The effect of elemental sulfur fertilization on plant yields and soil properties

In field trials, pot and incubation experiments, an evaluation was made of the use of elemental sulfur for crop plants. A 4-year field trial was done with increasing doses of elemental sulfur: 15, 30 or 45 kg ha− 1 using the random block method. Cultivated plants were oilseed rape and winter wheat. The pot experiments determined the reaction of plants (white mustard, wheat, rape and corn) to fertilization with particulate elemental sulfur. The incubation experiments studied the effect of elemental sulfur on the changes in the level of sulphates(VI) and pH in the soil. The experiments showed a positive reaction in the cultivated plants to fertilization with elemental sulfur, as seen by the significant increase in yields and in the uptake of this element. Analysis of the vegetation experiments shows that the ratio of N:S in plants is a good predictor of the nutritional status of sulfur in plants. Annual fertilization with increasing doses of elemental sulfur led to a residual effect that was evident from the second year of the study. Sulfur fertilization had a positive impact on the quality of rape seeds by increasing the fat content and a negative impact by increasing the content of glucosinolates. The sulfur balance determined by the soil surface method showed that the optimal doses for winter rape were 30 kg ha− 1 of elemental sulfur and for winter wheat 15 kg S ha− 1. Elemental sulfur granulated to a grain size of < 0.1 mm was just as effective on cultivated plants as the application of soil fertilizer in the form of sulphates(VI).