Matching fertilization with water availability enhances maize productivity and water use efficiency in a semi-arid area: Mechanisms and solutions
Zhang X. Dong Z. Wu X. Gan Y. Chen X. Xia H. Kamran M. Jia Z. Han Q. Shayakhmetova A. Siddique K.H.M.
October 2021Elsevier B.V.
Soil and Tillage Research
2021#214
Unpredictable precipitation and frequent droughts often threaten crop productivity in semiarid areas, but this challenge can be alleviated by optimizing the nutrient supplies to match the water availability. In this study, a field experiment was conducted from 2014 to 2017 in the Loess Plateau of northwest China to determine the soil water balance and maize crop productivity in the ridge–furrow mulching system under five N + P2O5 fertilizer application rates: 0 + 0 (control); 117 + 59 kg ha−1; 173 + 87 kg ha−1; 229 + 115 kg ha−1; and 285 + 143 kg ha−1. Results showed that fertilization increased the evapotranspiration by 5.1–11.8 %, maize yield by 94.0–129.9 %, and water use efficiency by 89.3–116.7 %, compared with the control. However, increasing the fertilizer rate resulted in the evapotranspiration exceeding the precipitation, thereby leading to significant soil water depletion (44.9 mm – 159.6 mm), especially in the 80–200 cm soil layer., The average soil water increment during the fallow period was 49.3 mm, which was not balanced with the soil water depletion, and thus the annual soil water imbalance characterized by decreased soil water storage at sowing (SWSs) that became worse each year. During the course of the four-year study, SWSs decreased from an average of 575.5 mm in 2014 to 358.8–500.0 mm (average 398.6 mm) in 2017, and the decreases were 20.5–28.2 % greater in soils that received higher fertilizer rates compared with the control. Thus, huge fluctuations occurred in the maize yield between years, which were greater as the amount of fertilizer increased. Our results suggests that fertilizer application at a rate of N 180.9+P2O5 90.5 kg ha–1 is ideal to match with the water availability to facilitate sustainable water use and achieve high maize yields. In addition, ensuring that SWSs is at least 441.1 mm and the sum of SWSS plus precipitation within 90 days after sowing exceeds 624.3 mm can help to stabilize the maize grain yield in the study region.
Fertilization , Loess Plateau , Ridge–furrow mulching system , Soil water storage at sowing , Water balance
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Key Laboratory of Crop Physio-ecology and Tillage Science in the Northwestern Loess Plateau, Ministry of Agriculture/College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education/Institute of Water Saving Agriculture in Arid Areas of China, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Swift Current Research and Development Centre, Swift Current, S9H 3X2, SK, Canada
College of Agronomy, M. Kozybayev North Kazakhstan State University, Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan
The UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, LB 5005, Perth, 6001, WA, Australia
Key Laboratory of Crop Physio-ecology and Tillage Science in the Northwestern Loess Plateau
Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
College of Agronomy
The UWA Institute of Agriculture
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