Abstract

                                An incubation experiment was conducted with three complex fertilizers and one strai ght fertilizer in red and black soils at 60 per cent water holding capacity. The nitrogen was applied at four different doses. The results showed that over a period of 30 days incubation the nitrate formation was high and quick in the case of ammonium nitrate and Suphala even at high doses of application. Madras fertilizer complex and Parry complex did not record high nitrate content as in the case of others and thus the nitrification was slower in these cases. The nitrification was quicker in Suphala by which it could be said that better effici ency will be there for Suphala when applied to garden land crops and Madras fertilizer and Parry complexes may perform better in paddy soils than in garden land soils. This conclu- sion is based only with reference to the nitrification process, but other conditions may also have to be taken into consideration in deciding the suitability of a specific complex to a particular crop grown in a particular soll.

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