Integrating density and fertilizer management to optimize the accumulation, remobilization, and distribution of biomass and nutrients in summer maize

Abstract

improved the utilization of fertilizer while maintaining the increased of grain yield was the focus of Chinese researchers. Nutrient uptake, distribution, and remobilization are important factors affecting the fertilizer utilization and grain yield of maize. this study aimed to provide a theoretical and practical basis for science-based, high-yielding, and high-efficiency cultivation practices by examining differences in biomass and nutrient uptake, distribution, and remobilization characteristics under three cultivation patterns. We set 12 treatments as follows: super high-yielding cultivation pattern (SH), optimized nutrient management cultivation pattern (onM), local farmer's practice cultivation pattern (FP), and a series of nutrient omission plots, which excluded nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), or potassium (K) from the three patterns. the results demonstrated that SH and onM increased the yield and actual harvested ears by 35.4, 20.7 and by 20.2, 17.6%, respectively. Compared with the FP, SH and ONM increased biomass, N, P, and K accumulation at silking (R1 stage) by 24.4, 31.2, 39.4, and 34.8%, and by 21.7, 22.2, 31.7, and 34.8%, respectively. SH and ONM significantly increased biomass and nutrient distribution to the grains. ONM significantly increased N use efficiency. P and K use efficiency under the ONM pattern was significantly higher than under SH, but was lower than under the FP pattern over two years. This research demonstrates that ONM may significantly reduce fertilizer rates, effectively improve the nutrient remobilization efficiency and uptake at post-silking without negatively affecting grain yield, thereby increasing N use efficiency.

Different organic material amendments effects soil nitrogen utilization and crop yield in the North China Plain

“…The calculation of N accumulation in plants (NAP), NUE, and N harvest index (NHI) was performed as described by Ren et al. (2020): $$$$\begin{equation}{\rm{NAP }}\left( {{\rm{kg h}}{{\rm{a}}^{ - 2}}} \right) = {\rm{NP}} \times {\rm{DM}}\end{equation}$$$$where NP (g kg −1 ) is the N content of plants, and DM (kg ha −2 ) is the aboveground dry matter; $$$$\begin{equation}{\rm{NUE}}\;\left( {{\rm{kg k}}{{\rm{g}}^{ - 1}}} \right) = \;{\rm{GY}}/{\rm{NAP}}\end{equation}$$$$where NUE (kg −1 ) is defined as grain yield per unit of N uptake; and $$$$\begin{equation}{\rm{NHI\;}}\left( \% \right) = {\rm{NAG}}/{\rm{NAP}}\end{equation}$$$$where NHI (%) is the N harvest index.…”

“…The NUE is known to exhibit large spatial and temporal variability (Tsachidou et al, 2019). The calculation of N accumulation in plants (NAP), NUE, and N harvest index (NHI) was performed as described by Ren et al (2020):…”

“…It is estimated that N fertilizer meets the grain demands of 48% of the population in the world and plays a critical role in world food security (Erisman et al., 2008; C. Wang et al., 2017). Fertilizer used to be a major driving force for China's grain production, but with the increase in fertilizer usage, the utilization rate of fertilizer has gradually decreased, which cannot bring about an increase in yield (Ren et al., 2020). The large‐scale application of chemical fertilizers (CFs) leads to a low fertilizer utilization rate, resulting in many environmental problems (C. Yang et al., 2021).…”

Coupling Effects of Optimized Planting Density and Variety Selection in Improving the Yield, Nutrient Accumulation, and Remobilization of Sweet Maize in Southeast China

“…researchers have believed that, the higher the yield of maize with the more significant amount of nutrient transport, the more the stay-green variety inhibits the amount of nutrient transport in maize and leads to reduced yield under high plant density [23,32]. Contrary to common grain maize, the harvest period of sweet maize is the R3 stage (fresh eating stage), and the post-silking growth of sweet maize is shorter and different from grain maize.…”

“…Some studies demonstrated that the super-high-yield maize varieties mainly rely on the absorption of nutrients after the silking stage, and the contribution of nutrient transport was decreased with the increase in yield [31]. However, some researchers have believed that, the higher the yield of maize with the more significant amount of nutri-ent transport, the more the stay-green variety inhibits the amount of nutrient transport in maize and leads to reduced yield under high plant density [23,32]. Contrary to common grain maize, the harvest period of sweet maize is the R3 stage (fresh eating stage), and the post-silking growth of sweet maize is shorter and different from grain maize.…”