The application of pig slurry in crop land and/or pasture areas, besides being an additional source of nutrients to plants is also an alternative for manure disposal. However, nitrogen and phosphorus losses by surface run off in no tillage can decrease the efficiency of organic fertilizers and also be a potential pollutant, threatening the quality of water bodies. This work aimed at evaluating the importance of surface run off as a nitrogen and phosphorus loss phenomenon applied via pig slurry. The work was carried out at the Federal University of Santa Maria, RS, from May, 2002, in a Typic Hapludalf soil. Black oat (Avena strigosa), corn (Zea mays) and oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus), in a succession were fertilized with increasing doses of pig slurry (0, 20, 40 and 80m³ ha-1). The pig slurry was distributed on soil surface before the sowing of each species of the succession for two consecutive years. The concentrations of reative phosphorus and mineral nitrogen concentrations in the surface run off water were directly related to the doses of applied pig slurry. Phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations in the surface run off solution as well as the predominance of ammonium or nitrate are directly related to the interval between the waste application and the first superficial flow, with in turn depended on the rainfall event. Nitrogen and phosphorus losses by superficial flow, expressed in kg ha-1, are small, but their concentrations at some periods are high enough to cause concerns of eutrophication of water bodies.
manure; crop residue; organic fertilizer; animal waste
