Soil enzyme activity and sulphur uptake by oilseed rape depending on fertilization and biostimulant application

Purpose Besides nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, sulphur is nowadays considered fundamental for plants, and due to its deficit in many regions, should be provided to crops by fertilization. The enzymes, rhodanese and arylsulphatase, take part in transforming sulphur in soil. Material and methods...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anetta Siwik-Ziomek, Małgorzata Szczepanek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-01-01
Series:Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica. Section B, Soil and Plant Science
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09064710.2017.1358762
Description
Summary:Purpose Besides nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, sulphur is nowadays considered fundamental for plants, and due to its deficit in many regions, should be provided to crops by fertilization. The enzymes, rhodanese and arylsulphatase, take part in transforming sulphur in soil. Material and methods The seaweed biostimulant Kelpak (auxins 11 mg l-1 and cytokinins 0.031 mg l-1) was applied to increase the uptake and accumulation of sulphur affecting the yield of oilseed rape cv. ‘Chagall’. Field experiments were conducted in Poland (53°N.18°E), in Alfisol (USDA) over 2010–2013. In the experiment, the nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus rate applied was as follows: high: 180 N, 70 P, 132 K [kg ha-1] or low: 144 N, 35 P, 66 K [kg ha-1], fertilization rate with elemental S (36 or 0 kg ha-1) and with biostimulant (Kelpak 2 l ha-1 in autumn and 2 l ha-1 in spring) or without it. Results There was found no relevant effect of biostimulant on the activity of the enzymes studied. With a low sulphates content in soil during ripening the rape, the activity of arylsulphatase increases. The highest rate of NPK resulted in a 27-42% increase in the content of SO42− in soil as compared with the soil sampled from NPK fertilization at lower rates. Sulphur recovery efficiency from fertilizer with S elemental increased for higher NPK fertilization. Conclusions Biostimulant application can compensate for a low level of oilseed rape crops cultivation technology (low rates of NPK fertilization) by improving the use of S from a fertilizer. In growing oilseed rape, it is essential to correlate the management of NPK and S fertilization at the right rate for a high sulphur recovery efficiency.
ISSN:0906-4710
1651-1913