed to minimise environmental impacts. We investigated the effect of five N fertilisation strategies on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of rainfed wheat grown on a clay soil in a temperate, semi-arid environment of south eastern Australia during 2013 and 2014. Treatments included urea application (50 kg N/ha) at sowing with and without nitrification inhibitor (3,4–dimethylpyrazole phosphate) and surface broadcasting of urea with and without urease inhibitor (n-butyl thiophosphoric triamide) at the end of tillering plus an unferti..

View full abstract

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, the Grains Research and Development Corporation and the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources through the 'Filling the Research Gap' NANORP program. The authors wish to thank Keith Fischer and family of Taylors Lake for hosting trials over multiple years. They also wish to acknowledge the dedicated technical assistance provided by Jen Briggs, Mel Munn, Liana Warren and Roger Perris and thank Incitec Pivot Pty Ltd for supplying inhibitor treated fertilisers for these experiments.