Arshdeep Singh, Daran Rudnick, Daniel D. Snow, Christopher Proctor, Laila Puntel, Javed Iqbal
{"title":"Impact of split nitrogen applications on nitrate leaching and maize yield in irrigated loamy sand soils of Northeast Nebraska","authors":"Arshdeep Singh, Daran Rudnick, Daniel D. Snow, Christopher Proctor, Laila Puntel, Javed Iqbal","doi":"10.1002/agg2.20554","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Little information is available on optimizing the number of nitrogen (N) splits based on nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub>-N) leaching and maize yield in sandy soils. To address this gap, we evaluated the impact of multiple N splits (2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-N splits) on NO<sub>3</sub>-N leaching and maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) grain yield in irrigated loamy sand soil at a producer site in the Bazile Groundwater Management Area of Northeast Nebraska. Porous suction cup lysimeters were installed at a depth of 120 cm to collect pore water samples from 23 leaching events in 2021, a dry year. Increasing the number of N-splits did not affect the pore-water NO<sub>3</sub>-N concentration; however, it was 169%, 152%, 150%, and 129% higher in 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-N split treatments compared to control, that is, without N application. Though the 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-N splits had 110%, 71%, 120%, and 91% higher area-based NO<sub>3</sub>-N leaching than the control, less deep percolation and more evapotranspiration in control led to no significant differences in area-based NO<sub>3</sub>-N leaching among all treatments. All N-splits resulted in higher maize yield, nitrogen use efficiency, plant N uptake, harvest index, and aboveground biomass than control; however, the number of N-splits did not affect these parameters. The inclusion of environmental cost reduced the return to nitrogen by 92–143 $ ha<sup>−1</sup> across all N-split treatments but did not significantly affect the differences among the splits. Overall, the results indicate that increasing the number of N-splits does not provide agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits in irrigated maize fields during a dry year.</p>","PeriodicalId":7567,"journal":{"name":"Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/agg2.20554","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/agg2.20554","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"AGRONOMY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Little information is available on optimizing the number of nitrogen (N) splits based on nitrate (NO3-N) leaching and maize yield in sandy soils. To address this gap, we evaluated the impact of multiple N splits (2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-N splits) on NO3-N leaching and maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield in irrigated loamy sand soil at a producer site in the Bazile Groundwater Management Area of Northeast Nebraska. Porous suction cup lysimeters were installed at a depth of 120 cm to collect pore water samples from 23 leaching events in 2021, a dry year. Increasing the number of N-splits did not affect the pore-water NO3-N concentration; however, it was 169%, 152%, 150%, and 129% higher in 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-N split treatments compared to control, that is, without N application. Though the 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-N splits had 110%, 71%, 120%, and 91% higher area-based NO3-N leaching than the control, less deep percolation and more evapotranspiration in control led to no significant differences in area-based NO3-N leaching among all treatments. All N-splits resulted in higher maize yield, nitrogen use efficiency, plant N uptake, harvest index, and aboveground biomass than control; however, the number of N-splits did not affect these parameters. The inclusion of environmental cost reduced the return to nitrogen by 92–143 $ ha−1 across all N-split treatments but did not significantly affect the differences among the splits. Overall, the results indicate that increasing the number of N-splits does not provide agronomic, economic, and environmental benefits in irrigated maize fields during a dry year.