Long-Term Sulfur Fertilization: Effects on Crops and Residual Effects in a No-Till System of Argentinean Pampas

Abstract

A long-term experiment has been conducted between 2001 and 2008 at Balcarce, Argentina, to determine the effect of sulfur (S) fertilization on S concentration in grains, crop yield, and residual S in soil. Two treatments were evaluated: annual S application to crops (15 kg ha−1; S1) and a control with no S fertilization (S0). Sulfur fertilization only increased wheat yield (22% of the crops in the experiment). However, S application increased S concentration in grains in wheat, soybean, and maize (56% of the crops). Although, for all years, the S mass balance was positive for S1 and negative for S0, no differences in soil S extracted as sulfate (S-SO4 −2) content previous to the crop sown were determined. The absence of differences in S accumulation in aboveground vegetative biomass and grain of the maize used as a check also suggest that long-term S fertilization did not affect the soil S availability for crops.