Comparative Study Effect of Urea-Sulfur Fertilizers on Nitrogen Uptake and Maize Productivity

Abstract

Combined nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) fertilization is a good management strategy to reduce N loss and increase the efficiency of N fertilizers to achieve high grain yields and quality. Field trials for 2 yrs. (2018–2019) were conducted to evaluate the comparative advantage of conventional urea (150 N kg ha−1) compared to urea+ ammonium sulfate (150 N kg ha−1), urea+ calcium sulfate (150 N kg ha−1), and urea cocrystals (CaSO4.4urea) (150 N kg ha−1) when applied as nitrogen fertilizers to the maize. The statistics show a significant treatments effect on developed corn cobs, fresh and dry cob yields and grain yield, with 1000 grains with better results in 2019 than in 2018. The fertilization treatments affected grain yields significantly for 2018 and 2019, respectively. Urea+ ammonium sulfate and urea cocrystal provided a significant increase in grain yields by 10.5% and 7.50%, respectively, compared to urea in 2018, w1hereas, in 2019, urea cocrystal supplied the grain yields with a significant increase of 23.07% compared to urea, followed by urea + calcium sulfate which provided a 10.46% increase compared to urea. The study highlights that using urea-sulfur fertilizers enhanced the release of mineral nitrogen in the soil, improved the grain’s N uptake by the plant and increased maize grain yields.