Journal
NUTRIENT CYCLING IN AGROECOSYSTEMS
Volume 93, Issue 3, Pages 297-307Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10705-012-9517-x
Keywords
Tea plantation; Nutrients losses; Nitrate; Ammonium; Phosphate
Categories
Funding
- National Water Project of China [2008ZX07101-006-02]
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The increasing input of fertilizers in tea (Camellia sinensis L.) fields may contribute to the deterioration of surface water quality. A plot study was conducted over a 2-year period (2010-2011) to evaluate the effects of rainfall and fertilizer types on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations in surface runoff from tea fields. Studies were arranged on slope of 18 % of red clay at a subtropical tea fields in Tiaoxi watershed of Zhejiang province, southeast China. Organic (OF), slow-release (SRF), and conventional chemical fertilizers were applied to different plots at rates of 248 kg N ha(-1) and 125.2 kg P ha(-1) in 2010 and 300 kg N ha(-1) and 100 kg P ha(-1) in 2011. Rainfall amounts showed statistically significant correlations with concentrations of TN and TP in runoff water from all fertilized treatments. Although equivalent N and P were applied in each fertilized treatment, the OF treatment had the lowest annual arithmetic mean concentration of total N in runoff in 2010 (6.1 mg L-1) and was amongst the lowest in 2011 (9.2 mg L-1) with concentration statistically similar to SRF (9.0 mg L-1). The SRF treatment had the lowest annual arithmetic mean concentration of total P in runoff in 2010 (1.50 mg L-1), while few differences were observed in concentration of total P between fertilized treatments in 2011. The research results suggested that replacement of conventional chemical fertilizers with organic or slow-release fertilizers in tea fields could reduce N and P losses while maintaining tea yields.
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