The effect of pellet size on the ammonia loss from urea applied to forest soil

Summary Using diluted phosphoric acid- and glycerol-treated polyurethane plastic foam discs as static ammonia absorbers, the extent of ammonia loss from applied urea was determined on forest soil under field conditions. The investigation, which primarily involved a comparison of urea materials of two different pellet sizes (2–4 mg and 2060 mg urea per pellet, respectively), extended over a period of 28 days. The urea was applied to the soil surface at a rate of 200 kg N per hectare.It was found that the gaseous ammonia loss from the large-pellet urea (tablets) was markedly lower than that from the small-pellet urea during the first two weeks of exposure. On extending the observation period to four weeks, this difference in cumulative ammonia loss decreased successively. After 28 days' exposure, at a daily mean temperature of 13°C, the volatile loss amounted to 20 and 22 per cent, respectively. An addition of 5% (w/w) of a solution of concentrated orthophosphoric acid, or a fine-crystalline ortho-boric acid to the large-pellet urea, resulted in a reduction of the loss to half the value. The possibilities of controlling the ammonia loss from urea by combining the large pellet size with the addition of urease inhibitors are discussed. re]19721012