Economic optimal nitrogen rate variability of maize in response to soil and weather conditions: Implications for site-specific nitrogen management

Xinbing Wang; Yuxin Miao; Rui Dong; Zhichao Chen; Krzysztof Kusnierek; Guohua Mi; David J. Mulla

doi:10.3390/agronomy10091237

Economic optimal nitrogen rate variability of maize in response to soil and weather conditions: Implications for site-specific nitrogen management

Xinbing Wang, Yuxin Miao, Rui Dong, Zhichao Chen, Krzysztof Kusnierek, Guohua Mi, David J. Mulla

Soil, Water, and Climate

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

The dynamic interactions between soil, weather and crop management have considerable influences on crop yield within a region, and should be considered in optimizing nitrogen (N) management. The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of soil type, weather conditions and planting density on economic optimal N rate (EONR), and to evaluate the potential benefits of site-specific N management strategies for maize production. The experiments were conducted in two soil types (black and aeolian sandy soils) from 2015 to 2017, involving different N rates (0 to 300 kg ha⁻¹) with three planting densities (55,000, 70,000, and 85,000 plant ha⁻¹) in Northeast China. The results showed that the average EONR was higher in black soil (265 kg ha⁻¹) than in aeolian sandy soil (186 kg ha⁻¹). Conversely, EONR showed higher variability in aeolian sandy soil (coefficient of variation (CV) = 30%) than in black soil (CV = 10%) across different weather conditions and planting densities. Compared with farmer N rate (FNR), applying soil-specific EONR (SS-EONR), soil- and year-specific EONR (SYS-EONR) and soil-, year-, and planting density-specific EONR (SYDS-EONR) would significantly reduce N rate by 25%, 30% and 38%, increase net return (NR) by 155 $ ha⁻¹, 176 $ ha⁻¹, and 163 $ ha⁻¹, and improve N use efficiency (NUE) by 37-42%, 52%, and 67-71% across site-years, respectively. Compared with regional optimal N rate (RONR), applying SS-EONR, SYS-EONR and SYDS-EONR would significantly reduce N application rate by 6%, 12%, and 22%, while increasing NUE by 7-8%, 16-19% and 28-34% without significantly affecting yield or NR, respectively. It is concluded that soil-specific N management has the potential to improve maize NUE compared with both farmer practice and regional optimal N management in Northeast China, especially when each year's weather condition and planting density information is also considered. More studies are needed to develop practical in-season soil (site)-specific N management strategies using crop sensing and modeling technologies to better account for soil, weather and planting density variation under diverse on-farm conditions.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	1237
Journal	Agronomy
Volume	10
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10091237
State	Published - Sep 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: The research was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016 YFD0200600, 2016YFD0200602), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SINOGRAIN II, CHN-17/0019), and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P004555/1).

Funding Information:
The research was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016 YFD0200600, 2016YFD0200602), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SINOGRAIN II, CHN-17/0019), and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P004555/1).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Net return
Nitrogen use efficiency
Regional optimal nitrogen management
Site-specific nitrogen management
Spatial variability
Temporal variability
Yield

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title = "Economic optimal nitrogen rate variability of maize in response to soil and weather conditions: Implications for site-specific nitrogen management",

abstract = "The dynamic interactions between soil, weather and crop management have considerable influences on crop yield within a region, and should be considered in optimizing nitrogen (N) management. The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of soil type, weather conditions and planting density on economic optimal N rate (EONR), and to evaluate the potential benefits of site-specific N management strategies for maize production. The experiments were conducted in two soil types (black and aeolian sandy soils) from 2015 to 2017, involving different N rates (0 to 300 kg ha−1) with three planting densities (55,000, 70,000, and 85,000 plant ha−1) in Northeast China. The results showed that the average EONR was higher in black soil (265 kg ha−1) than in aeolian sandy soil (186 kg ha−1). Conversely, EONR showed higher variability in aeolian sandy soil (coefficient of variation (CV) = 30%) than in black soil (CV = 10%) across different weather conditions and planting densities. Compared with farmer N rate (FNR), applying soil-specific EONR (SS-EONR), soil- and year-specific EONR (SYS-EONR) and soil-, year-, and planting density-specific EONR (SYDS-EONR) would significantly reduce N rate by 25%, 30% and 38%, increase net return (NR) by 155 $ ha−1, 176 $ ha−1, and 163 $ ha−1, and improve N use efficiency (NUE) by 37-42%, 52%, and 67-71% across site-years, respectively. Compared with regional optimal N rate (RONR), applying SS-EONR, SYS-EONR and SYDS-EONR would significantly reduce N application rate by 6%, 12%, and 22%, while increasing NUE by 7-8%, 16-19% and 28-34% without significantly affecting yield or NR, respectively. It is concluded that soil-specific N management has the potential to improve maize NUE compared with both farmer practice and regional optimal N management in Northeast China, especially when each year's weather condition and planting density information is also considered. More studies are needed to develop practical in-season soil (site)-specific N management strategies using crop sensing and modeling technologies to better account for soil, weather and planting density variation under diverse on-farm conditions.",

keywords = "Net return, Nitrogen use efficiency, Regional optimal nitrogen management, Site-specific nitrogen management, Spatial variability, Temporal variability, Yield",

author = "Xinbing Wang and Yuxin Miao and Rui Dong and Zhichao Chen and Krzysztof Kusnierek and Guohua Mi and Mulla, {David J.}",

note = "Funding Information: Funding: The research was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016 YFD0200600, 2016YFD0200602), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SINOGRAIN II, CHN-17/0019), and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P004555/1). Funding Information: The research was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016 YFD0200600, 2016YFD0200602), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SINOGRAIN II, CHN-17/0019), and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P004555/1). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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T2 - Implications for site-specific nitrogen management

AU - Wang, Xinbing

AU - Miao, Yuxin

AU - Dong, Rui

AU - Chen, Zhichao

AU - Kusnierek, Krzysztof

AU - Mi, Guohua

AU - Mulla, David J.

N1 - Funding Information: Funding: The research was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016 YFD0200600, 2016YFD0200602), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SINOGRAIN II, CHN-17/0019), and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P004555/1). Funding Information: The research was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016 YFD0200600, 2016YFD0200602), Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SINOGRAIN II, CHN-17/0019), and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P004555/1). Publisher Copyright: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2020/9

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N2 - The dynamic interactions between soil, weather and crop management have considerable influences on crop yield within a region, and should be considered in optimizing nitrogen (N) management. The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of soil type, weather conditions and planting density on economic optimal N rate (EONR), and to evaluate the potential benefits of site-specific N management strategies for maize production. The experiments were conducted in two soil types (black and aeolian sandy soils) from 2015 to 2017, involving different N rates (0 to 300 kg ha−1) with three planting densities (55,000, 70,000, and 85,000 plant ha−1) in Northeast China. The results showed that the average EONR was higher in black soil (265 kg ha−1) than in aeolian sandy soil (186 kg ha−1). Conversely, EONR showed higher variability in aeolian sandy soil (coefficient of variation (CV) = 30%) than in black soil (CV = 10%) across different weather conditions and planting densities. Compared with farmer N rate (FNR), applying soil-specific EONR (SS-EONR), soil- and year-specific EONR (SYS-EONR) and soil-, year-, and planting density-specific EONR (SYDS-EONR) would significantly reduce N rate by 25%, 30% and 38%, increase net return (NR) by 155 $ ha−1, 176 $ ha−1, and 163 $ ha−1, and improve N use efficiency (NUE) by 37-42%, 52%, and 67-71% across site-years, respectively. Compared with regional optimal N rate (RONR), applying SS-EONR, SYS-EONR and SYDS-EONR would significantly reduce N application rate by 6%, 12%, and 22%, while increasing NUE by 7-8%, 16-19% and 28-34% without significantly affecting yield or NR, respectively. It is concluded that soil-specific N management has the potential to improve maize NUE compared with both farmer practice and regional optimal N management in Northeast China, especially when each year's weather condition and planting density information is also considered. More studies are needed to develop practical in-season soil (site)-specific N management strategies using crop sensing and modeling technologies to better account for soil, weather and planting density variation under diverse on-farm conditions.

AB - The dynamic interactions between soil, weather and crop management have considerable influences on crop yield within a region, and should be considered in optimizing nitrogen (N) management. The objectives of this study were to determine the influence of soil type, weather conditions and planting density on economic optimal N rate (EONR), and to evaluate the potential benefits of site-specific N management strategies for maize production. The experiments were conducted in two soil types (black and aeolian sandy soils) from 2015 to 2017, involving different N rates (0 to 300 kg ha−1) with three planting densities (55,000, 70,000, and 85,000 plant ha−1) in Northeast China. The results showed that the average EONR was higher in black soil (265 kg ha−1) than in aeolian sandy soil (186 kg ha−1). Conversely, EONR showed higher variability in aeolian sandy soil (coefficient of variation (CV) = 30%) than in black soil (CV = 10%) across different weather conditions and planting densities. Compared with farmer N rate (FNR), applying soil-specific EONR (SS-EONR), soil- and year-specific EONR (SYS-EONR) and soil-, year-, and planting density-specific EONR (SYDS-EONR) would significantly reduce N rate by 25%, 30% and 38%, increase net return (NR) by 155 $ ha−1, 176 $ ha−1, and 163 $ ha−1, and improve N use efficiency (NUE) by 37-42%, 52%, and 67-71% across site-years, respectively. Compared with regional optimal N rate (RONR), applying SS-EONR, SYS-EONR and SYDS-EONR would significantly reduce N application rate by 6%, 12%, and 22%, while increasing NUE by 7-8%, 16-19% and 28-34% without significantly affecting yield or NR, respectively. It is concluded that soil-specific N management has the potential to improve maize NUE compared with both farmer practice and regional optimal N management in Northeast China, especially when each year's weather condition and planting density information is also considered. More studies are needed to develop practical in-season soil (site)-specific N management strategies using crop sensing and modeling technologies to better account for soil, weather and planting density variation under diverse on-farm conditions.

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KW - Nitrogen use efficiency

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KW - Site-specific nitrogen management

KW - Spatial variability

KW - Temporal variability

KW - Yield

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Economic optimal nitrogen rate variability of maize in response to soil and weather conditions: Implications for site-specific nitrogen management

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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