Nitrogen Management

In the past, growers often applied more nitrogen than the crop used. They anticipated and accounted for losses of nitrogen due to leaching or denitrification. But advice now is to only apply the amount of nitrogen required by the crop to fulfil its yield potential. This advice is underpinned by fertiliser economics and environmental considerations.

Essential tools for optimising nitrogen efficiency

There are several tools growers may adopt to improve nitrogen use efficiency. Simply applying nitrogen doesn’t guarantee it will still be there when the crop requires it.

Nitrogen stabilisers such as Instinct® will keep nitrogen in the root zone, optimising yield potential and reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen leaching. This is essential to enabling sustainable and productive agriculture.

In fact, Instinct Nitrogen Stabiliser retains 28% more nitrogen during the period of peak nitrogen demand by the crop.

What causes nitrogen loss?

Nitrogen losses may occur by leaching, ammonia volatilisation and denitrification.

Leaching

Leaching is the loss of nitrates to the soil below the root zone. It can be caused by rain and irrigation. Leaching occurs because soil and organic matter are negatively charged, as are NO2- and NO3- nitrates. This means they are easily washed away, with leaching most common in coarse, sandy soils.

Instinct Nitrogen Stabiliser reduces leaching by 48%.

Volatilisation

Volatilisation is a process that converts usable nitrogen into ammonia gas, which escapes into the environment instead of getting into the root zone. Heat from the sun accelerates this process, causing nitrogen in the soil that hasn’t yet been absorbed to evaporate. As a result, crops miss out on the benefits of this essential nutrient.

Denitrification

Denitrification is the loss of nitrogen into the atmosphere. This occurs when soil microbes convert nitrates to gaseous forms of nitrogen, and these escape into the atmosphere as greenhouse gas. Denitrification doesn’t affect ammonium, just nitrates.

Instinct Nitrogen Stabiliser reduces denitrification by 44%.

How can I prevent nitrogen loss?

Using nitrogen stabilisers is the best way to reduce nitrogen loss in soil. There are three different types of nitrogen stabilisers:

Slow or controlled-release stabilisers - those are coated in a synthetic polymer that cause water to diffuse slowly through the coating.
Urease inhibitors - urease inhibitors affect the urease enzyme, catalysing the hydrolysis of urea on the soil surface. A small amount of soil moisture can cause the unprotected urea to hydrolyse. It then converts to ammonium and carbon dioxide, which could then be lost through volatilisation.
Nitrification inhibitors - these slow down the conversion of ammonium at the first stage of nitrification. The Nitrosomonas bacteria that initiates the conversion from NH4+ to NO3- is inhibited, which means usable nitrogen is stored at the root zone.

Using stabilisers such as Instinct Nitrogen Stabiliser will help reduce leaching by 48%, reduce nitrous oxide emissions by approximately 50% and keep 28% more nitrogen in the soil for longer.

Instinct^®

Simply stated – Instinct keeps more nitrogen in the soil for longer.

Instinct® is a nitrification inhibitor. It works by slowing down the conversion of ammonum into nitrate. Nitrate can be lost from soils and into the environment by leaching or greenhouse gases.

The benefits of Instinct nitrogen stabiliser

Improving efficiency and productivity
Prevent nitrogen leaching
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Learn more about Instinct

Recent Nitrogen Management articles

This maize planting season, using a nitrogen stabiliser could stabilise enough N to allow growers to reduce applications by up to 20%, whilst still maintaining yields. Read more from Corteva's Colin Bowers here.

FAQs

Nitrogen management in agriculture refers to the practice of applying nitrogen to crops to ensure maximum yield while minimising nitrogen losses to the environment.

Soils often don’t have enough naturally occurring nitrogen to meet the crops needs throughout the growing season. Moreover, nitrogen is sometimes described as ‘leaky’, and easily converts to inorganic forms that can be lost from the soil.

As a result, applying the right amount of nitrogen at the right time is crucial for effective crop management and maximising yield potential.

Applied nitrogen undergoes a process called nitrification. Ammonium is converted to nitrite by Nitrosomonas bacteria. Nitrite is then converted to nitrate by Nitrobacter bacteria. Both of these soil microbes are more active when soil temperatures are above 10°C.

Soil doesn’t form strong bonds with negatively charged nitrates (such as NO2- and NO3-) as it has a negative charge itself. These nitrates are prone to leaching and denitrification if they aren’t readily taken up by the plant, meaning they are unavailable to the plant when required.

There are two forms of nitrogen that crops use: ammonium NH4+ and nitrate NO3-. Both can be used by plants, but the ammonium form (NH4+) is more stable in the soil, whereas the nitrate form (NO3-) is more likely to be lost through leaching or denitrification.

There are three main types of nitrogen stabilisers:

· Slow or controlled release fertilisers.

· Urease Inhibitors

· Nitrification Inhibitors

There are several types of slow or controlled release fertilisers, often based on a polymer coating.

Urease Inhibitors affect the urease enzyme, catalysing the hydrolysis of urea on the soil surface. A small amount of soil moisture can cause the unprotected urea to hydrolyse. It then converts to ammonium and carbon dioxide, which could then be lost through volatilisation.

Nitrification Inhibitors, such as Instinct, slow down the conversion of ammonium at the first stage of nitrification. The Nitrosomonas bacteria that initiates the conversion from NH4+ to NO3- is inhibited, which means usable nitrogen is stored at the root zone.

Protect your fertiliser investment

Keep nitrogen in the root zone for optimum plant use by decreasing the loss of nitrogen through leaching and denitrification.
Extend the availability of nitrogen by up to 10 weeks.

Optimize opportunity for yield and profit

28% more nitrogen available in the root zone.
Maize yields increased by 10% on average.
OSR yields increased by 6% on average.
Wheat yields increased by 5% on average.

Manage time and efficiency

Reduce the number of fertiliser applications.

Reduce environmental impacts

Reduces leaching of nitrates on average by 50%.
Reduces denitrification on average by 50%.

The days of “putting on an extra bag” are gone. The amount of nitrogen applied to a crop needs to be based on sound agronomics – too much or too little can both cause problems. The key is to apply the proper amount and protect it, for the most efficient use of your fertiliser investment. Applying more nitrogen does not ensure there will be enough when the plant requires it (i.e. heavy rains, warm temperatures will increase the speed of denitrification).

Instinct is available through Agrovista.

Get in touch with them here: Agrovista: 0115 939 2020

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Nitrogen Management

Essential tools for optimising nitrogen efficiency