Rational nitrogen fertilization in intensive cropping systems

The objective of a rational N fertilization program is to account for the sources and fate of N while estimating crop N needs. Efficiency of N use will vary with cropping systems and N sources. Management technologies that affect N use efficiency include the amount of N applied, timing and placement of N fertilizer, and use of inhibitors. One of the main problems in making a fertilizer N recommendation is to account for the contribution of N mineralization to plant available N. Most laboratory procedures do not account for the environmental factors that affect N mineralization and only estimate the size of the mineralizable N pool. However, changes in soil moisture and temperature can dramatically affect the amount and rate of release of mineralized N. Field and modeling techniques are two possible techniques to estimate N mineralization. Field techniques can be divided into soil and plant approaches. Soil incubations in the field provide a quantitative approach while soil nitrate tests during the growing season provide a qualitative approach to estimating N mineralization. The plant is the ultimate integrator of N mineralization. Plant N uptake by an unfertilized crop can provide a quantitative approach with certain precautions. This approach may be costly, labor intensive, and site specific. Crop N uptake during the growing season can be estimated by measuring the tissue N content or using a chlorophyll meter. The chlorophyll meter measures the greenness of the plant and has been shown to be positively correlated to plant N status. Modeling may provide another option by including the factors that affect the rate of N mineralization from a known pool. The two most important variables include soil moisture and temperature. Realistic yield expectations and accounting for existing and projected amounts of available N can improve the accuracy of N recommendations.