Impacts of nitrogen practices on yield, grain quality, and nitrogen‐use efficiency of crops and soil fertility in three paddy‐upland cropping systems

Abstract

BACKGROUND Global food security faces a number of challenges due to increasing population, climate change, and urbanization, while excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers has become a major challenge for sustainable, intensive agriculture. Assessing the impact of agronomic management practices on seed yield, grain quality, and soil fertility is a critical step in understanding nutrientuse efficiency. RESULT The comprehensive evaluation index had good fitness to that of single attribute (i.e. seed yield, crop quality and soil fertility), indicating that the comprehensive evaluation index was reliable. Applying controlled‐release urea (rice in wheat and oilseed rape field: 150 kg N ha−1, other crops: 120 kg N ha−1) plus common urea (30 kg N ha−1) incorporating straw from the previous season across the growing season for cereal and oilseed crops showed a slight improvement in seed productivity and Nuse efficiency among three cropping systems in the traditional evaluation method. Compared with local farm practice (applying common urea of 150 kg N ha−1), applying these practices in combination based on the outcome of the comprehensive evaluation index method decreased the seed yield by −1.27 ~ 29.8% but improved quality and soil fertility for the paddy‐upland cropping system, respectively. CONCLUSION Properly managing N application by applying partial and fully controlled release of urea with or without straw incorporation for a specific crop system has the potential to provide a better compromise among yield, grain quality, and soil fertility in southern China. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

Slow-Release Nitrogen Fertilizers with Biodegradable Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) Coating: Their Effect on the Growth of Maize and the Dynamics of N Release in Soil

“…The pot experiment results proved coated CAN fertilizers as a possible option to improve nutrient use efficiency, reduce nitrogen losses, and minimize environmental pollution while providing nitrogen to plants more gradually during vegetation, which is also described by several authors [ 9 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 ]. The release of nitrogen from coated CAN fertilizers affected dynamic changes in the soil mineral N content during the vegetation of maize.…”

Oil-Based Polymer Coatings on CAN Fertilizer in Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.) Nutrition

“…The application of controlled-release fertilizers (CRFs) is one way to improve nutrient use efficiency, reduce nitrogen loss, and contribute to minimizing environmental pollution, providing a better compromise among soil fertility, yield, and grain quality [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. CRFs prove the potential to decrease the fertilizer application rate by 20% or 30% of the recommended value to achieve the same yield [ 23 ].…”

Fertilization time of slow‐release fertilizer affects the physicochemical properties of starch from spring‐sown waxy maize

“…29 Although numerous studies reported that N rates and application times strongly affect grain starch quality, only a few focused on the effects of slowrelease fertilizer. 16,30,31 Previous studies found that moderate N application rates are essential to improve grain yield and starch quality. 32,33 However, the effects of traditional and slow-release fertilizers on the physicochemical properties of waxy maize starch are unknown.…”

“…Among maize types, waxy maize starch is composed of nearly pure amylopectin that endows it with high viscosity, high transmittance, high stability, and low retrogradation; hence, waxy maize starch is widely used in food and non‐food industries 29 . Although numerous studies reported that N rates and application times strongly affect grain starch quality, only a few focused on the effects of slow‐release fertilizer 16,30,31 . Previous studies found that moderate N application rates are essential to improve grain yield and starch quality 32,33 .…”