Sulfur Coated Fertiliser Materials as Sulfur Sources for Rice under Flooded and Non-Flooded Conditions

Abstract

Sulfur (S) deficiency in crop production has been reported in many parts of the world and has resulted in a decline in both crop yield and quality. This has eventuated as a consequence of a number of factors including the increasing use of high analysis fertilisers such as urea, triple superphosphate (TSP), mono- and di-ammonium phosphate which contain little or no sulfur. As the need for S increases to counter the S deficiencies, many attempts have been made to use elemental S (S°) to supply crop demand. Since plants use only the SO₄²⁻-S, S° needs to be oxidized before a plant can utilize the S0₄²⁻-S. In the recent past, the use of S° as a source of S for crops has increased significantly. Coating of fertiliser materials with S° has been introduced to Deliberately supply S to plants and these employ finely divided S bound to granular products with various binders such as lignosulfonate, formaldehyde and so forth. This has resulted in the production of a number of S° coated fertilisers. This study was thus undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of a range of S coated TSP fertiliser materials in rice under flooded and non-flooded conditions.