ABSTRACT
Nitrogen fertilizer applications are frequently used to enhance vegetable crop production, and much research has been done to reduce N losses during the vegetable crop growing season [1,2]. However, after harvest, a large quantity of N can remain in vegetable crop residues [2-4], which readily mineralizes [3] and may be susceptible to post-harvest losses. There is need to minimize N losses during the post-harvest season when the risk of losses is much greater due to the annual water budget in Ontario [5] and elsewhere. Losses include nitrate (NO3
--N) leaching and denitrification, which can have negative environmental consequences such as groundwater and atmosphere contamination. Thus, the development of
more sustainable agricultural practices, which are focused on soil N management after vegetable harvest, is necessary.
