Urea fertilizer and poultry manure effects on potato growth, agronomic nitrogen use efficiency and yield in two regions of Lorestan province

Increased global food production has been associated with increased nitrogen fertilizer application, followed by risks such as nitrate accumulation, water resources pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. It seems that poultry manure is a suitable case for replacing chemical fertilizers in potato cultivation due to high mineralization rate and micro nutrients. For this reason, two field experiments were carried out based on CRD with 11 treatments in three replications at two sites, Azna and Khoramabad in Lorestan province at 2016 on potato (Banba cultivar). Treatments included nitrogen resource from urea fertilizer and poultry manure along with control. According to results of the experiment, mean tuber yield in Khoramabad (43.7 t.ha-1) was higher than Azna (38.9 t.ha-1). This difference can be attributed to the different growth period in the two locations (Khorramabad and Azna, 114 and 147 days, respectively). Although in both locations, the highest tuber yield was obtained with the application of 700 kg.ha-1 urea, application of 10 t.ha-1 poultry manure resulted in yield approximate to the use of chemical fertilizers, especially in Azna region.However, the results of this experiment showed that agronomic nitrogen use efficiency in urea fertilizer was higher than poultry manure, due to the slight differences in yields between the two types of nitrogen sources, it can be concluded that replacement of chemical fertilizers with organic fertilizers to achieve food security and an efficient and sustainable food chain, is reasonable.