Assessment of sulphur demand of crops under permanent fertilization experiment

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine plant needs with regard to sulphur fertilization based on the assessments of sulphur in the soil profile carried out in the early spring. The study was founded on the continuous fertilization experiment established in 1985 at the Experimental Station of the Faculty of Agriculture and Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, which is located in Skierniewice. Soil samples were collected in the years 2009–2011 in the early spring (February/March) at low soil temperatures. The samples were taken at three soil depths: 0–30, 30–60, 60–90 cm. The content of sulfate sulphur was assessed in fresh soil samples after extraction in 0.01 mol/L CaCl₂. The plants cultivated during the study were spring barley and yellow lupine. The amount of sulphur in soil profile was too small and not sufficient to fulfill yellow lupine nutritional needs, thus could be a limiting factor for successful yield production. Regardless the fertilizer treatment, the amount of sulfate sulphur found in 0–60 cm soil layer fully covered nutritional needs of spring barley.