TY - JOUR
T1 - Nutrient cycling and field-based partial nutrient balances in two mountain oases of Oman
AU - Buerkert, Andreas
AU - Nagieb, Maher
AU - Siebert, Stefan
AU - Khan, Iqrar
AU - Al-Maskri, Ahmed
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper and to E. Wiegard, C. Thieme, M. Ruckwied, and B. Heiligtag for their contributions to the plant and soil analyses. They are also indebted to Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat for technical and logistical assistance and to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for funding. We thankfully acknowledge the patience and hospitality of the oasis farmers at Balad Seet and Maqta.
PY - 2005/11/15
Y1 - 2005/11/15
N2 - Little is known about nutrient fluxes as a criterion to assess the sustainability of traditional irrigation agriculture in eastern Arabia. In this study GIS-based field research on terraced cropland and groves of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) was conducted over 2 years in two mountain oases of northern Oman to determine their role as hypothesized sinks for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). At Balad Seet 55% of the 385 fields received annual inputs of 100-500 kg N ha-1 and 26% received 500-1400 kg N ha-1. No N was applied to 19% of the fields which were under fallow. Phosphorus was applied annually at 1-90 kg ha-1 on 46% of the fields, whereas 27% received 90-210 kg ha-1. No K was applied to 27% of the fields, 32% received 1-300 kg K ha-1, and the remaining fields received up to 1400 kg ha-1. At Maqta N-inputs were 61-277 kg ha -1 in palm groves and 112-225 kg ha-1 in wheat (Triticum spp.) fields, respective P inputs were 9-40 and 14-29 kg ha-1, and K inputs were 98-421 and 113-227 kg ha-1. For cropland, partial oasis balances (comprising inputs of manure, mineral fertilizers, N 2-fixation and irrigation water, and outputs of harvested products) were similar for both oases, with per hectare surpluses of 131 kg N, 37 kg P, and 84 kg K at Balad Seet and of 136 kg N, 16 kg P and 66 kg K at Maqta. This was despite the fact that N2-fixation by alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), estimated at up to 480 kg ha-1 yr-1 with an average total dry matter of 22 t ha-1, contributed to the cropland N-balance only at the former site. Respective palm grove surpluses, in contrast were with 303 kg N, 38 kg P, and 173 kg K ha-1 much higher at Balad Seet than with 84 kg N, 14 kg P, and 91 kg K ha-1 at Maqta. The data show that both oases presently are large sinks for nutrients. Potential gaseous and leaching losses could at least partly be controlled by a decrease in nutrient input intensity and careful incorporation of manure.
AB - Little is known about nutrient fluxes as a criterion to assess the sustainability of traditional irrigation agriculture in eastern Arabia. In this study GIS-based field research on terraced cropland and groves of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) was conducted over 2 years in two mountain oases of northern Oman to determine their role as hypothesized sinks for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). At Balad Seet 55% of the 385 fields received annual inputs of 100-500 kg N ha-1 and 26% received 500-1400 kg N ha-1. No N was applied to 19% of the fields which were under fallow. Phosphorus was applied annually at 1-90 kg ha-1 on 46% of the fields, whereas 27% received 90-210 kg ha-1. No K was applied to 27% of the fields, 32% received 1-300 kg K ha-1, and the remaining fields received up to 1400 kg ha-1. At Maqta N-inputs were 61-277 kg ha -1 in palm groves and 112-225 kg ha-1 in wheat (Triticum spp.) fields, respective P inputs were 9-40 and 14-29 kg ha-1, and K inputs were 98-421 and 113-227 kg ha-1. For cropland, partial oasis balances (comprising inputs of manure, mineral fertilizers, N 2-fixation and irrigation water, and outputs of harvested products) were similar for both oases, with per hectare surpluses of 131 kg N, 37 kg P, and 84 kg K at Balad Seet and of 136 kg N, 16 kg P and 66 kg K at Maqta. This was despite the fact that N2-fixation by alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.), estimated at up to 480 kg ha-1 yr-1 with an average total dry matter of 22 t ha-1, contributed to the cropland N-balance only at the former site. Respective palm grove surpluses, in contrast were with 303 kg N, 38 kg P, and 173 kg K ha-1 much higher at Balad Seet than with 84 kg N, 14 kg P, and 91 kg K ha-1 at Maqta. The data show that both oases presently are large sinks for nutrients. Potential gaseous and leaching losses could at least partly be controlled by a decrease in nutrient input intensity and careful incorporation of manure.
KW - Animal manure
KW - Irrigation agriculture
KW - N-fixation
KW - Nutrient fluxes
KW - Sustainability
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U2 - 10.1016/j.fcr.2004.12.003
DO - 10.1016/j.fcr.2004.12.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:13844258469
SN - 0378-4290
VL - 94
SP - 149
EP - 164
JO - Field Crops Research
JF - Field Crops Research
IS - 2-3
ER -
