New trends in sugarcane fertilization: Implications for NH3 volatilization, N2O emissions and crop yields

Bruna G Oliveira; Késia S Lourenço; João Luis N Carvalho; Leandro C Gonzaga; Maria Carolina Teixeira; Ana Flávia Tamara; Johnny R Soares; Heitor Cantarella

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118233

New trends in sugarcane fertilization: Implications for NH₃ volatilization, N₂O emissions and crop yields

J Environ Manage. 2023 Sep 15:342:118233. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118233. Epub 2023 Jun 3.

Authors

Bruna G Oliveira¹, Késia S Lourenço², João Luis N Carvalho³, Leandro C Gonzaga⁴, Maria Carolina Teixeira², Ana Flávia Tamara², Johnny R Soares², Heitor Cantarella²

Affiliations

¹ Soils and Environmental Resources Center, Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC), Av. Barão de Itapura, 1481. Campinas, SP, 13020-970, Brazil. Electronic address: bruna.carvalho@iac.sp.gov.br.
² Soils and Environmental Resources Center, Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC), Av. Barão de Itapura, 1481. Campinas, SP, 13020-970, Brazil.
³ Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory (LNBR), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory (LNBR), Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; Interinstitutional Graduate Program in Bioenergy (USP/UNICAMP/UNESP) - 330 Cora Coralina Street, Cidade Universitária, Campinas/SP, CEP 13083-896, Brazil.

PMID: 37276616
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118233

Abstract

Recycling nutrients helps to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and contributes to alleviating the effects of global climate change. A recent trend in sugarcane cultivation is the application of concentrated vinasse (CV) combined with fertilizers into an organo-mineral formulation to improve logistics, reduce costs and foster the circular economy. However, the implications of the application of such organo-mineral formulation in sugarcane fields are unclear. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the organo-mineral formulation containing granular urea (UR), and a nitrification inhibitor (NI) on crop yields, NH₃ volatilization, and N₂O emissions. Field experiments were conducted during two fertilization seasons, dry and wet, and the treatments were: control; UR; UR + NI; CV; CV + UR; and CV + UR + NI. CV was applied at 7 m³ ha^-1. The treatments (except control and CV) were balanced to receive the same amount of N and K. Compared with UR, the organo-mineral formulation of CV + UR decreased NH₃ volatilization losses from 7% to 4% in the dry season and from 3.5% to 0.5% in the wet season. Conversely, compared with UR, N₂O emissions increased significantly (p ≤ 0.05) in CV + UR in the wet season from 1% to 2% of applied N. In the dry season, no differences were observed. The addition of NI was effective in mitigating N₂O emissions in both seasons. Emission reductions ranged from 43 to 48% in the dry season and from 71 to 84%, in the wet season. Fertilization with UR or the organo-mineral formulation influenced sugarcane yield only in the dry season, with the highest yield in CV + UR. NI did not affect crop yield. In general, emission intensities (kg CO_2eq Mg^-1 of stalk) were highest in CV + UR. We conclude that the organo-mineral formulation reduced NH₃ losses and increased N₂O emissions compared with regular solid fertilizer and that NI was effective for mitigating N₂O emissions.

Keywords: Concentrated vinasse; GHG emissions; Organo-mineral fertilizer; Urea.

MeSH terms

Agriculture*
Edible Grain / chemistry
Fertilizers* / analysis
Nitrogen
Nitrous Oxide / analysis
Saccharum*
Soil
Urea
Volatilization

Substances

Fertilizers
Nitrogen
Nitrous Oxide
Soil
Urea