Effects of Urease Inhibitor, Nitrification Inhibitor, and Slow-release Fertilizer on Nitrogen Fertilizer Loss in Direct-Seeding Rice

To study the effects of an urease inhibitor, N-(n-butyl)-thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT), and a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD), on nitrogen losses and nitrogen use efficiency, urea fertilizer with or without inhibitors and slowrelease fertilizer (synthetic thermoplastic resins coated urea) were applied to direct-seeded flooded rice fields in 1998. In the urea and the urea+DCD treatments, NH$_4$$^{+}$ -N concentrations reached 50 mg N L$^{-1}$ after application. Urea+NBPT and urea+ NBPT+DCD treatments maintained NH$_4$$^{+}$ -N concentrations below 10 mg N L$^{-1}$ in the floodwater, while the slow-release fertilizer application maintained the lowest concentration of NH$_4$$^{+}$ -N in floodwater. The ammonia losses of urea+NBPT and urea+NBPT+DCD treatments were lower than those of urea and urea+DCD treatments during the 30 days after fertilizer application. It was found that N loss due to ammonia volatilization was minimized in the treatments of NBPT with urea and the slow-release fertilizer. The volatile loss of urea+DCD treatment was not significantly different from that of urea surface application. It was found that NBPT delayed urea hydrolysis and then decreased losses due to ammonia volatilization. DCD, a nitrification inhibitor, had no significant effect on ammonia loss under flooded conditions. The slow-release fertilizer application reduced ammonia volatilization loss most effectively. As N0$_3$$^{[-10]}$ -N concentrations in the soil water indicated that leaching losses of N were negligible, DCD was not effective in inhibiting nitrification in the flooded soil. The amount of N in plants was especially low in the slow-release fertilizer treatment during the early growth stage for 15 days after fertilization. The amount of N in the rice plants, however, was higher in the slow-release fertilizer treatment than in other treatments at harvest. Grain yields in the treatments of slow-release fertilizer, urea+NBPT+ DCD and urea+NBPT were significantly higher than those in the treatments of urea and urea+DCD. NBPT treatment with urea and the slow-release fertilizer application were effective in both reducing nitrogen losses and increasing grain yield by improving N use efficiency in direct-seeded flooded rice field.field.