Application of nitrification inhibitor on soil to reduce NH3 and N2O emission after slurry spreading

Manure spreading is one of the main source of ammonia (NH ₃ ) emissions in the livestock sector, which is responsible of the 75 % of anthropogenic NH ₃ losses. For liquid manure, the most effective distribution technique to abate NH ₃ emissions is direct injection, which allows for a NH ₃ emission abatement up to 90 %. Nonetheless, direct injection has been shown to potentially increase, under certain environmental conditions, nitrous oxide (N ₂ O) emissions from soil after slurry spreading. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of the commercial nitrification inhibitor N-Lock™ (CORTEVA™ agriscience) on NH ₃ and N ₂ O emissions after spreading of two different slurry types. The product was tested in a field trial on two different soils (loam and sandy-loam) and in combination with two different types of manure (cattle slurry and digestate). The N-Lock™ product appears to have a good potential for N ₂ O emission reduction from fields after slurry spreading with direct injection techniques. Nonetheless, proper emission abatements (up to 79 %) were obtained only in one of the two soils included in the study and N-Lock™ efficiency differed depending also on slurry type.