During the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 cropping seasons, a study was conducted at the Tanganyika Planting Company (TPC) estate in Tanzania, to investigate the uptake and balance of mineral N applied as urea (60kgha −1 ) and ammonium sulphate (AS) (40kgha −1 ) on a saline (pH 8.8) and a non-saline (pH 7.8) soil. Both fertilizers were labelled with 10at.% 15 N excess. The results showed high recoveries (>90%) in the sugarcane plant growing on a non-saline soil for N applied as both urea and ammonium sulphate. On a saline soil, recoveries were lower but depended on the form of N, being lower (∼34%) with urea than with ammonium sulphate (∼77%). These lower recoveries of N in the plant were also associated with lower recoveries in the soil–plant system and imply that there were significant losses of N to the environment in this soil. Possible causes for the losses were discussed.