Field experiments with slurry and dicyandiamide: response of potatoes and effects on soil mineral nitrogen

Abstract

In the period of 1983-1985, 18 field experiments with potatoes grown for industrial starch production were set up in the Netherlands to investigate the effects of poultry-slurry application on tuber yield and on soil mineral nitrogen. Slurry was applied in autumn with and without the nitrification inhibitor dicyandiamide (DCD) and in spring without DCD. Control treatments without slurry or DCD were included. Various nitrogen fertilizer rates were applied to all slurry treatments. In autumn, following slurry application without DCD, slurry-derived nitrate moved to the 0.3-0.6 and 0.6-1 m soil layers. Following DCD-application, most of the slurry-derived nitrate remained in the 0-0.3 m soil layer. Maximum yields as estimated from a nitrogen fertilizer response function were slightly increased by the slurry application. Nitrogen supplied from the slurry decreased the amount of fertilizer nitrogen needed for maximum yield. Increasing the amounts of soil mineral nitrogen in June from slurry or applied inorganic nitrogen fertilizer increased residual soil mineral nitrogen at harvest.