Nitrogen plays a key role in the formation of organic matter. When I changed to no-till production, I was amazed at how rapidly the soil gained organic matter, and how quickly plant health and crop performance improved.
I knew that humus has a carbon: nitrogen (C:N) ratio of 10:1, but had never fully understood the significance of this. Because I was fertilising my crops with liberal amounts of N, I wondered whether this was significant in converting my crop residue into humus.
FINDING THE MISSING FORMULA
The next step was to determine if there was a formula for this development. I started asking questions locally and abroad, and even contacted the agronomy professors of three US universities.
Two of them confirmed that N has a stabilising effect on humus, but could not provide details. Prof Steve Thien of Kansas State University, however, said that a formula did indeed exist, and all of his students had to complete a project to prove this formula.
This story is from the June 22, 2018 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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This story is from the June 22, 2018 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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