Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulation

Reducing environmental impacts and improving N utilization are critical to ensuring food security in China. Although root-zone fertilization has been considered an effective strategy to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), the effect of controlled-release urea (CRU) applied in conjunction with nor...

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Main Authors: Wen-xuan SHI, Qian ZHANG, Lan-tao LI, Jin-fang TAN, Ruo-han XIE, Yi-lun WANG
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2023-04-01
Series:Journal of Integrative Agriculture
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311922002350
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author Wen-xuan SHI
Qian ZHANG
Lan-tao LI
Jin-fang TAN
Ruo-han XIE
Yi-lun WANG
author_facet Wen-xuan SHI
Qian ZHANG
Lan-tao LI
Jin-fang TAN
Ruo-han XIE
Yi-lun WANG
author_sort Wen-xuan SHI
collection DOAJ
description Reducing environmental impacts and improving N utilization are critical to ensuring food security in China. Although root-zone fertilization has been considered an effective strategy to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), the effect of controlled-release urea (CRU) applied in conjunction with normal urea in this mode is unclear. Therefore, a 3-year field experiment was conducted using a no-N-added as a control and two fertilization modes (FF, furrow fertilization by manual trenching, i.e., farmer fertilizer practice; HF: root-zone hole fertilization by point broadcast manually) at 210 kg N ha–1 (controlled-release:normal fertilizer=5:5), along with a 1-year in-situ microplot experiment. Maize yield, NUE and N loss were investigated under different fertilization modes. The results showed that compared with FF, HF improved the average yield and N recovery efficiency by 8.5 and 22.3% over three years, respectively. HF had a greater potential for application than FF treatment, which led to increases in dry matter accumulation, total N uptake, SPAD value and LAI. In addition, HF remarkably enhanced the accumulation of 15N derived from fertilizer by 17.2% compared with FF, which in turn reduced the potential loss of 15N by 43.8%. HF increased the accumulation of N in the tillage layer of soils at harvest for potential use in the subsequent season relative to FF. Hence, HF could match the N requirement of summer maize, sustain yield, improve NUE and reduce environmental N loss simultaneously. Overall, root-zone hole fertilization with blended CRU and normal urea can represent an effective and promising practice to achieve environmental integrity and food security on the North China Plain, which deserves further application and investigation.
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spelling doaj-art-d94c466af772453fbf313b79a26d71c02025-08-20T03:58:55ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Journal of Integrative Agriculture2095-31192023-04-012241184119810.1016/j.jia.2022.09.018Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulationWen-xuan SHI0Qian ZHANG1Lan-tao LI2Jin-fang TAN3Ruo-han XIE4Yi-lun WANG5College of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, P.R.ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, P.R.ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, P.R.ChinaSchool of Agriculture, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, P.R.ChinaSchool of Agriculture, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, P.R.China; Correspondence XIE Ruo-han, Tel: +86-20-39339235College of Resources and Environment, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, P.R.China; Correspondence WANG Yi-lun, Tel: +86-371-63555504Reducing environmental impacts and improving N utilization are critical to ensuring food security in China. Although root-zone fertilization has been considered an effective strategy to improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), the effect of controlled-release urea (CRU) applied in conjunction with normal urea in this mode is unclear. Therefore, a 3-year field experiment was conducted using a no-N-added as a control and two fertilization modes (FF, furrow fertilization by manual trenching, i.e., farmer fertilizer practice; HF: root-zone hole fertilization by point broadcast manually) at 210 kg N ha–1 (controlled-release:normal fertilizer=5:5), along with a 1-year in-situ microplot experiment. Maize yield, NUE and N loss were investigated under different fertilization modes. The results showed that compared with FF, HF improved the average yield and N recovery efficiency by 8.5 and 22.3% over three years, respectively. HF had a greater potential for application than FF treatment, which led to increases in dry matter accumulation, total N uptake, SPAD value and LAI. In addition, HF remarkably enhanced the accumulation of 15N derived from fertilizer by 17.2% compared with FF, which in turn reduced the potential loss of 15N by 43.8%. HF increased the accumulation of N in the tillage layer of soils at harvest for potential use in the subsequent season relative to FF. Hence, HF could match the N requirement of summer maize, sustain yield, improve NUE and reduce environmental N loss simultaneously. Overall, root-zone hole fertilization with blended CRU and normal urea can represent an effective and promising practice to achieve environmental integrity and food security on the North China Plain, which deserves further application and investigation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311922002350maize yieldhole fertilizationNUE15N-labeled blended urea15N loss
spellingShingle Wen-xuan SHI
Qian ZHANG
Lan-tao LI
Jin-fang TAN
Ruo-han XIE
Yi-lun WANG
Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulation
Journal of Integrative Agriculture
maize yield
hole fertilization
NUE
15N-labeled blended urea
15N loss
title Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulation
title_full Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulation
title_fullStr Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulation
title_full_unstemmed Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulation
title_short Hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential N loss and improving mineral N accumulation
title_sort hole fertilization in the root zone facilitates maize yield and nitrogen utilization by mitigating potential n loss and improving mineral n accumulation
topic maize yield
hole fertilization
NUE
15N-labeled blended urea
15N loss
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095311922002350
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