Journal of Plant Nutrition

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/lpla20

Methods to quantify the nitrogen derived from the

fertilizer in maize applying blends of controlled-
release and NBPT-treated urea

Pedro Lopes Garcia & Paulo Cesar Ocheuze Trivelin

To cite this article: Pedro Lopes Garcia & Paulo Cesar Ocheuze Trivelin (2022): Methods to
quantify the nitrogen derived from the fertilizer in maize applying blends of controlled-release and
NBPT-treated urea, Journal of Plant Nutrition, DOI: 10.1080/01904167.2022.2072737

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2022.2072737

Published online: 05 May 2022.

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JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION
https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2022.2072737

Methods to quantify the nitrogen derived from the fertilizer in

maize applying blends of controlled-release and NBPT-
treated urea
Pedro Lopes Garcia and Paulo Cesar Ocheuze Trivelin
Stable Isotopes Laboratory, Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA), University of S~ao Paulo (USP),
Piracicaba, Brazil

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The use of 15N tracers in blends of N-fertilizers contributes to determining Received 7 October 2021
the N derived from each N-fertilizer in the plant, improving the recommen- Accepted 18 February 2022
dation in the field. However, to evaluate the contribution of two 15N-
KEYWORDS
labeled fertilizers to maize nutrition is an expensive process, and it is chal-
Zea Mays L.; polymer-sulfur
lenging to manufacture 15N-labeled controlled-release urea (CRU) consider- coated urea; stable
ing a polymer-sulfur coated urea (PSCU). The objective of this study was to isotope; 15N
evaluate, in a field experiment, two methods to quantify the N derived
from the PSCU (NdfPSCU) in maize plant using two blends (70% PSCU þ
30% urea (U) and 30% PSCU þ 70% U) applied in three ways (incorpo-
rated, broadcast and split application). The first method quantifies the
NdfPSCU by subtracting the total N uptake in the N treatment by the sum
of the N uptake in the control treatment (without N-fertilizer application)
and the N derived from the U (NdfU) in the plant quantified with 15N. The
second method quantifies the NdfPSCU using 15N (precise and direct
method). Despite the first method is less expensive than the second it
underestimated the NdfPSCU in four maize growth stages in Rhodic
Eutrustox soil, being necessary the use of 15N in the PSCU to quantify the
NdfPSCU with blends of PSCU þ U.

Introduction
Maize (Zea Mays L.) is a cereal cultivated throughout the world, and the worldwide maize pro-
duction was 1.116 billion tons in the 2019/20 growing season (USDA 2020). Brazil is the third-
largest maize producer (102 million tons) after China (260 million tons) (USDA 2020). Despite
the high production of these countries, the average maize yield was lower (Brazil: 5.3 Mg ha1;
China: 6.1 Mg ha1) than the United States of America (USA: 9.9 Mg ha1) that is the highest
maize producer (359 million tons) (USDA 2020). A lower maize yield can be attributed to wea-
ther conditions, pests, diseases, and soil fertility (IPNI 2003). A good precipitation distribution
associated with adequate control of pests and diseases, and proper nutritional management can
result in better yields with modern maize hybrids (Garcia et al. 2020; Bender et al. 2013).
Nitrogen (N) is the most demanded nutrient by maize plant and the N uptake can reach
228–280 kg ha1 at R6 (physiological maturity) maize growth stage in proper nutritional condi-
tions in China, Brazil and USA (Fan et al. 2020; Garcia et al. 2018; Bender et al. 2013). Urea (U)
is the main N source to attend the maize demand in China (Ke et al. 2017) and Brazil (Kaneko

CONTACT Pedro Lopes Garcia plgarcia@usp.br Stable Isotopes Laboratory, Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture
(CENA), University of S~ao Paulo (USP), Piracicaba, Brazil.
ß 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
2 P. L. GARCIA AND P. C. O. TRIVELIN

et al. 2019) because of the high N content and low acquisition cost compared to the other N
sources (Cantarella 2007). Despite the advantages, working with U presents some challenges that
provide a low N use efficiency (NUE) by agricultural crops (Cantarella 2007) such as the ammo-
nia volatilization when U is applied on the soil surface (Rinaldi et al. 2019). The split U applica-
tion is necessary to attend to the maize N demand, increasing the production costs. Moreover,
high N rates with U at sowing can damage maize plants in the early growth (Garcia, Sermarini,
and Trivelin 2019a, 2019b), and lead to nitrate leaching in the soil (Hong et al. 2007).
A single application with blends of controlled-release urea (CRU) and U was studied in
Chinese (Li et al. 2020a, 2020b) and Brazilian (Garcia et al. 2018) conditions aiming to avoid the
split U application, and to supply N at the beginning and during the maize growth cycle from
the U and CRU source in the blend (CRU þ U), respectively. These researches concluded that is
possible to supply the maize N demand with a single CRU þ U application, providing a similar
or higher yield and NUE compared to the split U application. These researches only considered
the total N uptake in maize plant without differentiating the N provided by the fertilizers and
soil. Other studies performed in Brazilian conditions (Moschini 2019; Villalba 2018) used 15N
tracer in the U source of a blend of polymer-sulfur coated urea (PSCU) and U to quantify the N
derived from the U (NdfU) in the plant with the blend. These authors did not use 15N in the
PSCU source of the blend, that is an expensive method, and to quantify the N derived from the
PSCU (NdfPSCU) in the plant they subtracted the total N uptake in the plant in the N treatments
by the sum of NdfU and the N uptake in the control treatment (without N-fertilizer application).
They considered that the N uptake in the plant in the control treatment represents the N pro-
vided by the soil in the plant in the N treatments. To determine if this method is valid or not to
quantify the NdfPSCU of the blend (PSCU þ U) it should be compared with the method using
15
N in the PSCU source of the blend that is a direct and precise method to determine the
NdfPSCU (Garcia et al. 2020).
This research aimed to evaluate in field experiment two methods to quantify the NdfPSCU
applying the most blends of PSCU þ U used in maize (70% PSCU þ 30% U and 30% PSCU þ
70% U (Li et al. 2020a, 2020b; Garcia et al. 2018)) in three ways (incorporated, broadcast and
split application). The first method quantifies the NdfPSCU by difference (Moschini 2019;
Villalba 2018), and the second method using 15N in the PSCU of the blend (PSCU þ U). Our
hypothesis is that the first method can overestimate the NdfPSCU compared to the second
method because it did not consider a possible priming effect (Chen et al. 2019) in the N treat-
ments. In addition, it can favor a higher N uptake derived from the mineralization of soil organic
matter in the N treatments compared to the N uptake in the control treatment (without N-fertil-
izer application).

Materials and methods

Experimental site
A field experiment with maize was performed in Iracemapolis, S~ao Paulo state, in Brazil (22 390
S, 47 300 W, 608 m elevation) in the 2019/20 spring-summer growing season. The soil in the
experimental area is classified as Rhodic Eutrustox (Soil Survey Staff 2014) with a clayey texture
(clay: 46%; sand: 42%; silt: 12%; Gee and Bauder 1986). The straw in the soil of the experimental
area left by the previous crops was a mixture of common bean and maize residues with 5.7 Mg
ha1 quantified according to (Garcia, Sermarini, and Trivelin 2020; Garcia et al. 2020) and
44:1 C/N ratio (Bataglia et al. 1983). Application of limestone followed by plowing and harrowing
was performed before the previous crop (common bean) of the experiment. The total precipita-
tion and mean air temperature in the period of the experiment was 669 mm and 24  C (Figure 1).
The soil chemical characterization (0-0.2 m soil layer) prior to the experiment initiation were the
 JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION 3

Figure 1. Monthly precipitation and mean air temperature during the spring-summer maize growing season from December
2019 to March 2020 in Iracemapolis, Southeastern Brazil.

following: pH 5.5 (1:2.5 soil/solution (0.01 mol L1 CaCl2) (van Raij et al. 2001)); 25 g dm3 of
soil organic matter determined by wet oxidation (Nelson and Sommers 1996); and, 1100 mg N
kg1 determined by a mass spectrometer (Barrie and Prosser 1996). The cation exchange capacity
(CEC) of 95 mmolc dm3 was determined at pH 7 by the sum of potential acidity and exchange-
able cations. The base saturation (100  (total exchangeable cations/CEC)) was 74%. More infor-
mation about the soil chemical characterization of this site in the 2019/20 growing season can be
found in Garcia et al. (2020).

Treatment description and experimental setup

Two blends of PSCU þ U (70% PSCU þ 30% U and 30% PSCU þ 70% U) were applied by hand
in three ways (split N application; incorporated N application; broadcast N application). In the
split N application 30% was applied incorporated at maize sowing (15 cm depth and 10 cm to the
side of seed row) and 70% as a side-dressing at V4 maize growth stage (10 cm to the side of
maize row). A single N application at maize sowing was performed in the broadcast N applica-
tion (topdressing) and in the incorporated N application (15 cm depth and 10 cm to the side of
seed row (Garcia, Sermarini, and Trivelin 2019a)). A control treatment was included (without N-
fertilizer application). The design of the experiment was a factorial (3  2) þ 1 in randomized
block with four replications. The N rate was 180 kg ha1 that is recommended to achieve maize
grain yield higher than 10 Mg ha1 in S~ao Paulo state, Brazil (van Raij and Cantarella 1997).
Before maize sowing, 120 kg K2O ha1 (as potassium chloride (KCl)) was applied topdressing.
The maize (hybrid DKB 390) was sown on 26 November 2019 with a density of 79,500 plants
ha1. At maize sowing, 120 kg P2O5 ha1 (as triple superphosphate) was applied in-furrow with
the planter, and elemental sulfur (S0) was applied in the treatment with 30% PSCU þ 70% U and
in the control treatment to equalize the S0 in the treatment with 70% PSCU þ 30% U. Herbicide,
insecticide and fungicide were performed when needed.

Methods to quantify the nitrogen derived from polymer-sulfur coated urea in maize
Two microplots with three maize rows (2 m long and 1.35 m wide) were setup within the plots
(10 maize rows: 10 m length and 0.45-m spacing) to apply the 15N-fertilizer (PSCU þ 15N-U and
15
N-PSCU þ U) to quantify the N derived from each N-fertilizer in the maize plant. The PSCU þ
15
N-U was applied in one microplot and the 15N-PSCU þ U in the other one (Figure 2). The
application was performed in three ways as described above. The U and the U enriched with 15N
4 P. L. GARCIA AND P. C. O. TRIVELIN

Figure 2. 15N-fertilizers application in the microplots. PSCU: polymer-sulfur coated urea; U: urea treated with NBPT. The applica-
tion manners were broadcast (topdressing) at maize sowing, incorporated at maize sowing, and splitting 30% at sowing and
70% at V4 maize growth stage.

(CO(15NH2)2) were manufactured by the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA/USP,
Stable Isotopes Laboratory). The 15N-enriched U (45% N; 1.6 atom % 15N) and the U (45% N)
was treated with NBPT (N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide; 530 mg kg1). The U and the 15N-
enriched U (1.15 atom % 15N) were coated with elemental sulfur (S0) and polymers in a small
scale process developed to provide the characteristics of the industrial PSCU (Patent n. EP
0574541; 39% N and 12% S) with N release of 80% within 60 days after application (Garcia et
al. 2020).
Two maize plants (aerial parts) were sampled at the end of the internal and external adjacent
row of the microplot at V4 (vegetative leaf stage 4; 15 December 2019), V12 (vegetative leaf stage
12; 12 January 2020), R2 (blister stage; 2 February 2020), and R4 (dough stage; 18 February
2020). The N derived from the 15N-fertilizer in the plant in each above-mentioned growth stage
was determined by summing the N derived from the 15N-fertilizer in the plant of the internal
and external adjacent row (Garcia et al. 2020). At R6 (physiological maturity; 31 March 2020),
two plants (aerial parts) were sampled at the center of the central row of the microplot (Garcia et
al. 2020) to determine the N derived from the 15N-fertilizer in the plant. The plant samples were
separated into leaves, stalks, cobs and grains. The plant components were oven-dried at 65  C to
a constant weight, weighed, and ground using a Willey mill (0.5-mm sieve). The 15N abundance
and total N concentration in the plant components were determined in a mass spectrometer
(PDZ Europa ANCA-GLS, 20-20, Sercon Ltd., UK). The N derived from the PSCU in the maize
plant was quantified using the following equations (Moschini 2019; Villalba 2018; Trivelin et al.
1994; Hauck and Bremmer 1976):
 JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION 5

Method 1:


NdfU ð%Þ ¼ ða – cÞ=ðb – cÞ x 100 (1)


NdfU kg ha1 ¼ ðNdfU ð%Þ=100Þ x Total NðN treatmentÞ (2)



NdfPSCU kg ha1 ¼ Total NðN treatmentÞ – Total NðcontrolÞ þ NdfU kg ha1 (3)

Method 2:


NdfPSCU ð%Þ ¼ ða – cÞ=ðb – cÞ x 100 (4)


NdfPSCU kg ha1 ¼ ðNdfPSCU ð%Þ=100Þ x Total NðN treatmentÞ (5)
where NdfU (% or kg ha1) is the N derived from the U treated with NBPT in the maize plant;
a is the 15N abundance in the plant (atom % 15N excess); b is the 15N abundance in the fertilizer
(atom % 15N excess); c is the natural 15N abundance in the control (atom % 15N). Total N is the
total N uptake in the maize plant (kg N ha1) in the N treatment or in the control treatment.
NdfPSCU (% or kg ha1) is the N derived from the PSCU in the maize plant by the method 1
and method 2. If the NdfPSCU < 0 using the method 1 it was considered zero.
To verify the N balance in the maize plant at R6 growth stage was considered the NdfU, the
NdfPSCU with the method 1 and the method 2, and the N derived from the soil (NdfSoil) that
was calculated according to the following equation:


NdfSoil kg ha1 ¼ Total NðN treatmentÞ – NdfPSCU – NdfU (6)
A correlation with the NdfSoil, calculated with 15N in the PSCU (method 2) and U, was per-
formed with the Total N in the control treatment. The Total N in the control was considered the
N derived from the soil in the maize plant using the method 1 in our study and by Moschini
(2019) and Villalba (2018) that did not use 15N in the PSCU.

Statistical analysis
Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed with the software R (R Development
Core Team 2015) and its ExpDes package. The means were tested with Fisher’s least-test differ-
ence (LSD) at the 0.05 significance level.

Results
Total N uptake and N derived from NBPT-treated urea in maize plants
The total N uptake was higher in the average of N treatments than in the control treatment from
V4 to R6 (p < 0.05) with 326 kg N ha1 in the average of N treatments, and 262 kg N ha1 in the
control treatment at R6 growth stage. The blend (70% PSCU þ 30% U and 30% PSCU þ 70%
U), N fertilization management practices (broadcast, incorporated, and split N application), and
the interaction blend  N management (p > 0.05) did not affect the total N uptake during the
maize growth cycle (Table 1).
The NdfU was higher in the application with 30% PSCU þ 70% U than 70% PSCU þ 30% U
during the maize growth cycle reaching 90 kg N ha1 with 30% PSCU þ 70% U, and 41 kg N
ha1 with 70% PSCU þ 30% U at R6 maize growth stage (Table 1). The interaction blend  N
management affected the NdfU at V12 and R4. At V12, the split N application provided higher
NdfU than incorporated N application with 70% PSCU þ 30% U, and the broadcast N applica-
tion provided higher NdfU than incorporated and split N application with 30% PSCU þ 70% U.
6 P. L. GARCIA AND P. C. O. TRIVELIN

Table 1. Effect of blends of polymer-sulfur coated urea (PSCU) and NBPT-treated urea (U) (70% PSCU þ 30% U and 30%
PSCU þ 70% U) and application manners (broadcast, incorporated (incorp), and split) on the total N uptake and N derived
from U in maize plant during the growth cycle.
Total N uptake (kg ha1) N derived from U-15N (kg ha1)
N management (MGMT) MGMT
Blend Broadcast Incorp Split Average Broadcast Incorp Split Average
V4
70PSCU30U 11 10 9 10 2 1 0.5 1.2 B
30PSCU70U 10 10 8 9.3 3 2.5 1 2.2 A
Average 10.5 10 8.5 2.5 a 1.8 a 0.8 b
With N 9.5 A
Control 6.4 B
V12
70PSCU30U 139 152 156 149 15 Bab 13 Bb 22 Ba 17
30PSCU70U 139 152 148 146 46 Aa 35 Ab 33 Ab 39
Average 139 152 152 31 24 28
With N 148 A
Control 119 B
R2
70PSCU30U 199 220 235 218 A 17 35 35 29 B
30PSCU70U 199 213 181 198 B 49 71 66 62 A
Average 199 217 208 33 b 53 a 51 a
With N 208 A
Control 177 B
R4
70PSCU30U 242 251 262 252 24 Ba 35 Ba 35 Ba 31
30PSCU70U 228 264 239 244 59 Ac 91 Ab 115 Aa 88
Average 235 258 251 42 63 75
With N 248 A
Control 216 B
R6
70PSCU30U 315 325 356 332 40 35 48 41 B
30PSCU70U 298 358 302 319 88 94 89 90 A
Average 307 342 329 64 65 66
With N 326 A
Control 262 B
Probability values of ANOVA
Stage Blend MGMT Blend  MGMT With N  Control Blend MGMT Blend  MGMT
Total N uptake N derived from U
V4 0.16 0.26 0.73 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.42
V12 0.75 0.34 0.91 0.02 <0.01 0.04 <0.01
R2 0.04 0.32 0.07 0.02 <0.01 <0.01 0.90
R4 0.42 0.19 0.33 0.03 <0.01 <0.01 0.02
R6 0.48 0.27 0.14 0.01 <0.01 0.54 0.17
Means followed by different capital letters within a column and by different lowercase letters within a row are significant dif-
ferent (p  0.05). ‘With N’ is the average of N treatments. V4: vegetative leaf stage 4; V12: vegetative leaf stage 12; R2: blis-
ter stage; R4: dough stage; R6: physiological maturity. ANOVA: analysis of variance.

At R2, the broadcast N application provided higher NdfU than split and incorporated N applica-
tion. At R4, the split N application provided higher NdfU than incorporated and broadcast N
application with 30% PSCU þ 70% U. In each N fertilization management practice at V12 and
R4, the NdfU was higher applying 30% PSCU þ 70% U than 70% PSCU þ 30% U (Table 1).

N derived from polymer-sulfur coated urea in maize plants with method 1 and method 2
The NdfPSCU calculated with method 1 was higher applying 70% PSCU þ 30% U than 30%
PSCU þ 70% U from V12 to R6, reaching at R6 35 kg N ha1 with 70% PSCU þ 30% U, and
4 kg N ha1 with 30% PSCU þ 70% U (Table 2).
The NdfPSCU determined with method 2 (with 15N) was affected by blend from V4 to R6
and by N fertilization management practices from V4 to R2 (Table 2). In this method, the 70%
 JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION 7

Table 2. Effect of blends of polymer-sulfur coated urea (PSCU) and NBPT-treated urea (U) (70% PSCU þ 30% U and 30%
PSCU þ 70% U) and application manners (broadcast, incorporated (incorp) and split) on the N derived from PSCU in maize
plant (method 1 and method 2) during the growth cycle.
N derived from PSCU (kg ha1): method 1 N derived from PSCU-15N (kg ha1): method 2
N management (MGMT) MGMT
Blend Broadcast Incorp Split Average Broadcast Incorp Split Average
V4
70PSCU30U 2.9 1.9 2.7 2.5 3.9 2.9 2.2 3.0 A
30PSCU70U 1.5 0.9 2.0 1.5 2.2 1.0 0.8 1.3 B
Average 2.2 1.4 2.4 3.1 a 2.0 b 1.5 b
V12
70PSCU30U 4.8 20 14 13 A 41 32 26 33 A
30PSCU70U 0.3 5.0 7.6 4.3 B 25 20 16 21 B
Average 2.6 13 11 33 a 26 ab 21 b
R2
70PSCU30U 11 11 23 15 A 49 66 60 58 A
30PSCU70U 7 0 0 2.3 B 19 44 29 31 B
Average 9 5.5 11.5 34 b 55 a 45 ab
R4
70PSCU30U 10 20 15 15 A 60 66 68 65 A
30PSCU70U 0 0 0 0B 36 44 39 40 B
Average 5 10 7.5 48 55 54
R6
70PSCU30U 25 35 44 35 A 88 79 88 85 A
30PSCU70U 1 11 0 4B 36 40 36 37 B
Average 13 23 22 62 60 62
Probability values of ANOVA
Stage Blend MGMT Blend  MGMT Blend MGMT Blend  MGMT
Method 1 Method 2
V4 0.08 0.38 0.89 <0.01 <0.01 0.73
V12 0.02 0.07 0.43 <0.01 0.02 0.65
R2 0.02 0.59 0.28 <0.01 0.01 0.71
R4 0.03 0.79 0.79 <0.01 0.66 0.66
R6 <0.01 0.66 0.61 <0.01 0.79 0.23
Means followed by different capital letters within a column and by different lowercase letters within a row are significantly dif-
ferent (p  0.05). ‘With N’ is the average of N treatments. V4: vegetative leaf stage 4; V12: vegetative leaf stage 12; R2: blis-
ter stage; R4: dough stage; R6: physiological maturity. ANOVA: analysis of variance.

PSCU þ 30% U provided higher NdfPSCU than 30% PSCU þ 70% U during the maize growth
cycle, reaching at R6 85 kg N ha1 with 70% PSCU þ 30% U and 37 kg N ha1 with 30% PSCU
þ 70% U. The broadcast N application provided higher NdfPSCU than split N application at V4
and V12, and was lower than incorporated application at R2. The N balance in maize plant at R6
(Figure 3) provided higher value of NdfSoil and lower value of NdfPSCU with method 1 than
method 2. The NdfSoil did not correlate with the total N uptake in the control treatment at R6
(p > 0.05) (Figure 4).

Discussion
The NdfU and NdfPSCU determined with 15N (method 2) varied during the maize growth cycle
in the treatments with blends of PSCU þ U. It can be explained by the prompt release of N from
the U source, the controlled N release from the PSCU source, the precipitation during the maize
growth cycle, the soil texture, and the development of maize roots during the maize cycle that
can be below 30 cm depth in a proper soil fertility (Feldman 1994). At the beginning of maize
growth, when is determined the maize yield potential (at V4, Fancelli and Dourado Neto 2004),
and after a period of precipitation, the N from the soluble source is prompt available, favoring
the N uptake from the U source in the managements with more N rate applied at sowing. The
precipitation also favored the controlled N release from the PSCU source that tends to occur
8 P. L. GARCIA AND P. C. O. TRIVELIN

Figure 3. Nitrogen (N) balance in maize plant at R6 growth stage considering the N derived from NBPT-treated urea (NdfU), N
derived from polymer-sulfur coated urea (NdfPSCU), and N derived from soil (NdfSoil). In method 1 (a), the NdfPSCU was calcu-
lated by subtracting the total N uptake in the N treatment by the sum of the NdfU (determined with 15N) and the total N uptake
in the control treatment. In method 2 (b), the NdfPSCU and NdfU were determined with 15N. Average of three N fertilization
management practices (incorporated, split, and broadcast) with blends of polymer-sulfur coated urea (PSCU) and NBPT-treated
urea (U) (70% PSCU þ 30% U and 30% PSCU þ 70% U).

Figure 4. Correlation between the N uptake in the control treatment (without N application) and the N derived from the soil in
maize plant (R6 growth stage) fertilized with blends of polymer-sulfur coated urea (PSCU) and NBPT-treated urea (U) ((70% PSCU
þ 30% U and 30% PSCU þ 70% U). The N derived from the soil in maize plant was calculated by subtracting the total N uptake
in the N treatments by the N derived from PSCU and U determined with 15N (method 2). The N uptake in the control treatment
was considered the N derived from the soil in the N treatments in a method without 15N in PSCU (method 1). Average of three
N fertilization management practices (incorporated, split, and broadcast) with blends of PSCU þ U.

more superficially in the soil (Garcia et al. 2020), favoring the N uptake from the PSCU in the
broadcast application. In the moment that occurred the maximum N accumulation rate in maize
(at V12, Garcia et al. 2020), the plant tended to uptake the N from the soluble source in the
treatment with more U in the broadcast application. In addition, the PSCU still favored the N
uptake in the broadcast-applied blends. In the starting of nutrient remobilization from leaf, stalk
and cob to maize grains (at R2, Bender et al. 2013), the maize roots was probably in higher soil
depth compared to the maize vegetative stages, favoring the use of the N-fertilizer applied incor-
porated, both from U and PSCU. In the incorporated N application in a band, the N-fertilizer
tended to keep more concentrated in the application region than the other N fertilization man-
agement practices. The tendency observed at R2 continues until the moment that occurred a
 JOURNAL OF PLANT NUTRITION 9

rapid nutrient accumulation in the grains (at R4, Bender et al. 2013); with greater use of N from
the U source with the blend with more U applied incorporated and split. In the same soil of this
experiment, was observed that the soil mineral N content was higher in-depth with the blend
with more U (Garcia et al. 2020).
Evaluating the NdfPSCU with method 1 (without 15N) was not possible to observe differences
varying the N fertilization management practices with blends of PSCU þ U, as we observed with
method 2 (with 15N). It can be justified by the N uptake in the control treatment, that despite it
was statistically different from the average of the N uptake in the N treatments the difference was
small. In addition, summing the NdfU with the total N uptake in the control, the result, in some
cases, is higher than the total N uptake of the N treatments, providing a negative NdfPSCU, that
we considered zero, especially when it was performed with the blend with more U (30% PSCU þ
70% U). It indicts that the method 1, different from our hypothesis, underestimated the
NdfPSCU, overestimated the value from the NdfSoil, and the total N uptake in the control did
not correlate with the NdfSoil (r2 ¼ 0.01; p ¼ 0.8) at R6 growth stage. Moschini (2019) and
Villalba (2018) used the method 1 to quantify the NdfPSCU in the same soil of our experiment
using only the blend with more PSCU (70% PSCU þ 30% U) applied at maize sowing. In our
experiment, despite the 70% PSCU þ 30% U provided higher NdfPSCU than the 30% PSCU þ
70% U, it also underestimates the NdfPSCU (Figure 3), giving imprecise values. Agronomic effi-
ciency indexes that uses in the calculus the N uptake in the control (without N-fertilizer applica-
tion), such as the apparent crop recovery of applied N and the physiological efficiency of applied
N (Dobermann 2007), can provide low or negative values in experiments in clayey soil (Garcia
et al. 2018). It is associated with the mineralization of soil organic matter (Yili, Teresita, and
Michel 2016) that can provide high N uptake in the control treatment, and can explain the low
NdfPSCU with method 1 in our study. Therefore, the method 2 is necessary to quantify the N
derived from blends of controlled-release and NBPT-treated urea in maize in a Rhodic Eutrustox
soil, and can be useful for other crops fertilized with these blends in a similar soil of
our experiment.

Conclusions
Despite method 1 (without 15N in polymer-sulfur coated urea (PSCU)) is cheaper than method 2
(with 15N in the PSCU) to quantify the nitrogen derived from PSCU in maize plant (NdfPSCU),
it underestimated the NdfPSCU in four maize growth stages (V12, R2, R4, and R6) in Rodhic
Eutrustox soil compared to method 2. Moreover, method 1 did not provide the effects of the
NdfPSCU on the N fertilization management practices with blends of PSCU and NBPT-treated
urea (U) as observed with method 2. The total N uptake in the control treatment (without N-fer-
tilizer application), which was considered the N provided by the soil in the N treatments with
method 1, did not correlate with the N derived from the soil in the maize plant (NdfSoil) with
method 2. Method 1 overestimated the NdfSoil compared to the method 2. Therefore, the
method 2 is a better choice to quantify the NdfPSCU in maize in a Rhodic Eutrustox soil.

Acknowledgments
To the S~ao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (grant # 2017/25813-5 and grant # 2017/24516-7), FEALQ (grant
# 65307), Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA/USP), and Compass Minerals Plant Nutrition (now
ICL) for the financial support.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
10 P. L. GARCIA AND P. C. O. TRIVELIN

ORCID
Pedro Lopes Garcia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4602-9138
Paulo Cesar Ocheuze Trivelin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6191-9748

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