Nitrogen fertilizer fate and plant nitrogen uptake characteristics in waxy sorghum-soybean intercropping system

IF 5.6 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRONOMY

Field Crops Research Pub Date : 2025-03-20 DOI:10.1016/j.fcr.2025.109862

Can Wang, Fangli Peng, Siyu Chen, Qiang Zhao, Jie Gao, Guobing Zhang, Lingbo Zhou, Mingbo Shao

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Context

Waxy sorghum intercropped with soybean is a typical example of cereal-legume intercropping systems, which is widely used in southwest China. However, nitrogen fertilizer fate and plant nitrogen uptake characteristics in waxy sorghum-soybean intercropping system remain unclear.

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the biological nitrogen fixation efficiency of soybean, plant nitrogen uptake characteristics of waxy sorghum and soybean, and nitrogen fertilizer fate in waxy sorghum-soybean intercropping system.

Methods

A two-year field experiment with ¹⁵N labeling micro-plot design was conducted in 2023 and 2024 using a randomized complete block design with three planting patterns and two nitrogen application rates. Planting patterns included sole cropping waxy sorghum (SW), sole cropping soybean (SS), and waxy sorghum intercropped with soybean (WS), and nitrogen application rates included medium nitrogen (N1) and high nitrogen (N2). We investigated the grain yield, land equivalent ratio, and ¹⁵N abundance of each sample, and then assessed the biological nitrogen fixation efficiency of soybean, plant nitrogen uptake characteristics of waxy sorghum and soybean, and nitrogen fertilizer fate.

Results

Compared with the corresponding sole cropping, intercropping increased the grain yield, plant biomass, plant nitrogen uptake amount, and plant ¹⁵N abundance of waxy sorghum, while decreased these parameters of soybean. The grain yield, plant biomass, plant nitrogen uptake amount, and plant ¹⁵N abundance of waxy sorghum and soybean under the N1 treatment were higher than those under the N2 treatment. The nitrogen fixation efficiency of soybean among planting patterns and nitrogen application rates was in the order of WS > SS and N1 > N2, respectively. The WS-N1 treatment had the highest land equivalent ratio, which was 1.41 in 2023 and 1.44 in 2024. The nitrogen fertilizer fate and plant nitrogen uptake characteristics under the WS-N1 treatment were as follows: (1) the plant nitrogen of waxy sorghum was composed of 56.92 % of derived from soil, 22.20 % of derived from nitrogen fertilizer, and 20.88 % of derived from nitrogen transfer; (2) the plant nitrogen of soybean was composed of 52.74 % of derived from nitrogen fixation, 38.04 % of derived from soil, and 9.22 % of derived from nitrogen fertilizer; and (3) the direction of nitrogen fertilizer included 45.88 % of absorbed by soybean plants, 39.48 % of absorbed by waxy sorghum plants, 11.63 % of nitrogen loss, and 3.01 % of soil residue.

Conclusions

Waxy sorghum intercropped with soybean combined with medium nitrogen application (220 kg ha⁻¹ for waxy sorghum and 18 kg ha⁻¹ for soybean) obtained a higher agricultural productivity by optimizing plant nitrogen uptake of waxy sorghum and soybean, promoting nitrogen fixation efficiency of soybean, and reducing nitrogen loss rate.

Implications

This study provides a help for formulating scientific nitrogen fertilizer management strategies in waxy sorghum-soybean intercropping system.

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来源期刊

Field Crops Research 农林科学-农艺学

CiteScore

9.60

自引率

12.10%

发文量

307

审稿时长

46 days

期刊介绍： Field Crops Research is an international journal publishing scientific articles on: √ experimental and modelling research at field, farm and landscape levels on temperate and tropical crops and cropping systems, with a focus on crop ecology and physiology, agronomy, and plant genetics and breeding.