Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China Plain
In order to study the effect of green manure return for stabilized spring maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) grain yield (GY) we reduced nitrogen fertilizer input by regulation and examined effects on soil nutrients, enzyme activity, and fungal communities. This two-year field experiment was con...
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MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| author | Gang Su Rui Zhao Yizhen Wang Yong’an Yang Xidong Wu Jinlong Wang Junzhu Ge |
| author_facet | Gang Su Rui Zhao Yizhen Wang Yong’an Yang Xidong Wu Jinlong Wang Junzhu Ge |
| author_sort | Gang Su |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In order to study the effect of green manure return for stabilized spring maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) grain yield (GY) we reduced nitrogen fertilizer input by regulation and examined effects on soil nutrients, enzyme activity, and fungal communities. This two-year field experiment was conducted in the North China Plain. The field experiment was undertaken with a split-plot design; the primary plots were winter fallow (WF) and green manure (GM), and the split-plots were five N application rates of 0 (N0), 189 (N189), 216 (N216), 243 (N243), and 270 (N270) kg ha<sup>−1</sup>. The results showed that, spring maize GY under GM treatments (GY<i><sub>GM</sub></i>) were significantly increased by 5.38–11.68% more than WF treatment (GY<i><sub>WF</sub></i>), and GY<i><sub>WF</sub></i> and GY<i><sub>GM</sub></i> significantly increased by 35.9–91.5% and 80.1–135.5% across all N treatments. By linear-platform model analysis, spring maize under GM treatments obtained higher GY, reaching 1270.5–14,312.2 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> with optimized N application rate at 238–265 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>, which resulted in a GY higher than WF (11,820.0 and 13,654.2 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>) and N reduced 11.2% (238 vs. 268 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>). GM treatment significantly increased soil organic carbon by 3.90–12.23% more than WF over all N application rates, and total nitrogen and available nitrogen were significantly increased by 3.79–15.76% and 4.87–17.29%, with total phosphorus and available phosphorus for GM higher than WF by 6.1–13.6% and 9.6–5.3%, respectively. However, there were lesser effects of GM on total potassium and available potassium. Compared to WF, soil catalase, sucrose, urease, and alkaline phosphatase activity were significantly increased by 6.2–16.4%, 5.8–48.1%, 3.3–21.5% and 11.5–82.3%, respectively, over all N application rates under GM over two years. GM increased <i>Zygomycota</i> and <i>Basidiomycota</i> relative abundances significantly, and reduced <i>Thielavia</i>, <i>unclassified fungi</i>, and <i>Podospora</i> relative abundances by 35.35%, 52.92% and 52.77% more than WF treatment, respectively. In summary, due to the GM return into fields, increased soil nutrients were available, which were positively affected by soil enzyme activity and fungal communities, and reduced nutrient requirements, and so the farmers could obtain a spring maize grain yield higher than 14,000 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> with a reduced 11.2% N application rate from 268 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> to 238 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> by sowing winter green manure for a long time period in the North China Plain. |
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| spelling | doaj.art-73835790a7244a239e68ec627faa9b7d2023-11-24T03:21:25ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952022-11-011211273410.3390/agronomy12112734Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China PlainGang Su0Rui Zhao1Yizhen Wang2Yong’an Yang3Xidong Wu4Jinlong Wang5Junzhu Ge6College of Agronomy, Resources and Environment, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300392, ChinaCollege of Agronomy, Resources and Environment, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300392, ChinaCollege of Agronomy, Resources and Environment, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300392, ChinaTianjin Highquality Agricultural Products Development Demonstration Center, Tianjin 301500, ChinaCollege of Agronomy, Resources and Environment, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300392, ChinaCollege of Agronomy, Resources and Environment, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300392, ChinaCollege of Agronomy, Resources and Environment, Tianjin Agricultural University, Tianjin 300392, ChinaIn order to study the effect of green manure return for stabilized spring maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.) grain yield (GY) we reduced nitrogen fertilizer input by regulation and examined effects on soil nutrients, enzyme activity, and fungal communities. This two-year field experiment was conducted in the North China Plain. The field experiment was undertaken with a split-plot design; the primary plots were winter fallow (WF) and green manure (GM), and the split-plots were five N application rates of 0 (N0), 189 (N189), 216 (N216), 243 (N243), and 270 (N270) kg ha<sup>−1</sup>. The results showed that, spring maize GY under GM treatments (GY<i><sub>GM</sub></i>) were significantly increased by 5.38–11.68% more than WF treatment (GY<i><sub>WF</sub></i>), and GY<i><sub>WF</sub></i> and GY<i><sub>GM</sub></i> significantly increased by 35.9–91.5% and 80.1–135.5% across all N treatments. By linear-platform model analysis, spring maize under GM treatments obtained higher GY, reaching 1270.5–14,312.2 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> with optimized N application rate at 238–265 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>, which resulted in a GY higher than WF (11,820.0 and 13,654.2 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>) and N reduced 11.2% (238 vs. 268 kg ha<sup>−1</sup>). GM treatment significantly increased soil organic carbon by 3.90–12.23% more than WF over all N application rates, and total nitrogen and available nitrogen were significantly increased by 3.79–15.76% and 4.87–17.29%, with total phosphorus and available phosphorus for GM higher than WF by 6.1–13.6% and 9.6–5.3%, respectively. However, there were lesser effects of GM on total potassium and available potassium. Compared to WF, soil catalase, sucrose, urease, and alkaline phosphatase activity were significantly increased by 6.2–16.4%, 5.8–48.1%, 3.3–21.5% and 11.5–82.3%, respectively, over all N application rates under GM over two years. GM increased <i>Zygomycota</i> and <i>Basidiomycota</i> relative abundances significantly, and reduced <i>Thielavia</i>, <i>unclassified fungi</i>, and <i>Podospora</i> relative abundances by 35.35%, 52.92% and 52.77% more than WF treatment, respectively. In summary, due to the GM return into fields, increased soil nutrients were available, which were positively affected by soil enzyme activity and fungal communities, and reduced nutrient requirements, and so the farmers could obtain a spring maize grain yield higher than 14,000 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> with a reduced 11.2% N application rate from 268 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> to 238 kg ha<sup>−1</sup> by sowing winter green manure for a long time period in the North China Plain.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/11/2734spring maizegreen manure returnnitrogen reductiongrain yieldsoil enzymessoil nutrients |
| spellingShingle | Gang Su Rui Zhao Yizhen Wang Yong’an Yang Xidong Wu Jinlong Wang Junzhu Ge Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China Plain Agronomy spring maize green manure return nitrogen reduction grain yield soil enzymes soil nutrients |
| title | Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China Plain |
| title_full | Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China Plain |
| title_fullStr | Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China Plain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China Plain |
| title_short | Green Manure Return Strategies to Improve Soil Properties and Spring Maize Productivity under Nitrogen Reduction in the North China Plain |
| title_sort | green manure return strategies to improve soil properties and spring maize productivity under nitrogen reduction in the north china plain |
| topic | spring maize green manure return nitrogen reduction grain yield soil enzymes soil nutrients |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/11/2734 |
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