Is there a nitrogen fertilizer threshold emitting less N2O with the prerequisite of high wheat production?

Yuan Yi; Fujian Li; Mingwei Zhang; Yi Yuan; Min Zhu; Wenshan Guo; Xinkai Zhu; Chunyan Li

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202343

Is there a nitrogen fertilizer threshold emitting less N2O with the prerequisite of high wheat production?

PLoS One. 2018 Aug 28;13(8):e0202343. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202343. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Yuan Yi¹, Fujian Li¹, Mingwei Zhang¹, Yi Yuan², Min Zhu¹, Wenshan Guo¹, Xinkai Zhu¹, Chunyan Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology of Jiangsu Province / Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops / Wheat Research Institute, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
² Zhenjiang Agro-Technical Extension Station No. 97, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, China.

Abstract

Excessive use of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer and lower nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are threatening the wheat production in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River. Excess input of N fertilizers also results in severe environmental pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. However, the study on reasonable nitrogen application and NUE improvement with the prerequisite of stable and high yield remains unexplored. In our study, the four different levels of nitrogen were applied to find out the nitrogen threshold which could be both friendly to environment and promise the stable and high yield. The experiment was carried out in Yangzhou University (Yangzhou, China). The wheat cultivar Yangmai 23 was selected as the research material. The four nitrogen levels were as follows: 0, 189, 229.5, and 270 kg ha-1. The results showed that the grain yield under the application of 229.5 kg ha-1 N was as high as that under 270 kg ha-1 N level, with the observation of 20.3% increase in agronomic efficiency. The N2O emission of 229.5 kg ha-1 N application was as low as that of 189 kg ha-1 N, but the grain yield and agronomic efficiency were significantly higher (11.9%) under 229.5 kg ha-1 treatment than the lower one. Taken together, this indicated the nitrogen level at 229.5 kg ha-1 could be identified as the fertilizer threshold, which will be beneficial for the future fieldwork.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Agriculture / methods*
Fertilizers* / adverse effects
Greenhouse Gases / metabolism
Nitrogen / administration & dosage*
Nitrogen / adverse effects
Nitrous Oxide / metabolism*
Plant Proteins / metabolism
Time Factors
Triticum / growth & development*
Triticum / metabolism*

Substances

Fertilizers
Greenhouse Gases
Plant Proteins
Nitrous Oxide
Nitrogen

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0300107), which was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (http://www.most.gov.cn/) and the receiver is Li CY. It was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771711), which was provided by the committee of National Natural Science Foundation of China (http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/) with the receiver Guo WS. In addition, it was sponsored by Science and Technology Innovation Group of Yangzhou University (2016) with the receiver Zhu XK. It was also funded by the Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (CX(16)1001) with the receiver Li CY. It was also supported by the Yangzhou Science Foundation for Excellent Youths (YZ2017098), which was funded by the Yangzhou Science and Technology Bureau (http://kjj.yangzhou.gov.cn/yzkjj/index.shtml) with the receiver Li CY. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.