Following the application of solid manure to arable land, rapid incorporation has been recognised as a successful technique to reduce ammonia emissions. There is, however, the potential for nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions to increase. FYM was generated from groups of pigs and cattle using conventional amounts of straw or additional straw in the buildings. Emissions of N 2 O were monitored at 2
... [Show full abstract] sites; a loamy sand soil in central England (ADAS Gleadthorpe) and a coarse sandy loam soil in south west England (IGER North Wyke). Emissions were measured following a target application of 250 kg N ha -1 of either pig (ADAS) or cattle (IGER) FYM. The FYM was spread fresh (pig only) or had been stored for 12 months. The manure was then either left on the surface, incorporated within 4 hours using a disc (IGER only) or plough. No consistent effect of incorporation on N2O emissions was evident. Ploughed, fresh pig FYM resulted in significantly (P < 0.001) larger emissions when expressed as a % of N applied lost as N2O. The ploughed stored treatments also emitted more N2O than from the surface treatments, although this was not significant. Following the application of cattle FYM there was no significant (P > 0.05) effect of storage conditions or incorporation technique. The results do, however indicate that cattle FYM left on the soil surface resulted in greater N2O emissions than from the incorporation techniques. The % of total N applied lost as N2O was small (generally < 0.20 %) probably as a result of the low NH4-N content of the stored manure, suggesting that storage may be used as a technique to reduce N2O emissions.
