Crop Yield and Nutrient Efficiency under Organic Manure Substitution Fertilizer in a Double Cropping System: A 6-Year Field Experiment on an Anthrosol

Abstract

The combination of organic manure and inorganic fertilizer plays a role in increasing crop yield and nutrient efficiency, but such effectiveness varies with crop, soil, management, and climate. Here, a 6−year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of substituting organic manure with inorganic fertilizer on crop yield, grain protein content, and nitrogen and phosphorus efficiency under a winter wheat−summer maize cropping system on Anthrosol. Five treatments were included: recommended nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizers (NPK), 75%NPK + 25% organic manure (M), 50%NPK + 50%M, 25%NPK + 75%M, and 100%M, respectively. Wheat, maize, and annual yield were 1643–8438 kg ha−1, 4847–11104 kg ha−1, and 10007–17496 kg ha−1. Organic manure treatments produced the same crop yield as NPK treatment except for 100%M. Grain protein content of wheat and maize was 7.9–15.1% and 5.6–12.6%. Organic manure treatments yielded significantly lower wheat grain protein content but had no significant effect on maize grain protein content relative to NPK treatment. Nitrogen uptake efficiency and nitrogen use efficiency at the cropping system level were 0.67–1.16 and 35.7–60.5 kg kg−1. Phosphorus uptake efficiency and phosphorus use efficiency were 0.28–0.75 and 167–531 kg kg−1. Compared with NPK treatment, 50%M, 75%M, and 100%M improved nitrogen use efficiency but decreased nitrogen uptake efficiency and phosphorus efficiencies. Annual N and P budgets were −1.3–79.1 kg ha−1 a−1 and 25.6–100.1 kg ha−1a−1, and both increased with the increase in organic manure input. Based on crop yield, grain protein content, nitrogen, and phosphorus efficiency and their budget, substitution of 25% inorganic fertilizer with organic manure is the rational combination under the winter wheat–summer maize system on an Anthrosol.

Organic fertilizer substituting 20% chemical N increases wheat productivity and soil fertility but reduces soil nitrate-N residue in drought-prone regions

“…Protein is an important index to evaluate wheat grain quality. The present study found that, compared with FN, the grain protein content under RN and OSN significantly decreased, which was consistent with the results of Han et al. (2022) .…”

Spring Wheat–Summer Maize Annual Crop System Grain Yield and Nitrogen Utilization Response to Nitrogen Application Rate in the Thermal–Resource–Limited Region of the North China Plain

“…In this study, the NEupk values were 0.42-1.19, which was similar to the international recommended value of 0.5-0.9 [91]. These findings were supported by Han et al [92], who highlighted that an NEupk < 1 indicates that the uptake of N is less than the input N. In this study, the N application rate of N 600 and N 720 were wasted under the annual spring wheat-summer maize cropping system.…”

Effects of combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers on Triticum aestivum quality, soil nutrients, and ecological risks

“…Previous works suggested that organic fertilizers can improve the removal/absorption of N and K by wheat crops, justifying the higher protein contents in manure amended wheat grains (Hammad et al 2020; He et al 2022). Others found that reductions happened in wheat grain protein content following the replacement of inorganic fertilizer with manure (e.g., Wang et al, 2018;Han et al, 2022). These contradictory results might be explained by the variations in N supply and removal.…”