Effect of Fertilization and Liming on Triticale Yield and Composition

ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC PAPER Imre KÁDÁR, Peter RAGÁLYI, Márk RÉKÁSI Effect of Fertilization and Liming on Triticale Yield and Composition Imre KÁDÁR, Peter RAGÁLYI, Márk RÉKÁSI Research Institute for Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, H-1022, Budapest, Herman Ottó Str. 15, Hungary (e-mail: kadar@rissac.hu) Abstract The paper reports results achieved in the last 8 years of a 45-year-old field trial set up on acid sandy brown forest soil in the Nyírség region. The site was poor in all five major nutrients N, P, K, Ca, Mg. Considering the 8 examined years the effect of fertilization and liming together could increase 3-fold the triticale yield compared to the control plots. Taking into account also the most acidified N 3 treatments the differences between yields in some cases reached 5-fold. The highest N load with the lowest ph and the smallest yield, the straw and grain yield of triticale had low Ca, Sr and Mo content while N, K, P, Mn, Zn and Co contents increased. The liming generally effected on the contrary. Availability of Mo enhanced, that of Co dropped in grain to on order of magnitude on the high ph soil. Fertile plots have a ph (KCl) 5.5-6.0, 120-150 mg/kg ammoniumlactate-soluble P 2 O 5 and K 2 O in ploughed layer and require the application of about 150 kg N and 1 t/ha ground dolomite yearly. Key words: liming, fertilization, crop, yield, element composition Introduction Conservation and protection of sandy soils have great importance in Hungary as this soil type gives 20% of the agriculturally used areas. These soils are generally poor in colloids, humus and nutrients, so very susceptible of acidification, pollution, incorrect fertilization practice, drought, etc. Sandy areas generally belong to the poorest regions in Hungary so results of field experiments have to be used to maintain the fertility as well as ecological functions. This was the reason for setting this 45 years old long-term fertilization and liming experiment on an acidic sandy soil. Materials and methods The trial was established in autumn 1962 on a brown forest soil, acid sand with thin interstratified layers of colloids and sesquioxide accumulation called kovárvány. The soil has a particle-size distribution in ploughed layer as follows: sand over 0.05 mm 70-85%, loam 0.05-0.002 mm 8-20%, clay under 0.002 mm 3-6%. Clay in colloid accumulation layers makes up to 10-18%. The saturation percentage was 25-30, ph (H 2 O) 5.4, ph (KCl) 4.3, humus 0.5-0.8%, CEC 3-5 meq/100g. The watertable level found at a depth of 2-3 m. The site is extremely drought sensitive. The site was poor in all five major nutrients N, P, K, Ca, Mg (Baranyai et al. 1987, Kádár and Szemes 1994). The trial has 32 treatments x 4 replication = 128 plots with 5 x 10 = 50 m 2 plot size and randomised block design. The nutrients applied in the trial are shown in table 1. The forms of fertilizers applied were Ca-ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, muriate of potash, powdered limestone and dolomite. In 1991, the 29 th year of the trial, a triticale monoculture was established which is now 16 years old. Sums of precipitation during the vegetation period of the triticale (From 1 st October to 1 st July) were the following: in 1999 526 mm, in 2000 417 mm, in 2001 400 mm, in 2002 264 mm, in 2003 255 mm, in 2004 481 mm, in 2005 467 mm, in 2006 560 mm. 50 years average was 405 mm. Proceedings. 43 rd Croatian and 3 rd International Symposium on Agriculture. Opatija. Croatia (578-582) XXX) 578

Effect of Fertilization and Liming on Triticale Yield and Composition Results and discussion The yield of triticale was depressed on the acidified soil. Fertilizer responses were time dependent. There was no clear connection between the amount of precipitation and the triticale yield. Both dry and very wet years can decrease the yield of triticale. The yearly amount of precipitation had significant effect on triticale yield. Detailed evaluation of treatment x year interactions regarding of this experiment is published elsewhere (Márton 2002). In dry years the lack of water, in wet years fungal infections (powdery mildew, rust) tend to be pronounced. In this experiment in 1999, 2004, 2005 and 2006 sums of rain were well above 50 years average, but in 2005 and 2006 grain yields remained at a very low level. Straw yields however reached 8-9 t/ha in 2005, which is the maximum of the examined 8 years. So in this year the straw/grain ratio increased up to 10, as the conditions were ideal for the vegetative period and damaging for the generative one. Generally in normal years this ratio is about 1-1.5, in 2000 it went down to 0.8. Significant differences are typical for not only the straw/grain ratio, but also the yields of the control plots. Grain yields ranged from 0.3 to 1.8 t/ha while straw yields from 0.7 to 2.5 t/ha on these unfertilised soils (Table 2). The N 3 treatment resulted in decreasing yields during the last 5 years. The triticale was almost totally destroyed on the heavily acidified soil in the rainy 2005 and 2006. The complete NPKCaMg treatment gave the highest grain yields in 2004 reaching 6.7 t/ha grain and 13.4 t/ha aboveground yield. Also this treatment in 2006 gave only 4.4 t/ha yield for grain plus straw. Considering the 8 examined years the effect of fertilization and liming together could increase 3-fold the yield compared to the control plots. Taking into account also the N 3 treatments the differences between yields in some cases reached 5-fold (Table 2). According to results of the plant analysis in 2006, on the one-sided with N oversupplied, strongly acidified soil with the smallest yield the N, K, P, Mn contents of the straw increased, while the Ca and Sr content dropped. Trends showed that NP treatments stimulated Ca, P, Sr uptake, while NK treatments resulted in higher K uptake. Due to liming treatment however the build-in of the N, K, P, S, Mn elements was inhibited, so they were found in reduced concentrations in crop tissue. At the same time the Ca and Mg levels were higher in plants. Element changes in both the straw and grain were similar (Table 3). Table 4 shows that extremely acidification and N oversupply in soil caused by N treatment resulted in higher Zn, Cu, Co contents in straw, while liming treatment gave significantly lower Ba, Zn, Cu, Co, Pb, Ni concentration compared to control. The plant availability of Mo on limed soil however increased 4-fold on average. Element changes of the straw and grain were more or less similar. Especially the Mo/Co ratios showed huge differences as a function of the ph: the ratio remained below 1 in the extremely acidified N 3 treatment, the value was near 4 on control plots, while it rose up to 16 in the NPKMg treatment. The mobility and availability of Mo was expressed on calcareous, while Co uptake was enhanced on acid soils. So the uptake of ph-depending microelements and their relative contents in plants can show great variations due to treatments. In 1998 the grain yield reached nearly 8 t/ha while straw yield 11 t/ha. The straw contained the following element contents on average: N 0.9%; P 0.16%; K 0.70%; Ca 0.10%; S 0.12%; as well as Mg 439, Mn 242 and Sr 27 mg/kg (Kádár et al. 1999). In the rainy 2006 yields were very low so the average concentrations of Ca increased 3-fold, K, P, Mg about 2-fold, N 1.2-fold in the tissue of the straw compared to 1998. However Mn and Sr contents showed no definite differences. The composition of the grain is relatively constant, genetically more protected than that of the straw. Table 1. Fertilization and liming applied in the experiment Nutrient Applied nutrients, kg/ha/year levels N P2O5 K2O CaCO3 MgCO3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 50 60 60 250 140 2 100 120 120 500 280 3 150 180 180 1000 - Field Crop Production 579

Imre KÁDÁR, Peter RAGÁLYI, Márk RÉKÁSI Table 2. Effect of fertilization and liming on the yield of triticale in the 37 th -44 th years of the experiment. The 9 th -16 th years of the triticale monoculture. (t/ha) 1999 2000 2001 2002 Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw Control 1.4 1.5 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.1 1.5 2.5 N1 2.4 2.3 1.8 1.8 2.4 2.4 2.0 3.9 N2 2.0 2.7 1.6 1.8 2.3 2.3 3.4 4.8 N3 1.9 2.5 2.0 2.1 1.0 1.3 1.2 2.2 N2P1 1.9 2.7 2.4 2.7 2.2 2.3 3.9 5.7 N2P2 3.6 4.1 3.9 4.1 2.4 2.3 3.6 4.8 N2P3 2.9 3.4 3.6 3.5 2.9 3.3 3.9 4.7 N2K1 2.5 2.7 2.5 2.6 2.3 2.4 3.3 5.2 N2K2 2.3 3.3 2.1 2.9 1.8 1.9 2.3 4.3 N2K3 2.9 4.3 3.7 3.8 2.8 3.0 2.7 4.0 N2P2K2 3.1 4.8 3.8 3.8 4.0 4.5 4.8 6.9 N2P2K2Ca3 4.2 5.1 4.9 5.0 5.7 6.0 3.7 7.2 N2P2K2Mg2 3.9 5.0 4.4 4.2 5.3 4.8 4.4 7.3 N2P2K2Ca2Mg2 3.8 4.7 4.8 4.3 5.4 4.7 5.0 7.9 LSD5% 1.2 1.3 1.7 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.5 2.0 Mean 2.8 3.5 3.1 3.2 3.0 3.0 3.3 5.1 Continuation of Table 2. 2003 2004 2005 2006 Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw Grain Straw Control 1.2 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.3 2.3 0.6 0.7 N1 1.2 1.8 3.6 3.9 0.3 2.7 0.4 0.6 N2 1.1 1.6 3.0 3.5 0.4 2.9 0.3 0.3 N3 0.6 1.0 1.1 1.5 0.1 1.2 0.1 0.2 N2P1 1.1 1.7 4.0 4.7 0.5 4.3 0.3 0.4 N2P2 1.8 2.5 4.6 5.3 0.4 3.2 0.3 0.2 N2P3 1.7 2.1 5.0 5.3 0.3 3.2 0.3 0.4 N2K1 1.1 1.5 2.2 3.0 0.2 2.1 0.2 0.2 N2K2 1.7 2.9 3.2 4.1 0.3 3.0 0.3 0.4 N2K3 1.0 1.6 2.3 2.6 0.3 3.0 0.4 0.3 N2P2K2 1.7 2.4 4.2 4.5 0.5 4.8 0.4 0.6 N2P2K2Ca3 1.8 2.7 5.6 5.8 0.9 9.1 2.1 1.8 N2P2K2Mg2 2.2 2.7 5.7 6.1 0.8 7.0 1.3 2.1 N2P2K2Ca2Mg2 2.1 3.3 6.7 6.7 0.9 8.1 1.9 2.5 LSD5% 0.6 0.8 1.5 1.4 0.2 1.8 0.7 0.6 Mean 1.5 2.1 3.8 4.2 0.4 4.1 0.6 0.8 580

Effect of Fertilization and Liming on Triticale Yield and Composition Table 3. Effect of fertilization and liming on the major element content of the air-dried triticale straw at harvest in 2006 K N Ca P S Mg Mn Sr % mg/kg Control 1.16 0.7 0.29 0.21 0.10 878 187 29 N1 1.36 1.1 0.31 0.26 0.11 846 359 32 N2 1.28 1.3 0.21 0.32 0.08 613 346 23 N3 1.43 1.5 0.19 0.35 0.10 866 350 14 N2P1 1.32 1.3 0.30 0.34 0.09 730 358 29 N2P2 1.26 1.2 0.33 0.34 0.09 748 301 36 N2P3 1.21 1.3 0.38 0.36 0.09 582 305 39 N2K1 1.52 1.4 0.22 0.33 0.10 720 403 22 N2K2 1.60 1.3 0.27 0.29 0.12 605 294 18 N2K3 1.71 1.2 0.20 0.31 0.09 477 357 18 N2P2K2 1.58 1.1 0.28 0.32 0.09 434 314 36 N2P2K2Ca3 1.17 0.9 0.55 0.28 0.08 603 153 33 N2P2K2Mg2 0.91 0.6 0.37 0.24 0.05 1392 67 24 N2P2K2Ca2Mg2 0.99 0.6 0.46 0.24 0.05 992 27 21 LSD5% 0.22 0.3 0.11 0.07 0.03 286 87 12 Mean 1.32 1.1 0.31 0.30 0.09 749 273 27 Table 4. Effect of fertilization and liming on the microelement content of the air-dried triticale straw at harvest in 2006 Treatments Ba Zn B Cu Pb Ni Mo Co code mg/kg μg/kg Control 23 22 6.4 4.6 1.8 0.9 354 96 N1 28 27 8.7 6.5 1.7 1.2 212 197 N2 27 27 7.0 6.2 1.4 1.1 172 190 N3 23 28 6.5 7.1 2.1 0.9 210 290 N2P1 27 27 7.5 6.0 1.5 1.3 214 206 N2P2 21 20 6.9 6.0 1.4 1.0 175 225 N2P3 23 24 7.0 6.3 1.0 1.3 204 183 N2K1 29 28 8.9 7.6 1.6 1.6 183 295 N2K2 26 26 8.5 6.8 1.7 1.6 199 160 N2K3 26 25 7.5 7.9 1.0 1.5 166 275 N2P2K2 24 20 6.6 5.7 1.0 0.6 166 144 N2P2K2Ca3 21 15 6.6 4.2 0.7 0.5 832 112 N2P2K2Mg2 10 11 3.7 3.5 0.3 0.4 706 90 N2P2K2Ca3Mg2 14 10 3.8 2.5 0.4 0.4 992 63 LSD5% 9 10 2.6 1.9 0.5 0.5 244 93 Mean 23 22 6.9 5.8 1.3 1.0 342 180 Field Crop Production 581

Imre KÁDÁR, Peter RAGÁLYI, Márk RÉKÁSI Conclusions In the examined years the maximum triticale yields are found in the NPKCaMg treatments. Between 2003 and 2006, in the one-sided N treatments (100-150 kg/ha/yr) the triticale almost died out and the soil acidified and lost its fertility. Considering the 8 examined years the effect of fertilization and liming together could increase the triticale yield 3-fold compared to the control plots. Taking into account also the most acidified N 3 treatments the differences between yields in some cases reached 5-fold. In the very acid N 3 treatment, with the smallest yield, the straw and grain yield of triticale had low Ca, Sr and Mo content while N, K, P, Mn, Zn and Co contents increased. The liming generally effected on the contrary. Availability of Mo enhanced, that of Co dropped in grain to an order of magnitude on the high ph soil. Fertile plots have a ph (KCl) 5.5-6.0, 120-150 mg/kg ammoniumlactate-soluble P 2 O 5 and K 2 O in ploughed layer and require the application of about 150 kg N and 1 t/ha ground dolomite yearly. References Baranyai F., Fekete A., Kovács I. (1987). Results of the Hungarian soil nutrient status survey. (In Hungarian) Mezőgazdasági Kiadó. Budapest. Kádár I., Szemes I. (1994). Thirty years of the Nyírlugos long-term field experiment. (In Hungarian) RISSAC HAS. Budapest. 248 p. Kádár I., Németh T., Szemes I. (1999). Fertilizer response of triticale in a long-term experiment in Nyírlugos. Növénytermelés. 48:647-661. Márton L. (2002). Effect of precipitation and nutrient supply on triticale in a long term field experiment. (In Hungarian) Növénytermelés. 51: 687-701. sa2008_0511 582