EFFECT OF ACETYLENE PROVIDED BY WAX-COATED CALCIUM CARBIDE ON TRANSFORMATIONS OF UREA NITROGEN APPLIED TO AN IRRIGATED WHEAT CROP

The effect of acetylene (provided by wax-coated calcium carbide, CaC2) on N transformations in a red-brown earth was measured in a field experiment with irrigated wheat by determining the change in the concentration and N-15 enrichment of the organic N and mineral N pools with time. The study was conducted in the Goulburn-Murray Irrigation region of south-eastern Australia using 0.3 m by 0.3 m microplots fertilized with N-15-labelled urea (10 g N m-2;5 atom% N-15). Acetylene was effective in slowing the nitrification of both unlabelled and labelled N. Nitrate derived from the added fertilizer reached a maximum 19 days after sowing in the treatment without CaC2, whereas little nitrate accumulated in the 8 g CaC2 m-2 treatment. There was significant immobilization of the urea N by 19 days after sowing in all treatments, but the extent of immobilization was not affected by the acetylene. The addition of acetylene slowed net mineralization of labelled and unlabelled N from the organic N pool, and resulted in increased accumulation of both unlabelled and labelled N in wheat tops.