Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 1:30 PM

Broiler Litter Improves Cotton Yield above Inorganic Fertilizers

Haile Tewolde1, M. W. Shankle2, Karamat Sistani3, a. Adeli1, and D.E. Rowe2. (1) USDA-ARS, 810 Hwy 12 East, Mississippi State, MS 39762, (2) Mississippi State Univ., Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station, 8320 Hwy 15 South, Pontotoc, MS 38863, (3) ARS-USDA, Waste Management Research Unit,, 230 Bennett LN, Bowling Green, KY 42104

A three-year research was conducted in 2003 to 2005 at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station near Pontotoc, MS in an Atwood silt loam soil with low organic matter content to compare broiler litter and conventional inorganic fertilizers for cotton production. Uncomposted broiler litter alone or litter plus inorganic N as urea ammonium nitrate solution were tested in two unreplicated adjacent fields, one under no-till and the other under conventional-till. Fertilizing with litter alone outyielded fertilization with inorganic N by approximately 14% under the no-till and by 12% under the conventional-till. Fertilizing with litter plus inorganic N also yielded better than the standard fertilization which may be an indication that soil conditions other than the applied inorganic nutrients were limiting for yield and that litter corrects these limitations in this soil.