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Corn Growth and Nitrogen Uptake with Furrow Irrigation and Fertilizer Bands

USDA-ARS, Central Great Plains Res. Unit, P.O. Box 400, Akron, CO 80720;
USDA-ARS, Soil-Plant-Nutrient Res. Unit, 301 S. Howes, Ft. Collins, CO 80522;
USDA-ARS, Water Management Res. Unit, Agric. Eng. Res. Ctr., Colorado State Univ., Ft. Collins, CO 80523;
Great Plains Systems Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 301 S. Howes, Ft. Collins, CO 80522.

^* Corresponding author (jbenjamn{at}lamar.colostate.edu).

Furrow irrigation is commonly used to provide supplemental water to row crops. Alternate-furrow irrigation has been proposed as a method to decrease deep percolation water losses as well as the leaching of fertilizer and pesticides. A study was conducted on a Ulm clay loam (fine, smectitic, mesic Ustic Haplargids) in 1994 and 1995 near Fort Collins, CO. Corn (Zea mays L.) growth and N uptake were measured under alternate-furrow and every-furrow irrigation water applications, each with fertilizer bands placed either in the row or in the furrow. Nitrogen-15-depleted (NH₄)₂SO₄ fertilizer was used to distinguish plant uptake of fertilizer N from uptake of naturally occurring N. There were no differences in plant response to alternate-furrow or every-furrow irrigation water placement for the same amount of water applied. Greater fertilizer-N uptake occurred with row placement than with furrow placement of N fertilizer. Early in the growing season, fertilizer-N uptake from row placement was from 2 to 10 times the fertilizer-N uptake from furrow placement. By the end of the growing season, the average total-N uptake from row placement was 12% greater than for furrow placement. Placing the fertilizer in the nonirrigated furrow of the alternate-furrow irrigation treatment decreased N availability by 20% compared with the average of the other treatments. If alternate-furrow irrigation is used to increase water use efficiency in furrow-irrigated fields, placing the N fertilizer in the nonirrigated furrow of the alternate-furrow irrigation system could decrease N availability because of drier soil conditions in the nonirrigated furrow. Row placement of N fertilizer seems to be beneficial in both alternate-furrow and every-furrow irrigation applications.

Received for publication August 12, 1996.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. A. Lehrsch, R.E. Sojka, and D.T. Westermann Nitrogen Placement, Row Spacing, and Furrow Irrigation Water Positioning Effects on Corn Yield Agron. J., November 1, 2000; 92(6): 1266 - 1275. [Abstract] [Full Text]