Critical soil organic carbon range for optimal crop response to mineral fertiliser nitrogen on a ferralsol

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dc.creatorMusinguzi, P.
dc.creatorEbanyat, Peter
dc.creatorTenywa, J.S.
dc.creatorBasamba, T.A.A.
dc.creatorTenywa, M.M.
dc.creatorMubiru, D.N.
dc.date2016-10
dc.date2016-10-25T12:36:15Z
dc.date2016-10-25T12:36:15Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T16:01:48Z
dc.descriptionSoil Organic Carbon (SOC) is a major indicator of soil fertility in the tropics and underlies variability in crop response to mineral fertilizers. Critical SOC concentrations that interact positively with N fertilizer for optimal crop yield are less understood. A study was conducted on a Ferralsol in sub-humid Uganda to explore the critical range of SOC concentrations and associated fractions for optimal maize (Zea mays L.) yield response to applied mineral N fertiliser. Maize grain yield response to N rates applied at 0, 25, 50 and 100 kg N ha−1 in 30 fields of low fertility (SOC < 1.2%), medium fertility (SOC = 1.2–1.7%) and high fertility (SOC > 1.7%) was assessed. Soil was physically fractionated into sand-sized (63–2000 µm), silt-sized (2–63 µm) and clay-sized (<2 µm) particles and SOC content determined. Low fertility fields (<1.2% SOC) resulted in the lowest response to N application. Fields with >1.2% SOC registered the highest agronomic efficiency (AE) and grain yield. Non-linear regression models predicted critical SOC for optimal yields to be 2.204% at the 50 kg N ha−1 rate. Overall, models predicted 1.9–2.2% SOC as the critical concentration range for high yields. The critical range of SOC concentrations corresponded to 3.5–5.0 g kg−1 sand-sized C and 9–11 g kg−1 for clay-sized C.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/77391
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/120473
dc.languageen
dc.publisherCambridge University Press
dc.rightsLimited Access
dc.sourceMusinguzi, P., Ebanyat, P., Tenywa, J.S., Basamba, T.A., Tenywa, M.M. & Mubiru, D.N. (2016). Critical soil organic carbon range for optimal crop response to mineral fertiliser nitrogen on a ferralsol. Experimental Agriculture, 52(4), 635-653.
dc.subjectsoil fertility
dc.subjectmaize
dc.subjectmineral fertilizer
dc.subjectsoil organic matter
dc.subjectferralsols
dc.titleCritical soil organic carbon range for optimal crop response to mineral fertiliser nitrogen on a ferralsol
dc.typeJournal Article

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Instituto Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (IITA)