TY - JOUR
T1 - Improving nitrogen use efficiency with minimal environmental risks using an active canopy sensor in a wheat-maize cropping system
AU - Cao, Qiang
AU - Miao, Yuxin
AU - Feng, Guohui
AU - Gao, Xiaowei
AU - Liu, Bin
AU - Liu, Yuqing
AU - Li, Fei
AU - Khosla, Raj
AU - Mulla, David J.
AU - Zhang, Fusuo
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - Nitrogen (N) management needs to be significantly improved to address the triple challenge of global food security, environmental pollution and climate change. In addition to being site-specific, dynamic in-season management is needed to respond to temporal variability in soil N supply and crop N demand. Active canopy sensor-based precision N management (CS-PNM) aims to match N supply with crop N demand in both space and time. Studies that systematically compare this strategy with other N management strategies are limited, especially in intensively farmed regions of developing countries. The objective of this study was to compare CS-PNM strategy in terms of agronomic and environmental impacts in comparison with farmer's N practice, regional optimum N management, modified Green Window-based N Management and soil test-based in-season root zone N management for an intensive winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and summer maize (Zea mays L.) rotation system in North China Plain. A field experiment was conducted from 2008 to 2012 in Quzhou, Hebei Province of China to evaluate these systems. The CS-PNM strategy was consistently better for both crops than the other tested strategies. In comparison with farmer's practice and regional optimum N management, the CS-PNM strategy reduced N fertilizer applications by 62% and 36%, increased N use efficiencies by 68–123% and 20–61%, decreased apparent total N losses by 81% and 57%, and lowered intensities of total N2O emission, greenhouse gas emission and reactive N losses by 54–68% and 20–42%, respectively. Here we demonstrate that relative to current N management strategies, the CS-PNM strategy has significant potential to improve N use efficiencies and mitigate environmental degradation for sustainable intensification of agriculture in developing countries.
AB - Nitrogen (N) management needs to be significantly improved to address the triple challenge of global food security, environmental pollution and climate change. In addition to being site-specific, dynamic in-season management is needed to respond to temporal variability in soil N supply and crop N demand. Active canopy sensor-based precision N management (CS-PNM) aims to match N supply with crop N demand in both space and time. Studies that systematically compare this strategy with other N management strategies are limited, especially in intensively farmed regions of developing countries. The objective of this study was to compare CS-PNM strategy in terms of agronomic and environmental impacts in comparison with farmer's N practice, regional optimum N management, modified Green Window-based N Management and soil test-based in-season root zone N management for an intensive winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and summer maize (Zea mays L.) rotation system in North China Plain. A field experiment was conducted from 2008 to 2012 in Quzhou, Hebei Province of China to evaluate these systems. The CS-PNM strategy was consistently better for both crops than the other tested strategies. In comparison with farmer's practice and regional optimum N management, the CS-PNM strategy reduced N fertilizer applications by 62% and 36%, increased N use efficiencies by 68–123% and 20–61%, decreased apparent total N losses by 81% and 57%, and lowered intensities of total N2O emission, greenhouse gas emission and reactive N losses by 54–68% and 20–42%, respectively. Here we demonstrate that relative to current N management strategies, the CS-PNM strategy has significant potential to improve N use efficiencies and mitigate environmental degradation for sustainable intensification of agriculture in developing countries.
KW - Greenhouse gas emission
KW - In-season nitrogen management
KW - Intensive agriculture
KW - Nitrate leaching
KW - Precision agriculture
KW - Sustainable development
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U2 - 10.1016/j.fcr.2017.09.033
DO - 10.1016/j.fcr.2017.09.033
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85032469367
VL - 214
SP - 365
EP - 372
JO - Field Crops Research
JF - Field Crops Research
SN - 0378-4290
ER -