TY - JFULL AU - Jakub Elbl and Lukas Plošek and Antonín Kintl and Jaroslav Záhora and Jitka Přichystalová and Jaroslav Hynšt PY - 2013/7/ TI - Effect of Organic-waste Compost Addition on Leaching of Mineral Nitrogen from Arable Land and Plant Production T2 - International Journal of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering SP - 462 EP - 468 VL - 7 SN - 1307-6892 UR - https://publications.waset.org/pdf/17402 PU - World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology NX - Open Science Index 78, 2013 N2 - Application of compost in agriculture is very desirable worldwide. In the Czech Republic, compost is the most often used to improve soil structure and increase the content of soil organic matter, but the effects of compost addition on the fate of mineral nitrogen are only scarcely described. This paper deals with possibility of using combined application of compost, mineral and organic fertilizers to reduce the leaching of mineral nitrogen from arable land. To demonstrate the effect of compost addition on leaching of mineral nitrogen, we performed the pot experiment. As a model crop, Lactuca sativa L. was used and cultivated for 35 days in climate chamber in thoroughly homogenized arable soil. Ten variants of the experiment were prepared; two control variants (pure arable soil and arable soil with added compost), four variants with different doses of mineral and organic fertilizers and four variants of the same doses of mineral and organic fertilizers with the addition of compos. The highest decrease of mineral nitrogen leaching was observed by the simultaneous applications of soluble humic substances and compost to soil samples, about 417% in comparison with the control variant. Application of these organic compounds also supported microbial activity and nitrogen immobilization documented by the highest soil respiration and by the highest value of the index of nitrogen availability. The production of plant biomass after this application was not the highest due to microbial competition for the nutrients in soil, but was 24% higher in comparison with the control variant. To support these promising results the experiment should be repeated in field conditions. ER -