Mixed cropping green manure can simultaneously improve the nutrient yield and quality of spring wheat grain under reduced chemical nitrogen supply

doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.024

Journal of Integrative Agriculture

2026, Vol. 25

Issue (5): 1887-1901 DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.024

Crop Science

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Mixed cropping green manure can simultaneously improve the nutrient yield and quality of spring wheat grain under reduced chemical nitrogen supply

Jingui Wei^{1, 2}, Fang Yin^{1, 2}, Yao Guo³, Zhilong Fan^{1, 2}, Falong Hu^{1, 2}, Qiming Wang^{1, 2}, Shoufa Mao¹, Qiang Chai^{1, 2#}, Wen Yin^{1, 2#}

¹State Key Laboratory of Aridland Crop Science, Lanzhou 730070, China

² College of Agronomy, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China

³ College of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Highlights
● Mixed hairy vetch and common vetch under 20% nitrogen reduction (HCVN2) improved the nutrient yield of wheat grain.
● HCVN2 increased the nutritional and processing qualities.
● HCVN2 enhanced nitrogen accumulation, remobilization, and assimilation.

Abstract
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摘要

为人类提供充足且有营养的食物是农业可持续发展的一项重大挑战。优化氮素供给是提高作物籽粒产量和品质的关键措施之一，绿肥常被用于优化作物生产中的氮素供应，但绿肥能否在减少化学氮肥投入的同时维持春小麦籽粒产量和品质尚不明确。本研究依托始于2018年在西北干旱灌区开展不同绿肥与混作绿肥的裂区田间试验，旨在探明箭筈豌豆混播毛叶苕子在维持春小麦高营养产量和籽粒品质的同时减少化学氮输入并揭示氮素代谢机制的可行性，探讨2020-2022年绿肥和减氮对春小麦籽粒营养产量、氨基酸含量、维生素B含量、矿物元素含量和加工品质及氮素积累、转运和同化的影响。结果表明，减氮会降低小麦营养产量，但混作绿肥可提高籽粒蛋白质和淀粉产量。减氮20%条件下混播箭筈豌豆和毛叶苕子(HCVN2)较传统施氮麦后休闲(FN3)春小麦籽粒蛋白质和淀粉产量分别提高35.9%和16.2%。同时，减氮降低了春小麦籽粒品质，但绿肥可改善春小麦籽粒品质。HCVN2较FN3春小麦籽粒必需氨基酸和非必需氨基酸含量分别提高13.2%和10.0%，维生素B和锌元素含量分别增加20.0%和22.2%，降落数值和湿面筋含量分别提升14.0%和8.6%。HCVN2能同步提升春小麦营养产量和籽粒品质，主要归因于其显著增加了籽粒氮素积累量，提高了叶片、茎鞘和穗轴-颖壳氮素对籽粒氮素的贡献率，并增强了硝酸还原酶和谷氨酰胺合成酶活性。因此，减氮20%结合混作绿肥可通过改善植株氮素积累、转运和同化，协同提升春小麦籽粒营养产量和品质。

Abstract

Ensuring the provision of adequate and nutritious food for humans through sustainable agricultural development poses a major challenge. Optimizing the nitrogen supply is one of the key factors for improving crop grain yield and quality. Green manure is often used to optimize the nitrogen supply in crop production, but it is unclear whether green manure can maintain nutrient yield and quality of spring wheat under reduced chemical nitrogen input. A split-plot field experiment of several varieties of green manure and mixed cropping with green manure was established in an arid area in 2018. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of using mixed common vetch and hairy vetch, which could simultaneously maintain high nutrient production and grain quality of spring wheat under reduced chemical nitrogen input, and to reveal the mechanism of nitrogen metabolism. The effects of green manure and reduced chemical nitrogen on nutrient yield, amino acid contents, vitamin B contents, mineral contents, and processing quality of spring wheat grain, as well as nitrogen accumulation, remobilization, and assimilation, were examined from 2020 to 2022. Our results showed that a reduced chemical nitrogen input led to lower nutrient production, but green manure could increase the protein and starch yields of wheat grain. HCVN2 (mixed hairy vetch and common vetch under 20% nitrogen reduction) displayed higher protein and starch yields, which increased by 35.9 and 16.2% compared to fallow after wheat harvest with conventional nitrogen application (FN3). Meanwhile, reduced chemical nitrogen reduced the wheat grain quality, but green manure improved wheat grain quality. HCVN2 had higher wheat grain qualities, which improved by 13.2 and 10.0% for essential amino acid and non-essential amino acid contents, by 20.0 and 22.2% for vitamin B and zinc contents, and by 14.0 and 8.6% for falling number and wet gluten compared to FN3, respectively. HCVN2 could simultaneously improve the nutrient production and quality of wheat grain. This was attributed to significantly increasing the nitrogen accumulation and distribution in grain; enhancing the contribution rates of leaf, stem-sheath, and cob-glume nitrogen to grain nitrogen; and promoting the activities of nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase. Therefore, mixed sown green manure under chemical nitrogen reduced by 20% is promising for improving the nutrient production and quality of spring wheat grain by promoting nitrogen accumulation, remobilization, and assimilation.

Keywords: mixed sown green manure chemical nitrogen reduction supply spring wheat grain nutrition production and quality nitrogen remobilization and assimilation enzyme activities of nitrogen assimilation

Received: 04 September 2024 Accepted: 20 January 2025 Online: 18 February 2025

Fund:

We are very grateful for the China Agricultural University Corresponding Support Research Joint Fund (GSAU-DKZY-2024-001), the financial support of the Science and Technology Program in Gansu Province, China (25JRRA347 and 24ZDNA008), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32372238 and U21A20218), the Scientific Research Innovation Capability Support Project for Young Faculty, China (SRICSPYF-BS2025119), the Northwest Normal University Young Teachers Research Ability Enhancement Project, China (NWNU LKQN2023-09), the “Innovation Star”Program of Graduate Students in 2025 of Gansu Province, China (2025CXZX-746), and the Fostering Foundation for the Excellent Ph D Dissertation of Gansu Agricultural University, China (YB2024002).

About author: #Correspondence Qiang Chai, E-mail: chaiq@gsau.edu.cn; Wen Yin, E-mail: yinwen@gsau.edu.cn

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Jingui Wei, Fang Yin, Yao Guo, Zhilong Fan, Falong Hu, Qiming Wang, Shoufa Mao, Qiang Chai, Wen Yin. 2026. Mixed cropping green manure can simultaneously improve the nutrient yield and quality of spring wheat grain under reduced chemical nitrogen supply. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(5): 1887-1901.

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