V. Purushothaman and K.T. Joseph

Abstract

Urea was applied to soils with varying physical properties and the NH₃-N volatilised determined. The enzyme urease was found to be widely and variably distributed in Malaysian soils, causing rapid and uneconomical losses of nitrogen. The role of various soil properties was studied and the particular effect of cation exchange capacity (CEC) on NH₃-N loss discussed. A negative exponential relationship between NH₃-N volatilised and CEC was obtained. This relationship will be useful in predicting loss of N under regimes of uniform urease activity.

Full Text ( 332 KB )