Performance of Sulfur‐Coated Urea Under Intermittently Flooded Rice Culture in Peru

Short‐statured, high yielding rice ( Oryza sativa L.) varieties grown extensively in northern Peru require extremely high rates of conventional N sources to achieve maximum yields. The recovery of applied N is extremely low due to the use of intermittent flooding. This water management system results in heavy N losses even with properly timed split applications. In search of simpler and more efficient methods of N management, eight field experiments were conducted in the region to evaluate sulfur‐coated urea (SCU), an experimental, slow‐release N sources supplied by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Rice yields were increased an average of 59% more by pretransplant‐incorporated SCU than by urea or ammonium sulfate applied in the same manner. SCU produced an average of 20% higher grain yield response than topdressed applications of urea or ammonium sulfate. SCU applications increased panicle production, N uptake at harvest, and the apparent recovery of added N. Beneficial effects of SCU were more pronounced in sites where check yields were low, especially less than about 4.8 ton/ha. In sites with high N supplying capacity, SCU produced excessive vegetative growth which resulted in yield reductions at high N rates. Regardless of an assumed 48%‐higher unit N cost in SCU, the overall benefits of pretransplant‐incorporated applications of SCU were favorable since there was a decrease of 40% in the optimum rate of N and the need for precise timing of application was eliminated.