ISSN 2756-3863
Full Length Research Paper
Reducing ammonia volatile concentration from compound fertilizers modified with zeolite
Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Email: [email protected]
Accepted 29 June, 2013
Abstract
Ammonia volatilization is a direct loss of available nitrogen in agriculture. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of amending NPK fertilizer with different rates of clinoptilolite zeolite on ammonia volatilization, soil exchangeable ammonium, and available nitrate. Seven treatments evaluated were: 250 g soil alone (T1), 3.28 g ammonium nitrate (AN) without additive (T2), 44.6 g 5:3:2 formulated fertilizer + 31.77 g zeolite (T3), 44.6 g 5:5:5 formulated fertilizer + 26.36 g zeolite (T4), 37.17 g 6:6:6 formulated fertilizer + 18.92 g zeolite (T5), 22.30 g 10:10:10 formulated fertilizer + 4.06 g zeolite (T6), and 14.87 g 15:15:15 commercial fertilizer (T7). The ammonia loss was measured using close-dynamic air flow system method. Soil pH, exchangeable ammonium and available nitrate at the end of this study were determined using standard procedures. The mixture of formulated fertilizer and zeolite significantly reduced ammonia volatilization. Zeolite in the formulated compound fertilizers did not significantly affect soil exchangeable ammonium and available nitrate. Amending N, P, and K compound fertilizer could minimize ammonia loss.
Key words: Ammonium nitrate, zeolite, ammonia volatilization, soil exchangeable ammonium, soil available nitrate.