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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2015, Vol. 14 Issue (10): 2090-2098    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(14)60946-1
Soil & Fertilization﹒Irrigation﹒Plant Nutrition﹒ Agro-Ecology & Environment Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Evaluation of nitrogen requirement and efficiency of rice in the region of Yangtze River Valley based on large-scale field experiments
 CONG Ri-huan, ZHANG Zhi, LU Jian-wei, LI Xiao-kun, REN Tao, WANG Wei-ni
Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture/College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, P.R.China
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摘要  Overestimation of nitrogen (N) uptake requirement is one of the driving forces of the overuse of N fertilization and the low efficiency of N use in China. In this study, we collected data from 1 844 site-years of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under various rotation cropping systems across the Yangtze River Valley. Selected treatments included without (N0 treatment) and with N application (N treatment) which were recommended by local technicians, with a wide grain range of 1.5–11.9 t ha–1. Across the 1 844 site-years, over 96% of the sites showed yield increase (relative yield>105%) with N fertilization, and the increase rates decreased from 78.9 to 16.2% within the lowest range <4.0 to the highest >6.5 t ha–1. To produce one ton of grain, the rice absorbed approximately 17.8 kg N in the N0 treatment and 20.4 kg N in the N treatment. The value of partial factor productivity by N (PFPN) reached a range of 35.2–51.4 kg grain kg–1 with N application under the current recommended N rate. Averaged recovery rate of N (REN) was above 36.0% in yields below 6.0 t ha–1 and lower than 31.7% in those above 6.0 t ha–1. Soil properties only affected yield increments within low rice yield levels (<5.5 t ha–1). There is a poor relationship between N application rates and indigenous nitrogen supply (INS). From these observations and considering the local INS, we concluded there was a great potential for improvement in regional grain yield and N efficiency.

Abstract  Overestimation of nitrogen (N) uptake requirement is one of the driving forces of the overuse of N fertilization and the low efficiency of N use in China. In this study, we collected data from 1 844 site-years of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under various rotation cropping systems across the Yangtze River Valley. Selected treatments included without (N0 treatment) and with N application (N treatment) which were recommended by local technicians, with a wide grain range of 1.5–11.9 t ha–1. Across the 1 844 site-years, over 96% of the sites showed yield increase (relative yield>105%) with N fertilization, and the increase rates decreased from 78.9 to 16.2% within the lowest range <4.0 to the highest >6.5 t ha–1. To produce one ton of grain, the rice absorbed approximately 17.8 kg N in the N0 treatment and 20.4 kg N in the N treatment. The value of partial factor productivity by N (PFPN) reached a range of 35.2–51.4 kg grain kg–1 with N application under the current recommended N rate. Averaged recovery rate of N (REN) was above 36.0% in yields below 6.0 t ha–1 and lower than 31.7% in those above 6.0 t ha–1. Soil properties only affected yield increments within low rice yield levels (<5.5 t ha–1). There is a poor relationship between N application rates and indigenous nitrogen supply (INS). From these observations and considering the local INS, we concluded there was a great potential for improvement in regional grain yield and N efficiency.
Keywords:  nitrogen fertilization       yield increment       N uptake requirement       N efficiency       rice  
Received: 05 September 2014   Accepted:
Fund: 

We thank the Special Fund for Agro-Scientific Research in the Public Interest in China (201103039), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Key Projects, China (2013PY113), the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China (2013CFB203) and the Research Funds of Huazhong Agricultural University, China (52209- 814032) for providing financial support.

Corresponding Authors:  LU Jian-wei, Tel: +86-27-87288589,E-mail: lunm@mail.hzau.edu.cn   
About author:  CONG Ri-huan, E-mail: congrh@mail.hzau.edu.cn;

Cite this article: 

CONG Ri-huan, ZHANG Zhi, LU Jian-wei, LI Xiao-kun, REN Tao, WANG Wei-ni. 2015. Evaluation of nitrogen requirement and efficiency of rice in the region of Yangtze River Valley based on large-scale field experiments. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 14(10): 2090-2098.

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