How much nitrogen would move down? Evaluating the effect of water application regimes on n leaching in the soil

8pNitrogen is the nutrient most often deficient for crop production and its use can result in substantial economic return to farmers. However, when N inputs exceed crop needs, excess N may contaminate water. N Management is therefore important to achieve a balance between profitable crop production and environmentally tolerable levels. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of water application regimes on the leaching of nitrogen. The research study was conducted at Nkango Irrigation Scheme in Kasungu district. Maize (SC 407) planted on Julian day of 2012152 and harvested Julian day of 2012250 was used as test crop in the study. The water regimes were full (100%) water requirement regime (FWRR) of maize plant; 60% of FWRR; and 40% of FWRR. The nitrogen application regime used was 92 N kg/ha which was constant.. The EU-Rotate_N model was run to quantify nitrogen leached below 90cm of the soil profile. The study found out that water application regime has a large influence on N leaching. The study concluded that applied water in the soil should not exceed field capacity of the soil and in such way leaching of nitrogen will be minimised