In-crop fertiliser application improved nitrogen recovery in irrigated cotton: a multi-year field study with 15N-labelled urea

Jonathan Baird; Graeme Schwenke; Greg C; Ben Macdonald; Helen Suter

doi:10.1071/CP24334

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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In-crop fertiliser application improved nitrogen recovery in irrigated cotton: a multi-year field study with ¹⁵N-labelled urea

Jonathan Baird

^A ^* , Graeme Schwenke ^B , Greg C

^C , Ben Macdonald

^D and Helen Suter ^A

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic 3010, Australia.

^B NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agriculture Institute, Calala, NSW 2340, Australia.

^C Retired. Formerly: CSIRO Plant Industry, Narrabri, NSW 2390, Australia.

^D CSIRO, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: jon.baird@outlook.com.au, jcbaird@student.unimelb.edu.au

Handling Editor: Victor Sadras

Crop & Pasture Science 76, CP24334 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP24334

Submitted: 7 November 2024 Accepted: 4 April 2025 Published: 1 May 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Plant recovery of nitrogen (N) fertiliser applied to alkaline soils for irrigated cotton ranges from 20% to 50%. Aligning the application timing to synchronise N availability with plant requirements should lead to greater crop yield and N use efficiency (NUE).

Aims

Identify the fate of N fertiliser when applied either pre-sow or in-crop to an irrigated cotton system.

Methods

Field investigations were conducted using isotope-labelled N fertiliser (¹⁵N-urea), applied either pre-sow (100:0) or in-crop (0:100). Sampling during the crop growth identified the fate of N fertiliser, both within the soil profile and within the plant.

Results

Applying N in-crop (0:100) improved N fertiliser recovery by 10% as measured at plant maturity, compared with when N fertiliser was applied pre-sow (100:0). Most of the additional N was recovered in the cotton seed. The period of greatest loss for the 0:100 treatment (45%) occurred between N fertiliser application and first square. Irrigation water mobilised the fertiliser-derived N laterally through the planting hill, with N fertiliser being recovered between the application point and the non-irrigated furrow. In contrast, the 0:100 treatment had a more uniform distribution of N throughout the planting hill. Inherent soil N (non-¹⁵N) supplied 60–75% of plant N than did the applied N fertiliser.

Conclusions

Applying N fertiliser in-crop gave greater fertiliser N use efficiency and recovery, reducing N loss to the environment.

Implications

The synchronising of N fertiliser delivery with cotton uptake improved efficiency, allowing for reduced application rates while maintaining high yields.

Keywords: Australia, fertiliser application timing, furrow irrigation, nitrogen leaching, nitrogen loss, nitrogen use efficiency, plant nitrogen use, soil nitrogen.

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