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NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT & SOIL & PLANT ANALYSIS

Manipulating Nitrogen Release from Nitrogen-Rich Crop Residues using Organic Wastes under Field Conditions

^a Dep. of Soil Management and Soil Care, Ghent Univ. Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium
^b Lab. of Applied Physical Chemistry (ISOFYS), Ghent Univ., Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium

^* Corresponding author (Barbara.Chaves{at}ilvo.vlaanderen.be).

Following mineralization of N-rich crop residues, large amounts of mineral N can be released into the soil. Manipulating N mineralization of crop residues may be an option to reduce NO₃^– in soil. The potential to manipulate the N release from vegetable crop residues by using organic wastes was tested under field conditions. At the start of the experiment, cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis L.) residues (73 Mg fresh matter ha^–1) together with an immobilizer waste (5 Mg C ha^–1 of straw, green waste compost, sawdust, or paper sludge) were incorporated into a silt loam soil. After 154 d, a remineralizing waste (1 Mg C ha^–1 of vinasse or dairy sludge) was incorporated. During the field experiment, the mineral N content in the soil was measured at regular time intervals, and net N release, NO₃^– leaching, and denitrification were simulated using a N mineralization–immobilization model coupled to a NO₃^– leaching model. Straw, green waste compost, and sawdust were able to immobilize between 54 and 68% of the N released by the cauliflower residues and reduced NO₃^– leaching by 56 to 68%. Paper sludge released an extra amount of N due to its low C/N ratio. No consistent remineralization of N could be found in any of the treatments, probably due to an unsuitable composition of the remineralizer wastes. Manipulating N release of N-rich crop residues by using organic wastes may be a suitable method to reduce NO₃^– leaching; however, stimulating remineralization of immobilized N by the start of the following spring may not be easy to achieve.

Abbreviations: CD, coefficient of determination • CRM, coefficient of residual mass