Application of 15N-labelled urea to sugar cane through a drip-irrigation system in Mauritius

Code (CO)	MSI99P1611
Author (AU)	Ng Kee Kwong, K. F. Deville, J.
Title - English (ET)	Application of 15N-labelled urea to sugar cane through a drip-irrigation system in Mauritius
Document Type(DT)	Periodical article
Date of publication (DP)	1994
Series (SE)	Fert. Res.
ISSN (SN)	0167-1731
Source (SO)	39(3), 223-228
Language of text (LT)	En
Language of summaries (LS)	En
Abstract (AB)	Nitrogen (N) fertilizer use efficiency by sugar cane in Mauritius rarely exceeds 40 per cent. Since drip-irrigation delivers water uniformly and directly to the root zone with little run-off, application of N via the drip-irrigation system could therefore provide a means of enhancing fertilizer N use by sugar cane. A study was initiated in Mauritius to determine what benefits would accrue from applying urea (120 kg N per ha) to sugar cane through the drip-irrigation network. The data obtained showed that the efficiency of fertilizer N when measured at harvest was nearly doubled by supplying the N daily over 10 to 20 weeks by fertigation. Increased yields of sugar or cane did not, however, accompany the improved N use efficiency. Furthermore, when N was applied through the drip-irrigation network, recovery of N at harvest did not accurately reflect N use efficiency.
Descriptors - English (DE)	SUGARCANE NITROGEN FERTILIZERS FERTILIZERS PLANT NUTRITION TRICKLE IRRIGATION
Descriptors - Geographic (DG)	MAURITIUS
Sort Key 1(K1)	Sugarcane: Soils and plant nutrition
Sort Key 2 (K2)	Fertilization: Nitrogen
Date record entered (DA)	1994-12-26
Language of analysis (LA)	En
Location (LO)	CHEMLIB
Processing status (PS)	CAT
MSIRI Staff (MS)	CHEM