Sulfur mineralisation in two soils amended with organic manures, crop residues and green manures

Abstract

The mineralization of sulfur (S) was investigated in a Vertisol and an Inceptisol amended with organic manures, green manures, and crop residues. Field-moist soils amended with 10 g kg-1 of organic materials were mixed with glass beads, placed in pyrex leaching tubes, leached with 0.01 M CaCl2 to remove the mineral S and incubated at 30 °C. The leachates were collected every fortnight for 16 weeks and analyzed for SO4-S. The amount of S mineralized in control and in manure-amended soils was highest in the first week and decreased steadily thereafter. The total S mineralized in amended soils varied considerably depending on the type of organic materials incorporated and soil used. The cumulative amounts of S mineralized in amended soils ranged from 6.98 mg S (kg soil-1) in Inceptisol amended with wheat straw to 34.38 mg S (kg soil-1) in Vertisol amended with farmyard manure (FYM). Expressed as a percentage of the S added to soils, the S mineralized was higher in FYM treated soils (63.5 to 67.3 %) as compared to poultry manure amended soils (60.5 to 62.3 %). Similarly the percentage of S mineralization from subabul (Leucaena leucocephala) loppings was higher (53.6 to 55.5 %) than that from gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) loppings (50.3 to 51.1 %). Regression analysis clearly indicated the dependence of S mineralization on the C : S ratio of the organic materials added to soil. The addition of organic amendments resulted in net immobilization of S when the C : S ratio was above 290:1 in Vertisol and 349:1 in Inceptisol. The mineralizable S pool (So) and first-order rate constant (k) varied considerably among the different types of organic materials added and soil. The So values of FYM treated soils were higher than in subabul, gliricidia, and poultry manure treated soils.