Sulfur management strategies to improve partial sulfur balance with irrigated peanut production on deep sands

ABSTRACT

Sands have favourable physical properties for harvesting peanut, but improving S and water use efficiency on these soils remains a challenge. We studied partial S balance in irrigated peanut crops on sands of Central Vietnam to identify key factors of S fertiliser management affecting S inputs and outputs. Field trials were conducted in the spring seasons of 2015 and 2016 to determine the effects of S application rates (0, 15, 30, 45 kg ha⁻¹) on peanut yield and partial S balance. Sulfur balances were negative (−28.3 to 5.6 kg S ha⁻¹) at rates < 30 kg S ha⁻¹, while at higher rates of S fertiliser application that produced maximum pod yield (30–45 kg S ha⁻¹), three of four sites showed neutral to slightly positive S balance (1.5–5.6 kg S ha⁻¹). The negative partial S balance decreased with increasing S rates but was mostly attributable to the large S removal in peanut shoots (9.7–22.3 kg S ha⁻¹) which are used on farms for animal feed. The negative partial S balance results in depletion of soil S reserves and hence efficient recycling of S on farms is critical for sustainable crop production on sands of VN.

KEYWORDS:

• Deep sands
• Haplic Arenosols
• leaching
• sulfur fertiliser
• sulfur budget

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (grant number SMCN/2012/069).