Changing Trends of Soil Properties and Canola Yield under Maize Rotation by Sulfur Treatments

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of sulfur fertilizer accompanied by thiobacillus inoculation on canola yield and yield components and some soil chemical properties by maize cropping during three consecutive years. This study was performed based on randomized complete block design consisting of seven sulfur treatments (0, 750, 1500 and 3000 kg ha-1) replicated three times. The treatments were added to soil two weeks before cultivation. Two and four-months soil samplings were done to determine EC, pH and SO4-2 content, as well as EC, pH, SO4-2, Fe, Zn, Mn, P, N, K contents and agronomical traits (1000-seed weight, plant height, number of seed in capsule, number of capsule) after harvesting in plant and plant yield. The results showed that increasing of sulfur fertilizer caused enhancement of seed yield, number of seed in capsule and number of capsule in plant during three consecutive years. In addition, the trend of changes in sulfate, potassium and nitrogen was improved and resulted in changes reduction of these elements in soil. The increasing trend of soil salt and acidity content were observed due to the effect of different sulfur treatments during consecutive years in two and four months sampling while these traits showed no significant variation after canola harvest. According to the obtained results, it could be suggested that the cropping system and sulfur fertilizer application would cause positive effect on chemical properties of soil and main agronomic product yield.