Changes in amount of organic and inorganic fractions of nitrogen in an Eutrochrept soil after long-term cropping with different fertilizer and organic manure inputs

Abstract

The influence of 30 years of cropping with different fertilizer and farmyard manure (FYM) inputs on the contents and depth distribution of organic C, total N (Nt), soil mineralizable N, and organic and inorganic N fractions was investigated in an Eutrochrept. Continuous application of 100 %NPK( + S), 150 %NPK( + S), and 100 %NPK( + S) + FYM led to a marked increase in organic C, total N, hydrolyzable N (viz., amino acid N, hydrolyzable NH4-N, hexose amine N, and unidentified hydrolyzable N), and nonhydrolyzable N as compared to an adjacent fallow. The contents of the various organic N fractions were largest in surface soil and thereafter decreased with the depth. However, at 30 – 45 cm depth the content of organic C was not affected by the different treatments except 100 %NPK( + S) + FYM. On the other hand, continuous cropping without fertilization resulted in a depletion of total hydrolyzable N in control over fallow by 27.2 % (0–15 cm), 19.6 % (15–30 cm), and 4.7 % (30–45 cm). The incorporation of FYM with 100 %NPK( + S) resulted in greater contents of soil mineralizable N as compared to 100 %NPK( + S) (0–15, 15–30 cm). The proportion of hydrolyzable N (57–76 % of Nt) decreased and that of nonhydrolyzable N (22–40 % of Nt) increased with depth. The proportion of amino acid N (19–26 % of Nt), hexose amine N (2.1–3.5 % of Nt) and unidentified hydrolyzable N (17–27 % of Nt) decreased with depth. All organic soil N fractions including even nonhydrolyzable N in surface and subsurface soils were highly significantly correlated with soil mineralizable N derived from incubations under waterlogged and aerobic conditions. The best correlation to mineralizable N was found for amino acid N and the least significant correlation for nonhydrolyzable N.