EFFECT OF WAX-COATED CALCIUM CARBIDE AND NITRAPYRIN ON NITROGEN LOSS AND METHANE EMISSION FROM DRY-SEEDED FLOODED RICE

The effectiveness of wax-coated calcium carbide (as a slow-release source of acetylene) and nitrapyrin in inhibiting nitrification and emission of the greenhouse gases N2O and CH4 was evaluated in a microplot study with dry-seeded flooded rice grown on a grey clay near Griffith, NSW, Australia. The treatments consisted of factorial combinations of N levels with nitrification inhibitors (control, wax-coated calcium carbide, and nitrapyrin). The rate of nitrification was slowed considerably by the addition of wax-coated calcium carbide, but it was inhibited only slightly by the addition of nitrapyrin. As a result, the emission of N2O was markedly reduced by the application of wax-coated calcium carbide, whereas there was no significant difference in rates of N2O emission between the control and nitrapyrin treatments. Both nitrification inhibitors significantly reduced CH4 emission, but the lowest emission rates were observed in the wax-coated calcium carbide treatment. At the end of the experiment 84% of the applied N was recovered from the wax-coated calcium carbide treatment compared with approximately 43% for the nitrapyrin and control treatments.