The aim of this research was to determine the effect of mineral fertilisation on the activity of arylsulphatase (EC 3.1.6.1.) and the content of total sulphur and its fraction in soil under winter wheat. The soil was collected from a field experiment set up at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Grabów nad Wisłą by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation (IUNG) in Puławy. The sampling was carried out twice during the vegetative period of maize in 2008. The experiment involved exclusive mineral fertilisation composed of increasing rates of ammonium nitrate (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 kg N ha–1), and fertilisation with P – 80 kg P2O5 ha–1, K – 140 kg K2O ha–1, Ca – 200 kg CaO ha–1,  Mg – 70 kg MgO ha–1 and S in fertilisation forms with other elements. The activity of arylsulphatase was determined following the Tabatabai and Bremner method, and sulphate sulphur was assayed compliant with the Bardsley–Lancaster method. The fertilisation with ammonium nitrate determined the content of total sulphur and its fraction as well as the activity of arylsulphatase in Luvisol. The optimum nitrogen rate leading to the highest arylsulphatase activity in soil was the rate of 100 kg N  ha–1. The analysed Luvisol demonstrated low sulphur abundance and should be enriched with this nutrient to ensure that the plants would produce yields adequate in terms of both quality and quantity.

18.3.2013