Abstract: 【Objective】The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of different fertilization methods on the pathway and amount of nutrients lost under different rain intensities in the purple hilly area and in return to provide a theoretical evidence for improving fertilizer management and nutrient loss control on sloping farmlands in purple soil area. 【Method】 A completely randomized block design was employed in the experiment with three different artificial rain intensities (slight, medium and heavy), three fertilization methods and three replications. 【Result】 The nitrogen content in the underground runoff was increased notably by fertilization in one time and the amount of N lost through runoff was increased, while the maize yield and nitrogen efficiency were decreased. The main carrier of lost N was underground runoff with an average amount of 5.08 kg·hm-2. The N lost from the field put high pressure on the environment. The amount of N loss was slightly influenced by rain intensity but strongly by fertilization methods. The main carrier of P was the sediment which was closely related to rain intensity but slightly affected by fertilization methods. Similar to P, the sediment was also the main carrier of K responsible for 29.1 kg·hm-2 of soil K loss on average. The higher the rain intensity, the higher the amount of K loss, and the amount K loss was slightly affected by fertilization methods.【Conclusion】 N loss was highly correlated with runoff, especially the underground runoff in which N content was increased notably by one time fertilization. On the sloping purple farmland, P and K were mainly lost through sediments and the quantity was influenced by rain intensity, implying that to control P and K loss, soil erosion must be minimized first. In order to control N loss in the purple soil area, not only the splitting fertilization must be addressed, the integrated agronomic methods such as cultivation practices against soil erosion and water loss, soil depth improvement and soil structure improvement can be employed at the same time.

Key words: rain intensity , fertilization method , purple soil , nutrient loss , soil erosion