Excessive nitrogen fertilization is a limitation to herbage yield and nitrogen use efficiency of dairy pastures in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorPhohlo, Motsedisi P.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSwanepoel, Pieter A.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorHinck, Stefanen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2022-04-25T06:29:11Z
dc.date.available2022-04-25T06:29:11Z
dc.date.issued2022-04-06
dc.descriptionCITATION: Phohlo, M. P., Swanepoel, P. A. & Hinck, S. 2022. Excessive nitrogen fertilization is a limitation to herbage yield and nitrogen use efficiency of dairy pastures in South Africa. Sustainability, 14(7), 4322, doi:10.3390/su14074322.en_ZA
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at https://www.mdpi.comen_ZA
dc.descriptionPublication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Funden_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe response of crop yields to fertilizers is a long-standing topic of agricultural production. Currently, in dairy-pasture systems, nitrogen (N) fertilizer is used as a management tool that is said to be directly proportional to pasture yield. We evaluated a large dataset consisting of data from 153 fields over five years to examine the effects of N fertilization on pasture yield and nitrogen use efficiency in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Fertilizer application rates were grouped into three treatments viz., <200, 200–350, and >350 kg N ha−1 , and herbage yield response over the years was analyzed with mixed models. There were no differences found between treatments for total annual herbage yield over the years. High N fertilizer rates did not translate to a higher herbage yield of pastures. The N rate had a weak but significant negative correlation with the total annual yield and only accounted for 6% of the yield variation. The N use efficiency of pastures improved with reduced N application rates. Pasture yield varies through different seasons. Spring and summer account for the highest yield, coinciding with warm and moist conditions favorable for N mineralization in the soil. Farmers need to consider the time of the year and plan their monthly or seasonal fertilizer application accordingly to account for peak N mineralization rates.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/7/4322
dc.description.versionPublisher's versionen_ZA
dc.format.extent11 pages : illustrations, mapen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationPhohlo, M. P., Swanepoel, P. A. & Hinck, S. 2022. Excessive nitrogen fertilization is a limitation to herbage yield and nitrogen use efficiency of dairy pastures in South Africa. Sustainability, 14(7), 4322, doi:10.3390/su14074322.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn2071-1050 (online)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.3390/su14074322.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124468
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherMDPIen_ZA
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyrighten_ZA
dc.subjectNitrogen fertilizationen_ZA
dc.subjectPasture yield optimizationen_ZA
dc.subjectNitrogen use efficiencyen_ZA
dc.subjectDairy farming -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.titleExcessive nitrogen fertilization is a limitation to herbage yield and nitrogen use efficiency of dairy pastures in South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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