Optimizing irrigation and N fertigation regimes achieved high yield and water productivity and low N leaching in a maize field in the North China Plain
Dongfeng Ning , Haiqing Chen , Anzhen Qin , Yang Gao , Jiyang Zhang , Aiwang Duan , Xingpeng Wang , Zhandong Liu
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Over-input of nitrogen (N) fertilizer coupled with flood irrigation resulted in low N and water productivity and serious NO3--N leaching in maize fields in the North China Plain (NCP). Drip-fertigation can enhance water-N use efficiency by precisely regulating water and N fertilizer application. In this study, a three-year drip-fertigation experiment on maize was carried out during the 2018–2020 growing seasons with three irrigation levels, i.e. 50 (W1, 100 %), 40 (W2, 80 %), and 30 mm (W3, 60 %), and five N levels, i.e. 0 (N0), 90 (N1), 180 (N2), 270 (N3), and 360 (N4) kg ha−1 were designed to investigate the responses of soil water consumption, NO3--N distribution, grain yield (GY), N uptake (UN), and water-N productivity to different irrigation and N application regimes. The results demonstrated that 80 % deficit irrigation (W2) obtained comparable GY to sufficient irrigation (W1), but significantly increased water productivity (WP) by 7.2 % compared with W1. Soil NO3--N contents in the 0–100 cm soil layers increased as the N application rate increased, but decreased with the increase of irrigation level. When the N application rate exceeded 180 kg N ha−1, soil NO3--N contents in the 60–100 cm soil layers were greatly increased. With the increasing N application rate, GY increased first and then tended to be stabilized when the N application rate reached 180 kg ha−1, UN showed an increased trend, while N agronomic efficiency (AEN) showed a decreased trend, the N recovery efficiency (REN) increased firstly and then decreased. When water consumption ranged from 374 to 388 mm and N application rate from 186 to 257 kg ha−1, respectively, GY and WP obtained 95 maximum values and AEN got 70 % maximum value, simultaneously. In conclusion, the regime of N application rate at about 180 kg ha−1 coupled with 40 mm irrigation level (per event) is recommended for drip-fertigated maize fields in the NCP.
期刊介绍:
Agricultural Water Management publishes papers of international significance relating to the science, economics, and policy of agricultural water management. In all cases, manuscripts must address implications and provide insight regarding agricultural water management.