An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest China
Excessive nitrogen (N) fertilizer application is a serious issue in intensive vegetable production and can negatively affect vegetable productivity and N use efficiency (NUE). The optimization of the N fertilizer rate and application of enhanced efficiency N fertilizers (EENFs), including nitrificat...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/524 |
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| author | Xiao Ma Fen Zhang Fabo Liu Guangzheng Guo Taihong Cheng Junjie Wang Yuanpeng Shen Tao Liang Xinping Chen Xiaozhong Wang |
| author_facet | Xiao Ma Fen Zhang Fabo Liu Guangzheng Guo Taihong Cheng Junjie Wang Yuanpeng Shen Tao Liang Xinping Chen Xiaozhong Wang |
| author_sort | Xiao Ma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Excessive nitrogen (N) fertilizer application is a serious issue in intensive vegetable production and can negatively affect vegetable productivity and N use efficiency (NUE). The optimization of the N fertilizer rate and application of enhanced efficiency N fertilizers (EENFs), including nitrification inhibitors (Nis) and controlled-release fertilizer (CRF), are widely recognized as feasible N management strategies to resolve the problem of unreasonable N fertilizer input. Therefore, we conducted a 2-year field experiment (2019–2020) in an open-field vegetable system (pepper, <i>Capsicum annuum</i> L.) in southwest China to investigate the effects of an optimized N application rate and EENFs on vegetable yield, NUE, and crop N uptake. The following N management treatments were established: control without N fertilizer input (CK); optimized N fertilizer rate as urea (OPT); farmers’ fertilizer practice (FP); application of a nitrification inhibitor (NI) within the optimized N fertilizer rate; and application of controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) within the optimized N fertilizer rate. The results showed that the OPT treatment based on root zone N management achieved a 37.5% reduction in the N application rate without compromising vegetable yield and increased the recovery efficiency of N (REN) by 31.5% compared to the FP treatment. Furthermore, the combined application of the NI or CRF treatments with the OPT treatment resulted in greater vegetable yields, fruit N uptake, and REN (9.54%, 26.8%, and 27.6%, respectively, for NI; 10.5%, 28.7%, and 28.8%, respectively, for CRF) than the OPT treatment alone. The absorption ratio of fruit N uptake to total crop N uptake was also increased. Our results clearly showed that the combined application of EENFs with the OPT treatment could achieve the win–win benefits of a yield increase and improved REN in Chinese vegetable production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:18:30Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:18:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad9b41161cc3492888624dbf23a89a932023-12-01T00:24:36ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722022-04-0112452410.3390/agriculture12040524An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest ChinaXiao Ma0Fen Zhang1Fabo Liu2Guangzheng Guo3Taihong Cheng4Junjie Wang5Yuanpeng Shen6Tao Liang7Xinping Chen8Xiaozhong Wang9College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, Chongqing 400716, ChinaExcessive nitrogen (N) fertilizer application is a serious issue in intensive vegetable production and can negatively affect vegetable productivity and N use efficiency (NUE). The optimization of the N fertilizer rate and application of enhanced efficiency N fertilizers (EENFs), including nitrification inhibitors (Nis) and controlled-release fertilizer (CRF), are widely recognized as feasible N management strategies to resolve the problem of unreasonable N fertilizer input. Therefore, we conducted a 2-year field experiment (2019–2020) in an open-field vegetable system (pepper, <i>Capsicum annuum</i> L.) in southwest China to investigate the effects of an optimized N application rate and EENFs on vegetable yield, NUE, and crop N uptake. The following N management treatments were established: control without N fertilizer input (CK); optimized N fertilizer rate as urea (OPT); farmers’ fertilizer practice (FP); application of a nitrification inhibitor (NI) within the optimized N fertilizer rate; and application of controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) within the optimized N fertilizer rate. The results showed that the OPT treatment based on root zone N management achieved a 37.5% reduction in the N application rate without compromising vegetable yield and increased the recovery efficiency of N (REN) by 31.5% compared to the FP treatment. Furthermore, the combined application of the NI or CRF treatments with the OPT treatment resulted in greater vegetable yields, fruit N uptake, and REN (9.54%, 26.8%, and 27.6%, respectively, for NI; 10.5%, 28.7%, and 28.8%, respectively, for CRF) than the OPT treatment alone. The absorption ratio of fruit N uptake to total crop N uptake was also increased. Our results clearly showed that the combined application of EENFs with the OPT treatment could achieve the win–win benefits of a yield increase and improved REN in Chinese vegetable production.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/524open-field vegetableyieldnitrogen-use efficiencyoptimized N rate nitrification inhibitorcontrolled-release fertilizer |
| spellingShingle | Xiao Ma Fen Zhang Fabo Liu Guangzheng Guo Taihong Cheng Junjie Wang Yuanpeng Shen Tao Liang Xinping Chen Xiaozhong Wang An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest China Agriculture open-field vegetable yield nitrogen-use efficiency optimized N rate nitrification inhibitor controlled-release fertilizer |
| title | An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest China |
| title_full | An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest China |
| title_fullStr | An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest China |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest China |
| title_short | An Integrated Nitrogen Management Strategy Promotes Open-Field Pepper Yield, Crop Nitrogen Uptake, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Southwest China |
| title_sort | integrated nitrogen management strategy promotes open field pepper yield crop nitrogen uptake and nitrogen use efficiency in southwest china |
| topic | open-field vegetable yield nitrogen-use efficiency optimized N rate nitrification inhibitor controlled-release fertilizer |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/524 |
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