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Evaluation of optimal nitrogen rate for corn production under mulched drip T
Keywords: Field experiments were conducted in Chifeng of Inner Mongolia, China, in 2015 and 2016 to explore the po-tential of
Mulched drip fertigation mulched drip fertigation (MDF) to improve yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) for corn. Six nitrogen (N) application
Corn −1
levels under MDF were set: 0, 140, 190, 240, 290 and 340 kg ha (i.e., MDFN0, MDFN140, MDFN190, MDFN240,
Nitrogen rate MDFN290 and MDFN340), and a treatment under conventional furrow fer-tilization (CFN340) was added as control. The
Nitrogen use efficiency
dynamic changes in soil nitrate N (NO 3–N) residual and plant N uptake (NU) during corn growing season, the responses of
Soil nitrate residual
NUE to N fertilizer supply and corresponding eco-nomic benefits were analyzed in this study. These tasks aimed to establish
Economic benefit −1
the optimal N rate under MDF, in particular to compare the widely used N rate of 340 kg ha by the local producers of high
yielding corn. Based on the results, the following conclusions could be drawn: (1) N rate signi ficantly influenced the soil
−1
NO3–N residual and plant NU. When N rate was less than 190 kg ha , the soil NO3–N residual decreased each year. The soil
−1
NO3–N residual maintained balance between years when N rate measured 240 kg ha . By contrast, when N rate was higher
−1
than 290 kg ha , the soil NO3–N residual increased each year, furthermore, the NO 3–N residual of 80–180 cm soil in harvest
season under MDFN290 and MDFN340 increased by 26.9% and 48.4%, respec-tively, in comparison with that in MDFN240.
−1 −1
When N rate ranged within 0–240 kg ha , each 50 kg ha in-crease in N rate caused a 16.7% average improvement in total
NU of corn. However, the increase rate of NU dropped until negative growth appeared at increased amount of N fertilizer. (2)
All corn yields, net outputs, and N recovery efficiencies (NREs) tended to increase initially and then decrease with N rate
increasing, and the optimal value of each index was obtained in MDFN240. The N fertilizer amount of MDFN240 decreased
by 29.4% in comparison with that in MDFN340, but the yield, net output and NRE increased by 8.3%, 13.4% and
35.1%, respectively. Moreover, the MDFN240 treatment decreased the NO3–N residual of 80–180 cm soil by
49.2%. However, this increased the yield, net output and N partial productivity efficiency by 11.4%, 22.1% and
58.3%, respectively, in comparison with those of CFN340. (3) Based on the consideration of environment and optimal
−1 −1
economic yield (15.6 Mg ha ) computed by nitrogenous fertilizer effect function model, the N rate of 240–253 kg ha under
MDF for corn was more reasonable with NRE potentially reaching 61.6%–62.2%. MDF showed obvious advantages in
reducing N fertilizer and improving NUE.
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lgycau@163.com (G. Li).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2017.10.002
Received 16 June 2017; Received in revised form 30 September 2017; Accepted 2 October 2017
0378-4290/ © 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.
D. Wang et al. Field Crops Research 216 (2018) 225–233
Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of cropping pattern and lateral layout of drip
tapes under mulch for corn.
pollution, and decreased utilization rate of resources (Drecht et al., 2003; fertilizer supply. Furthermore, this study aims to clarify the optimal N rate
Pascual et al., 2013). Crop growth features a sensitive response mechanism to under MDF for corn based on economic benefits and provide the-oretical
N fertilization. Crop colony structure, photosynthetic rate, and root activity basis for the establishment of N fertilizer management system with
are enhanced at increased N rate. However, ex-cessive increase in N rate can synchronous nutrient supply in root layer and corn growth de-mand.
lead to especially lush foliage, which is unfavorable to plant function
(Nakamura et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2012). Optimal N rate
should be established to ensure high yields and minimize the input and the 2. Materials and methods
loss of N fertilizer. There-fore, N uptake (NU) and soil NO 3–N residual
distribution must be monitored during the crop growing season to achieve 2.1. Site description
efficient N fer-tilizer management in farmlands.
The field experiments were conducted in 2015–2016, Chifeng in Inner
Given that corn is a high-N consumption crop, an inappropriate N Mongolia, China (42°56′53″N, 119°4′20″E). The area has a semi-arid and
application scheme in conventional cultivation mainly presents ex-cessive continental monsoon climate with about 135–day frost-free period, the annual
input amounts and unmatched N fertilizer supply with growth period, which average rainfall and evaporation amounts are 350–450 and 1500–2300 mm,
leads to low NUE. In China, most farmlands still use conventional furrow respectively.
−1
fertilization (CF), N rates always reaches 300–450 kg ha or higher, but The soil layer of 0–60 cm in the test site belongs to silt loam soil with a
NUE is only around 30% (Liu et al., 2003; Ju et al., 2009; Chen et al., 2012; −3
soil bulk density of 1.49 g cm and a field water-holding rate of 34.45%
Wang, 2008; Zhang et al., 2016; Huang et al., 2006). Some studies showed (volume moisture content). The soil organic matter was
that N demands vary in each growth period of corn, and in-season fertilization −1 −1
10.6 g kg , the mass fraction for total N was 0.60 g kg , the available
with sufficient supply in later stages effectively ensured high yields −1
(Sampathkumar and Pandian, 2010; Ciampitti and Vyn, 2011; Lv, 2012; Liu et potassium and phosphorus was 167 and 7.6 mg kg , respectively.
al., 2014). Drip irrigation provides an effective way for timely–accurate
irrigation and fertilization, and researchers conducted numerous studies on 2.2. Experimental design and field management
drip fertigation (DF), mainly focusing on water and N movement, N balance,
and fertigation frequency (Lamm et al., 2001; Rajput and Patel, 2006; Li et A multi-functional air-suction seeder was used to complete sowing, drip
̇ tapes laying and film mulching. The variety “Xianyu 335” was chosen in the
al., 2010; Wang et al., 2014; Cetinet al., 2015; Farneselli et al., 2015). High- test, and the planting date in 2 years was May 3 and May 2, respectively. The
frequency DF for N promotes crop growth and NU; more-over, the low corn seeds were planted in alternate wide-narrow (80–40 cm) rows with a
irrigation quota and direct delivery of water and fertilizer to crop roots under −1
planting density of 83,330 plants ha . The drip tape with wall thickness of
DF significantly reduces N loss from runoff and leaching; thus, the efficiency −1
0.2 mm, drip flow of 1.38 L h and dripper spacing of 40 cm was placed in
of water and nitrogen can be improved by using DF method (Kafkafi and
the middle of narrow line. The corn cropping pattern and lateral layout of drip
Kant, 2005; Sampathkumar and Pandian, 2010; Fanish, 2013; Lamm, 2014).
tapes under mulched drip irrigation is shown in Fig. 1.
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D. Wang et al. Field Crops Research 216 (2018) 225–233
Table 1
The fertilization schemes for N under different treatments.
−1 −1
Treatments N rate (kg ha ) Fertilization splits Fertilization time and application rate (kg ha )
Sowing V6 V12 VT R2 R4
MDFN0 0 0 – – – – – –
MDFN140 140 6 28 28 35 21 21 7
MDFN190 190 6 38 38 48 29 29 10
MDFN240 240 6 48 48 60 36 36 12
MDFN290 290 6 58 58 73 44 44 15
MDFN340 340 6 68 68 85 51 51 17
CFN340 340 2 174 – 116 – – –
land, and the harvest time in 2 years was October 2 and September 28, N recovery efficiency ( NRE, %)= NUN − NUN0 × 100%;
respectively. N
rate
−1
Soil NO3 -N residual (kg ha )=∑ CNO3 −N × h i × Υi × 10
i = 0 −180cm
2.3. Observation indexes and methods Output
Output − input ratio =
2.3.1. Meteorological data and soil moisture
The ET107 automatic meteorological station manufactured by USA GYN − Grain yield with N applied; GYN0 − Grain yield without N ap-plied;
Campbell Scientific was used to continuously monitor the meteor-ological
NUN − N uptake with N applied; NU N0 − N uptake without N applied; h i −
data, such as daily temperature and rainfall during the corn growing season. −3
Soil thickness, m; ϒi − Soil bulk density, g cm ; Output − Income of maize
Soil moisture was regularly measured (at depth of 0–20, 20–40 and 40–60
grain; Input − Total investment of maize seed, tube materials, fertilizers,
cm) using gravimetric method every 10 days to determine the lower limit of machinery, labor, water and electricity.
irritation for each growth stage of corn. Statistical analysis and plotting were performed using Microsoft Excel
2010 and IBM SPSS Statistics 17.0.
2.3.2. Sampling and chemical analysis
Before planting, 0–60 cm soil samples were collected to test the soil basic 3. Results
nutrients: organic matter, total N, available phosphorus and po-tassium.
3.1. Dynamic changes in soil NO3–N and plant NU during corn growing
Soil samples were collected in 20 cm increments to a depth of 60 cm one season
day before and after each fertilization to observe the dynamic changes of
NO3–N content at 0–60 cm soil layer, which is the main distribution layer of 3.1.1. Soil NO3–N in corn root layer
corn root (Li et al., 2017; Zhou et al., 2017), during growing season. In The dynamic changes of soil NO3–N at 0–60 cm before and after each
harvest time, soil samples of 0–180 profile (0–40 cm: 10 cm one layer, 40–
fertigation are shown in Fig. 2. Under MDF treatments, the NO 3–N content in
180 cm: 20 cm one layer) were collected to analyze the NO 3–N residual
each soil layer for MDFN0 decreased with the development of corn growth.
distribution in soil. The soil sample collection point was located in the middle By contrast, those in treatments with different N ap-plication levels showed a
of two plants with a hor-izontal distance of 20 cm from the drip tape. And the
changing tendency of wavy line with time. In other words, the NO 3–N
soil NO3–N con-tent was measured by AA3 continuous flow analyzer (Bran content increased at peak value after each N fertigation and then gradually
Luebbe, Germany). decreased, and the peak number was the same with the times of topdressing.
Five corn plants were removed from the ground except for the roots The increment of soil NO3–N content at 20–40 cm soil layer was the
227
D. Wang et al. Field Crops Research 216 (2018) 225–233
Fig. 2. Dynamic changes in NO3–N concentration of 0–60 cm soil layer for different treatments.
highest after N fertigation, which is related to the irrigation water quota. For MDFN240 rose and fell around the initial content, which increased by 2.8 mg
example, in the fertigation of corn V12 (July 12) and VT (July 27) stages in −1
kg on the average for two harvest seasons. NO 3–N contents in MDFN290
2016, the irrigation water quota measured 30 mm in V12 stage, and the −1
and MDFN340 treatments increased by 3.8–8.5 and 4.1–10.8 mg kg in the
concentration of soil NO3–N peaked at 20–40 cm layer; by contrast in VT harvest seasons of 2015 and 2016, respec-tively.
stage, irrigation water was 13 mm, and soil NO 3–N content peaked at 0–20
cm layer. Given that the irrigation quota was usually about 30 mm for each The soil NO3–N content treated with CFN340 was much higher in the
fertigation time, NO3–N content resulted in peaked increase at 20–40 cm early stages before V6, but much lower after VT compared with those in
layer for the NO3–N accumu-lation nearby wetting fronts. MDFN340, and those conditions were increasingly evident in the 20–60 cm
soil layer. With regard to harvest seasons, the soil NO 3–N contents of 0–20
The NO3–N content in each soil layer was increased with increasing N and 20–60 cm in CFN340 averagely decreased by 3.4 and 11.5 mg kg ,
−1
rate. Based on the initial content of soil NO 3–N (which was 23.9, 22.1 and respectively, in comparison with those in MDFN340.
−1
21.4 mg kg , respectively, at 0–20, 20–40, and 40–60 cm) before corn
sowing in the first season, we observed that NO 3–N content at 0–60 cm 3.1.2. Changing rules of corn plant NU
decreased gradually in the MDFN0–MDFN190 treatments, showing an The dynamic changes in corn NU for each growth period and the
−1
average decrease of 14.9–7.2 and 17.0–14.0 mg kg in the harvest seasons of percentage of NU for each growth period to the total (PT) are shown in Figs.
2015 and 2016, respectively. The soil NO3–N in 3–5
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D. Wang et al. Field Crops Research 216 (2018) 225–233
Fig. 5. Dynamic change in plant N uptake (NU) and percentage of NU at varying growth stages
to total under different fertilization methods.
VE – emergence, V6 – sixth leaves, VT – tasselling, R2 – filling, R4 – dough, R6 – phy-
siological maturity.
that in VT–R6 period totaled 38.7%, 48.7%, and 43.4%, respectively. These
Fig. 4. The percentage of N uptake at different growth stages to total under mulched drip results indicated that appropriate N fertilizer supply could pro-mote plant NU
fertigation (MDF) treatments.
in reproductive period.
VE – emergence, V6 – sixth leaves, VT – tasselling, R2 – filling, R4 – dough, R6 – phy-
Comparing the influence of fertilization methods on corn NU, the plant
siological maturity.
NU of vegetative period under CFN340 was higher than that in MDFN340
but gradually decreased after processing into reproductive period, and the gap
The plant NU for corn showed a tendency to increase initially and then was getting greater. The PTs of VT–R6 period in MDFN340 and CFN340 was
decrease with the increase in N rate, which obtained the maximum value in 43.6% and 36.5%, respectively, and the whole plant NU in MDFN340 was
−1
MDFN290. When N rate increased within 0–240 kg ha , NU increased 10.3% higher than that in CFN340. Results demonstrated that MDF can
significantly, whereas the amplitude gradually declined until a negative promote plant NU significantly through improving the NU percentage of
growth appeared with continuous increase of N rate. During the harvest reproductive period to total growth period.
−1
seasons, NU increased an average of 16.7% with every 50 kg ha increase in
N rate for MDFN0–MDFN240 treatments. By contrast, the NU of MDFN290
increased by 7.5% compared with that in MDFN240, whereas that even 3.2. The soil NO3–N residual and total plant NU in harvest season
decreased by 4.6% in MDFN340 com-pared with MDFN290.
The distribution of NO3–N residual at 0–180 cm soil profile and the total
Under the MDF treatments, the average PT in VE–V6, V6–VT, VT–R2,
plant NU at harvest seasons are displayed in Table 3.
R2–R4, and R4–R6 periods for corn reached 5.8%, 50.0%, 21.9%, 16.4%,
The soil NO3–N residual under MDF treatments increased at 0–40 cm
and 6.0%, respectively. N rate showed a significant regulating effect on the
and then decreased at 40–180 cm. The amount of NO3–N re-sidual in the soil
NU ratio in vegetative and reproductive growth periods for corn: the PT in
profile was improved with the increase in N rate, and the difference under
main vegetative periods (V6–VT) decreased first and then increased with varying N levels was particularly significant in the main distribution layer (0–
increasing N rates, whereas that in re-productive period (VT–R6) increased 60 cm) of corn roots. NO3–N residual of each soil layer under MDFN0–
first and then decreased. Take the treatments of MDFN0, MDFN240 and
MDFN190 showed insignificant difference, and the total NO3–N residual of
MDFN340 as examples, PT in V6–VT period reached 52.6%, 46.9%, and −1
180 cm soil profile measured 159.5–211.3 kg ha , which was equal to 36.0–
51.1%, respectively; whereas −1
47.7 kg ha soil N
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D. Wang et al. Field Crops Research 216 (2018) 225–233
Table 3
−1
The NO3–N residual in 180 cm soil profile and total plant N uptake (NU) in harvest season (kg·ha ).
Treatment Year NO3–N residual in different soil layers Profile N residual from Total NU of
NO3–N maize
0–10 10–20 20–30 30–40 40–60 60–80 80–100 100–120 120–140 140–160 160–180 Total
MDFN0 2015 12.0 11.9 16.6 10.1 23.7 27.1 22.2 17.5 21.1 21.4 20.0 203.5 46.0 153.1
2016 7.7 5.4 9.0 9.0 13.9 14.1 8.5 10.7 6.5 18.4 12.3 115.4 26.1 131.6
Mean 9.9a 8.6a 12.8a 9.6a 18.8a 20.6a 15.4a 14.1a 13.8a 19.9b 16.2a 159.5a 36.0a 142.3a
MDFN140 2015 10.1 15.1 19.7 15.7 33.0 19.8 16.7 24.5 15.7 19.1 30.1 219.3 49.5 229.8
2016 8.3 8.9 11.5 6.3 13.0 13.9 12.8 10.4 10.8 13.0 10.9 119.8 27.0 206.2
Mean 9.2a 12.0a 15.6a 11.0a 23.0a 16.8a 14.8a 17.5a 13.2a 16.0a 20.5a 169.6a 38.3a 218.0b
MDFN190 2015 12.0 17.9 17.7 22.5 34.6 27.6 23.7 22.8 19.2 22.9 21.9 242.8 54.8 266.2
2016 8.9 10.1 8.4 6.5 26.7 26.9 16.5 9.0 26.6 22.7 17.6 179.8 40.6 244.7
Mean 10.4a 14.0a 13.1a 14.5a 30.7a 27.3b 20.1a 15.9a 22.9ab 22.8b 19.8a 211.3a 47.7a 255.4c
MDFN240 2015 21.5 27.4 31.3 30.8 44.7 33.9 35.5 32.3 26.1 19.5 16.1 318.9 72.0 304.3
2016 18.5 28.1 28.5 32.3 50.5 37.1 34.3 30.7 22.6 21.5 19.1 323.2 73.0 278.4
Mean 20.0b 27.7b 29.9b 31.5b 47.6b 35.5c 34.9b 31.5b 24.3b 20.5b 17.6a 321.0b 72.5b 291.4d
MDFN290 2015 21.0 34.8 37.7 39.7 73.5 49.0 36.4 36.1 27.8 30.6 22.3 409.0 92.3 330.2
2016 24.1 36.7 48.9 42.9 78.6 44.4 37.4 48.4 29.0 27.7 31.4 449.5 101.5 296.1
Mean 22.6bc 35.8c 43.3c 41.3c 76.1c 46.7d 36.9b 42.3c 28.4b 29.1c 26.8a 429.2c 96.9c 313.1d
MDFN340 2015 23.5 39.6 41.6 50.1 88.1 58.8 47.7 45.0 31.0 29.4 30.4 485.2 109.6 312.1
2016 27.2 45.0 45.3 52.9 101.2 64.5 51.6 56.0 44.5 24.9 21.8 534.9 120.8 285.2
Mean 25.3c 42.3d 43.5c 51.5d 94.6d 61.7e 49.7c 50.5c 37.8c 27.1c 26.1a 510.0d 115.2d 298.6d
CFN340 2015 35.9 37.8 34.9 34.1 61.1 54.2 54.8 60.5 44.0 41.0 41.3 499.8 112.9 286.9
2016 34.1 41.4 42.2 34.6 62.6 65.5 68.3 55.6 54.3 49.9 37.7 546.3 123.4 254.4
Mean 35.0 39.6 38.6 34.3 61.8 59.9 61.6 58.1 49.2 45.5 39.5 523.0 118.1 270.6
Different lowercase letters in the same column indicate significance at P < 0.05, whereas the same letter indicates insignificance.
1 7 ×R .
Soil N residual from NO3–N (kg ha ) = 31
NO 3 −N
−1
residual. When N rate measured over 190 kg ha , the soil NO3–N re-sidual NPFP of MDFN340 improved by 3.0% and 3.1%, respectively, in com-
significantly increased, and that under MDFN240 almost re-mained parison with those of CFN340.
unchanged between years, whereas those under MDFN290 and MDFN340 In the optimal treatment MDFN240, the yield and NRE increased by
increased evidently for each year. 16.3% and 14.9%, respectively, in comparison with those in MDFN140; the N
Excessive N fertilizer not only led to a high concentration of NO 3–N fertilizer amount decreased by 29.4% with an increase of 8.3% and 35.1% in
residual in soil but also exacerbated migration of NO 3–N to deeper layers. yield and NRE, respectively, in comparison with those in MDFN340; the
yield and NPFP increased by 11.6% and 58.3%, re-spectively, in comparison
The total NO3–N residuals in 180 cm soil profile under MDFN290–
MDFN340 increased by 33.7%–58.9%, and that in 80–180 cm increased by with those in CFN340. These results indicated that appropriate N application
26.9%–48.4% in comparison with those under MDFN240. under MDF was conducive to improving corn yield and NUEs.
Based on the significance analysis of total NU for corn under MDF The economic benefit analysis is shown in Table 5 based on the average
treatments, we can see that NU in MDFN0–MDFN240 significantly in- input and output of corn cultivation for 2 years. The fertilizer application in
creased with the increase in N rate, whereas those in MDFN240–MDFN340 MDFN340 was the same as that in CFN340. Although MDF required more
exhibited insignificant difference but were ob-viously higher than those in input in tubular products, it remarkably presented low cost for water,
DFN0–DFN190. No significant difference was observed in total NO 3–N −1
machinery, and labor. This result reduced total input by 88 $ ha and
residual in 180 cm soil of MDFN340 in comparison with CFN340, but the increased net output by 7.7%.
total NO3–N residual outside corn roots (80–180 cm) reduced by 24.7%, and In MDF treatments, the net output and output–input ratio exhibited a
the total plant NU also sig-nificantly increased. same tendency of increasing initially and then decreasing with the
−1
increase in N rate. In 0–240 kg ha range of N rate, for each
−1 −1
50 kg ha increase, net output increased by 295 $·ha on average.
−1
3.3. Corn yield, NUEs, and economic benefit However, when N rate was beyond 290 kg ha , the net output tended to
decrease for the increase in N fertilizer input and reduction in yield benefit.
In Table 4, N rate posed significant or extremely significant influ-ence on With MDFN240 treatment, we obtained the maximum net output value,
corn yield and NUEs. Corn yield initially increased and then decreased with which increased by 13.4% and 22.1% in comparison with those in MDFN340
and CFN340, respectively.
increasing N rate, and the maximum value was obtained in MDFN240. In
comparison with MDFN0, each treatment with N ap-plication caused an
increasing yield of 32.1%–53.7%. No significant difference was observed in 3.4. Establishment of nitrogenous fertilizer effect function model
yields between MDFN240 and MDFN290, but the yield was significantly
higher in MDFN240 than that of other treatments. The regression analysis of grain yield and NRE with N rate under MDF
for 2 years is shown in Fig. 6. The regression equations (Table 6) were highly
The N partial factor productivity (NPFP) decreased with increasing N significant (P < 0.01) according to F test, this result in-dicates that the
−1
rate. For each 50 kg ha increase in N rate, NPFP decreased by 18.4 kg kg
−1 equations were successfully fitted. Basing on the as-sumption that marginal
income is equal to marginal cost (dy × Yp = dx × Xp, Xp − N price, Yp −
on average. The N agronomic efficiencies presented no significant difference
−1
existed in MDFN140–MDFN240 and all remained at high levels, whereas grain price), the optimal economic N rate was obtained at 253 kg ha , and
those in MDFN290 and MDFN340 significantly declined. The N recovery −1
the target yield reached 15.6 Mg ha with NRE totaling 61.6%.
efficiency (NRE) significantly improved with increasing N rate within 140–
−1
240 kg ha , but it gradually induced inhibition effects with continuous N The amount of N fertilizer application and the grain yield in the optimal
increase. For instance, the NRE of MDFN340 was 14.9% lower than that of treatment MDFN240 presented high consistency with the fitted results of
MDFN140. The grain yield and nitrogenous fertilizer effect function model, indicating that
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D. Wang et al. Field Crops Research 216 (2018) 225–233
Table 4
Summary of corn yield, NPFP, NAE and NRE under different treatments.
−1 −1 −1
Treatment Yield(kg ha ) NPFP (kg kg ) NAE (kg kg ) NRE (%)
2015 2016 Mean 2015 2016 Mean 2015 2016 Mean 2015 2016 Mean
Different lowercase letters in the same column indicate significance at p < 0.05, whereas the same letter indicates insignificance.
NAE–N agronomic efficiency, NRE–N recovery efficiency, NPFP–N partial factor productivity.
* Means significant (p < 0.05).
* Means extremely significant (p < 0.01).
4. Discussion
The adequate supply of N fertilizer in the middle and late growth periods
of corn guarantees high yields (Ciampitti and Vyn, 2011; Mueller and Vyn,
2016). In-season fertilization based on N demand for corn contributes to NUE
enhancement (Liu et al., 2014; Li et al., 2017). In a conventional management
method, excessive water and fertilizer were applied in corn early growth
period. This approach not only in-tensifies the risk of N leaching and soil
water pollution but also easily induces insufficient soil N supply in corn later
growth period, thus re-sulted in yield reduction (Lv, 2012; Geng et al., 2012).
MDF can po-tentially solve these problems (Kafkafi and Kant, 2005; Kalpana
and Fanish, 2014). In this study, CFN340 resulted in significant accumula-tion
of soil NO3–N in corn early growth periods, but it turned lower than that in
MDFN340 during the middle and later stages. MDF main-tained the soil
NO3–N content, in corn main root layers (0–60 cm), at relatively high levels
with less fluctuation during the entire growing season, which benefited plant
NU and increased absorption ratio of N in reproductive growth period to
Fig. 6. Relationship of corn yield and NRE with N rate.
improve corn production (Fig. 6 and Table 4). In comparison with CFN340,
NRE – N recovery efficiency.
no significant increase (3.0%) in yield was appeared in MDFN340; by
contrast, the N application amount in MDFN240 decreased by 29.4% with an
increase of 11.6% in yield, and decrease of 49.2% in NO3–N residual outside Table 6
−1 The regression analysis of corn yield, NRE with N rate.
the root layer. The results indicated that N rate of 340 kg ha inhibited corn
growth, and the application of MDF bears significant potential in the Item Regression equations R
2
F-value
realization of N fertilizer reduction and yield increase in farmlands. 2 **
Yield y= 0.0727x + 39.0232x + 10326 0.848 92.02
2 **
NRE y= 0.001216x + 0.5503x + 0.1878 0.748 40.07
Soil NO3–N content can directly reflect effective soil N fertility, the NU NRE–N recovery efficiency.
and growth status of corn were extremely sensitive to N fertilizer supply. This ** Means extremely significant (p < 0.01).
research considered the initial soil NO 3–N content as standard. After two
harvest seasons of corn, when N rate ranged within
Table 5
Analysis of economic benefits for corn under different treatments.
−1 −1 −1
Treatment Input ($·ha ) Output ($·ha ) Net output value ($·ha ) Input-output ratio
MDFN0 184 245 217 111 138 145 2886 1846 1:2.8
MDFN140 184 245 281 111 138 145 3814 2710 1:3.5
MDFN190 184 245 304 111 138 145 4141 3013 1:3.7
MDFN240 184 245 327 111 138 145 4437 3287 1:3.9
MDFN290 184 245 350 111 138 145 4342 3168 1:3.7
MDFN340 184 245 373 111 138 145 4094 2898 1:3.4
CFN340 184 0 373 207 184 337 3976 2691 1:3.1
The Local market prices of N, P2O5, K2O and maize grain are 0.61, 0.84, 0.77 and 0.28 $·kg; respectively; The price of water and electricity for agriculture is 0.08 $ m Net output
1
value ($ kg ) = Output − Input.
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D. Wang et al. Field Crops Research 216 (2018) 225–233
−1 5. Conclusions
0–190 kg ha ,the effective soil N fertility declined. Furthermore, when N
−1
rate measured 240 kg ha , the effective soil N fertility was almost balanced.
−1 Mulched drip fertigation (MDF) maintained the soil NO3–N content at
By contrast, N rate reached higher than 290 kg ha , soil NO3–N residual
high levels with less fluctuation during the whole growing season for corn;
significantly increased with intensifying N deep leaching. The rule of plant
this method significantly promoted the plant NU and provided a guarantee for
NU was closely related to N rate: the NU increased significantly with
−1 improvement of corn yield. Meanwhile, MDF reduced the deep leaching of
increasing N rate at a range of 0–240 kg ha , whereas this increase gradually
NO3–N, thus, resulted in evident NUE increase and alleviation of soil water
declined to negative values with continuous increase in fertilizer. The results
demonstrated that application of N fertilizer can improve effective soil N pollution.
fertility to promote plant NU. However, plants NU would not constantly A significant effect of N application rate was observed on plant NU and
increase with increasing N rate. Excess N would lead to high concentration of soil NO3–N residual. The NU initially increased and then decreased at
−1
NO3–N in soil and intensive NO3–N deep migration with the influence of increased N rate, and the increasing amplitude (16.7% for every 50 kg ha
irrigation, rainfall, soil property, and other effects (Wu et al., 2016; Woli et −1
increase in N rate) was large when N rate ranged within 0–240 kg ha ,
al., 2016). Appropriate N fertilizer supply can prolong photo-synthetic whereas the increase rate in NU dropped until negative growth appeared when
function period of canopy leaves, improve NU in the re-productive growth
N fertilizer was added continuously. The soil NO 3–N residual increased with
period (Fig. 5), and thus improve economic yield (Table 4). Therefore, the −1
determination of N fertilizer input should consider comprehensively the basic increasing N rate, and when the applied N fertilizer was less than 190 kg ha ,
soil N content, NO3–N residual amount, N application time, and crop target the soil fertility of available N decreased every year; by contrast, high
yield (Shapiro et al., 2008; Dobermann et al., 2011). concentration of NO3–N in soil resulted when the N rate exceeded 290 kg
−1
ha , thus intensified the migration to deep soil of NO3–N; an appropriate N
−1
rate (240 kg ha ) not only favored the balance of available soil N fertility but
Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is a key factor that affects economic and also re-duced the deep leaching of NO 3–N (the soil NO3–N residual in 80–
environmental benefits. China currently features generally ex-cessive N 180 cm decreased by 21.2%–32.6%, in comparison with those in MDFN290–
fertilizer input per unit area, whereas NUE of field corn is only about 30%, MDFN340).
which is far below that of developed countries in Europe and America (Huang Mulched drip fertigation (MDF) shows distinct potential in reducing N
et al., 2006; Wortmann et al., 2010). Low NUE is mainly caused by the fertilizer input and improving NUE in farmlands. Based on the eco-nomic
extensive method for conventional irrigation and fertilization, high input of N −1
fertilizer, and serious loss of N in farm-lands. In this study, the corn yield and benefits, it seems reasonable to apply 240–253 kg ha N ferti-lizer under
−1 MDF with NRE reaching 61.6%–62.2%. The conclusions of this study
NUE obtained the maximum values when N rate measured 240 kg ha , exhibits significance to the scientific management of N fer-tilization and to the
which guaranteed balanced available soil N fertility. When N rate exceeded promotion of MDF technology in corn cultivation.
−1
290 kg ha , NO3–N residual in 80–180 cm soil significantly increased with
evident de-creases in yield and NUE. The results confirmed that excessive Acknowledgement
appli-cation of N not only was useless to yield but also exacerbated N
leaching outside the rhizosphere layer, thus led to lower NUE (Nakamura et The authors are greatly indebted to the financial support from the National
al., 2004; Meisinger et al., 2008; Yang et al., 2017). Support Program of China (2014BAD12B05 and 2016YFC0400105).
Cetin, O., Uzen, N., Temiz, M.G., 2015. E ect of N-fertigation frequency on the lint yield,
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untenable. A research in Nebraska, U.S.A., showed that when N rate
measured less than or close to the optimal economic N rate, best corn yield Chen, G.P., Gao, J.L., Zhao, M., Dong, S.T., Li, S.K., Yang, Q.F., Liu, Y.H., et al., 2012.
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and NRE were guaranteed; the results measured 171 kg ha in N rate and
in recent years. Acta Agron. Sin. (in Chinese) 38, 80 –85.
−1
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2010). Research results of Lamm et al. (2004) in Kansas U.S.A., showed that nitrogen uptake dynamics of maize plants from vegetative to reproductive stages. Field
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−1 −1 −1
ha with a yield of 13.4 Mg ha , and the NPFP calculated as 63.2 kg kg . Lancelot, C., Likens, G.E., 2009. Controlling eutrophication: nitrogen and phos- phorus.
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