Decomposition of green manure is necessary for the nutrient supply in farm soil. Hairy vetch as a green manure is superior to other winter legumes in terms of wintering ability and N accumulation. This experiment was carried out to investigate the decomposition and N release of hairy vetch and its effect on rice production as the following crop in paddy field. Decomposition of hairy vetch placed by soil depth of 0, 10 and 20cm at transplanting time was investigated by mesh bag method, which was enclosed chopped residue in mesh bags. The fate of 15 N derived from 15 N-labeled hairy vetch was investigated at harvest in three levels of N fertilization. Grain yield of the transplanted paddy rice cultured with hairy vetch as starter N were compared with that of applying urea as starter N in the field. Hairy vetch residue decomposed very rapidly both in transplanted and dry-seeded paddy field. In transplanted paddy field, hairy vetch residue lost 72-81 % and 86-90% of its weight after one and five month, respectively, as affected by incorporation depth. The C/N ratio of the decomposing vetch residue increased sharply during the early stages and after then, decreased slowly. The amounts of N and P released from the vetch were about 90% and 97% of initial content after one month, respectively. Recoveries of hairy vetch-15 N by rice plant were 30.6, 34.6 and 35.7% in 0, 6 and 12 kg urea-N 10 a-l application, respectively, indicating that N fertilization increased the recovery of hairy vetch. 15 N. Hairy vetch residue incorporated as starter maintained significant N H4 + -N concentration in soil water of plow layer until effective tillering stage. Grain yield in the plot applied with hairy vetch was not significantly different from that in the plot with urea. We concluded that hairy vetch incorporation could substitute starter N fertilization and showed possibility to reduce N amount of top-dressing.g.g.

The rice straw managements are essential for maintaining soil fertility as well as reducing chemical fertilizer application in paddy field. A field experiment was conducted on moderately well draining alluvial paddy soil to investigate the decomposition pattern of rice straw. The mesh bags containing the rice straw harvested in the previous year were placed at soil surface and buried into around 10cm depth and recovered periodically for determining the straw decomposition. Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the fates of N released from 15 N-labeled rice straw under different levels of N fertilizer application. The overall decomposition patterns of rice straw were similar for the two incorporation depths in transplanted paddy field. The straw incorporated at transplanting date showed weight loss of about 50%, 70% and 90% after 2 months, 5 months, and 2 years, respectively. The decompositions of straw cell wall components showed somewhat different pattern. The decompositions of cellulose and silica were similar to that of dry weight while the decomposition of lignin was slower than that of cellulose and silica. N was released from rice straw 42% and 65 % of the initial N after one month and after five months, respectively. P release was faster than N release. Recoveries of rice straw-15 N by rice plants were 10.2, 13.4 and 14.9% in 0, 120 and 240 mg N pot-1 , respectively. Soil recoveries of rice straw 15 N were 17.3, 20.6 and 18.9% in 0, 120 and 240mg N pot-1 , respectively.