Nutrient Release Characteristics and Use Efficiency of Matrix Slow-Release Fertilizer

Abstract

A soil column method was used in the laboratory to simulate leaching from the soil tillage layer in order to investigate nutrient release characteristics in an uncoated matrix slow-release fertilizer. Furthermore, a field test was also performed to assess the nutrient use efficiency in maize crop soil. The first three leachings contained 42 % of the total N leached from the matrix slow-release fertilizer over the experiment’s duration. However, the amount of N leached on each occasion maintained stability after the fourth leaching. Compared with 60 % of the total N leached from the ordinary fertilizer in the first three leachings, the leached amounts decreased on each occasion until the end of the experiment. The field experiment showed that the amount of soil available N was lower prior to the maize’s eight-leaf stage with the matrix slow-release fertilizer than the amount available with ordinary fertilizer. But after this stage, it was higher than the amount available with the ordinary fertilizer. The cumulative N uptake by maize was similar for both fertilizers until the eight-leaf stage of maize, after which the N uptake was subsequently higher with the matrix slow-release fertilizer. Over the two year-long field trial, the benefits of using matrix slow-release fertilizer became obvious; when matrix slow-release fertilizer was applied, the maize yield was significantly higher. Moreover, multiple comparisons of variance analysis showed that this difference was significant.