Effect of organic amendments on yield-scaled N2O emissions from winter wheat-summer maize cropping systems in Northwest China

Organic amendments improve general soil conditions and stabilize crop production, but their effects on the soil hydrothermal regime, root distribution, and their contributions to water productivity (WP) of maize have not been fully studied. A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the impacts of organic amendments on soil temperature, water storage depletion (SWSD), root distribution, grain yield, and the WP of summer maize (Zea mays L.) in the Guanzhong Plain of Northwest China. The control treatment (CO) applied mineral fertilizer without amendments, and the three amended treatments applied mineral fertilizer with 20 Mg ha−1 of wheat straw (MWS), farmyard manure (MFM), and bioorganic fertilizer (MBF), respectively. Organic amendments decreased SWSD compared to CO, and the lowest value was obtained in MBF, followed by MWS and MFM. Meanwhile, the lowest mean topsoil (0–10 cm) temperature was registered in MWS. Compared to CO, organic amendments generally improved the root length density (RLD) and root weight density (RWD) of maize. MBF showed the highest RLD across the whole soil profile, while MWS yielded the greatest RWD to 20 cm soil depth. Consequently, organic amendments increased grain yield by 9.9–40.3% and WP by 8.6–47.1% compared to CO, and the best performance was attained in MWS and MBF. We suggest that MWS and MBF can benefit the maize agriculture in semi-arid regions for higher yield, and WP through regulating soil hydrothermal conditions and improving root growth.

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Exploring a Sustainable Cropping System in the North China Plain Using a Modelling Approach

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12114588 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (11) ◽

pp. 4588

Author(s):

Huanyuan Wang ◽

Baoguo Li ◽

Liang Jin ◽

Kelin Hu

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Agricultural Development ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

Summer Maize ◽

The North ◽

The North China Plain ◽

Spring Maize

The North China Plain (NCP) is one of the most important grain production regions in China. However, it currently experiences water shortage, severe nonpoint source pollution, and low water and N use efficiencies (WUE and NUE). To explore sustainable agricultural development in this region, a field experiment with different cropping systems was conducted in suburban Beijing. These cropping systems included a winter wheat and summer maize rotation system for one year (WM), three harvests (winter wheat-summer maize-spring maize) in two years (HT), and continuous spring maize monoculture (CS). Novel ways were explored to improve WUE and NUE and to reduce N loss via the alternative cropping system based on the simulation results of a soil-crop system model. Results showed that the annual average yields were ranked as follows: WM > HT > CS. The N leaching of WM was much larger than that of HT and CS. WUE and NUE were ranked as follows: WM < HT < CS. Comprehensive evaluation indices based on agronomic and environmental effects indicated that CS or HT have significant potential for approaches characterized by water-saving, fertilizer-saving, high-WUE, and high-NUE properties. Once spring maize yield reached an ideal level HT and CS became a high-yield, water-saving, and fertilizer-saving cropping systems. Therefore, this method would be beneficial to sustainable agricultural development in the NCP.

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Modeling Water and Nitrogen Balance of Different Cropping Systems in the North China Plain

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy9110696 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 696 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Shah Jahan Leghari ◽

Kelin Hu ◽

Hao Liang ◽

Yichang Wei

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Grain Yield ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Summer Maize ◽

The North ◽

The North China Plain ◽

Spring Maize ◽

N Use

The North China Plain (NCP) is experiencing serious groundwater level decline and groundwater nitrate contamination due to excessive water pumping and application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer. In this study, grain yield, water and N use efficiencies under different cropping systems including two harvests in 1 year (winter wheat–summer maize) based on farmer (2H1Y)FP and optimized practices (2H1Y)OPT, three harvests in 2 years (winter wheat–summer maize–spring maize, 3H2Y), and one harvest in 1 year (spring maize, 1H1Y) were evaluated using the water-heat-carbon-nitrogen simulator (WHCNS) model. The 2H1YFP system was maintained with 100% irrigation and fertilizer, while crop water requirement and N demand for other cropping systems were optimized and managed by soil testing. In addition, a scenario analysis was also performed under the interaction of linearly increasing and decreasing N rates, and irrigation levels. Results showed that the model performed well with simulated soil water content, soil N concentration, leaf area index, dry matter, and grain yield. Statistically acceptable ranges of root mean square error, Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency, index of agreement values close to 1, and strong correlation coefficients existed between simulated and observed values. We concluded that replacing the prevalent 2H1YFP with 1H1Y would be ecofriendly at the cost of some grain yield decline. This cropping system had the highest average water use (2.1 kg m−3) and N use efficiencies (4.8 kg kg–1) on reduced water (56.64%) and N (81.36%) inputs than 2H1YFP. Whereas 3H2Y showed insignificant results in terms of grain yield, and 2H1YFP was unsustainable. The 2H1YFP system consumed a total of 745 mm irrigation and 1100 kg N ha–1 in two years. When farming practices were optimized for two harvests in 1 year system (2H1Y)OPT, then grain yield improved and water (18.12%) plus N (61.82%) consumptions were minimized. There was an ample amount of N saved, but water conservation was still unsatisfactory. However, considering the results of scenario analyses, it is recommended that winter wheat would be cultivated at <200 mm irrigation by reducing one irrigation event.

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Characterizing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Global Warming Potential of Wheat-Maize Cropping Systems in Response to Organic Amendments in Eutric Regosols, China

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos11060614 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 614

Author(s):

Hamidou Bah ◽

Xiao Ren ◽

Yanqiang Wang ◽

Jialiang Tang ◽

Bo Zhu

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Global Warming Potential ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Inorganic Nitrogen ◽

Ghg Emissions ◽

Organic Amendments ◽

Mineral Fertilizers ◽

N2o Emissions ◽

Pig Slurry

Characterizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and global warming potential (GWP) has become a key step in the estimation of atmospheric GHG concentrations and their potential mitigation by cropland management. However, the impacts of organic amendments on GHG, GWP, and yield-scaled GWP on cropland have not been well documented. Here, we investigate four amendment treatments (no amendment, mineral fertilizers, and pig slurry or crop residue combined with mineral fertilizers) during a two-year field experiment in rain-fed wheat-maize cropping systems. The results show that the average annual cumulative methane (CH4) flux ranged from −2.60 to −2.97 kg·C·ha−1 while nitrous oxide (N2O) flux ranged from 0.44 to 4.58 kg·N·ha−1 across all four treatments. N2O emissions were significantly correlated with soil inorganic nitrogen (i.e., NH4+-N and NO3−-N), and soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) during both the winter wheat and summer maize seasons. On average, organic amendments combined with mineral fertilizers increased the annual GWP by 26–74% and yield-scaled GWP by 19–71% compared to those under only mineral fertilizers application. This study indicates that the fertilization strategy for Eutric Regosols can shift from only mineral fertilizers to organic amendments combined with mineral fertilizers, which can help mitigate GHG emissions and GWP while maintaining crop yields.

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Effects of Seven Diversified Crop Rotations on Selected Soil Health Indicators and Wheat Productivity

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10020235 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 235 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lin Wang ◽

Yingxing Zhao ◽

Mahdi Al-Kaisi ◽

Jia Yang ◽

Yuanquan Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Sweet Potato ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Wheat Yield ◽

Soil Health ◽

Health Indicators ◽

Available Phosphorus ◽

Summer Maize ◽

System Productivity ◽

Double Cropping

Diversified cropping systems can enhance soil condition and increase system productivity worldwide. To reduce the negative effects that accompany the continuous winter wheat–summer maize (WM) double-cropping in the North China Plain (NCP), diversified crop rotation (DCR) needs to be considered. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of DCR on soil health and wheat productivity as compared to a continuous WM double-cropping. A field experiment (37°41′ N, 116°37′ E) was established in the NCP including a traditional WM double-cropping as a baseline. During 2016/2017–2017/2018, the control is winter wheat–summer maize→winter wheat–summer maize (WM→WM) and seven DCRs as follow: fallow→winter wheat–summer maize (F→WM); spring maize→winter wheat–summer maize (Ms→WM); winter wheat→winter wheat–summer maize (W→WM); sweet potato→winter wheat–summer maize (Psw→WM); spring peanut→winter wheat–summer maize (Pns→WM); winter wheat–summer peanut→winter wheat–summer maize (WPn→WM) and potato–silage maize→winter wheat–summer maize (PMl→WM). Our results indicated that DCRs significantly changed certain soil health indicators in 2016/2017 compared with the control, where F→WM rotation significantly decreased soil pH by 2.7%. The DCRs, especial Psw→WM and Pns→WM rotations showed a potential positive effect on soil health indicators at the end of the second year (2017/2018) compared with the control, where sweet potato increased soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP), urease activity (UA) and alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) in 2017/2018 by 5.1%, 5.3%, 13.8%, 9.4%, and 13.5%, respectively. With the spring peanut, TN, AP, and soil APA were increased by 2.1%, 13.2%, and 7.7%, respectively. Although fertilizer and irrigation input of DCRs were lower than the control, no significant decrease was observed on actual wheat yield as compared to the control (7.79 Mg/ha). The finding of this study highlights the value of DCRs, especially, Psw→WM and Pns→WM rotations over WM double-cropping in the NCP.

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Will Maize-Based Cropping Systems Reduce Water Consumption without Compromise of Food Security in the North China Plain?

Water ◽

10.3390/w12102946 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 2946

Author(s):

Jia Yang ◽

Jixiao Cui ◽

Ziqin Lv ◽

Mengmeng Ran ◽

Beibei Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Winter Wheat ◽

Water Consumption ◽

North China Plain ◽

North China ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Summer Maize ◽

The North ◽

Spring Maize ◽

Supply Capacity

The winter wheat–summer maize double cropping system caused overexploitation of groundwater in the North China Plain; it is unsustainable and threatens food security and the overall wellbeing of humankind in the region. Finding water-saving cropping systems without compromising food security is a more likely solution. In this study, six alternative cropping systems’ water conservation and food supply capacity were compared simultaneously. A combined water footprint method was applied to analyze the cropping systems’ water consumption. The winter wheat–summer maize system had the largest water consumption (16,585 m3/ha on average), followed by the potato/spring maize, spinach–spring maize, rye–spring maize, vetch–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize and mono-spring maize cropping systems. For the groundwater, the spinach–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize systems showed a higher degree of synchronization between crop growth period and rainfall, which could reduce use of groundwater by 36.8%, 54.4% and 57.6%, respectively. For food supply capacity, the values for spinach–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize systems were 73.0%, 60.8% and 48.4% of winter wheat–summer maize, respectively, but they showed a better feeding efficiency than the winter wheat–summer maize system. On the whole, spinach–spring maize may be a good option to prevent further decline in groundwater level and to ensure food security in a sustainable way.

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Effects of Water Saving Practices on Winter Wheat and Summer Maize Yields in South Loess Plateau of Northwest China

Agrotechnology ◽

10.4172/2168-9881.1000157 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 06 (02) ◽

Author(s):

Ahmadzai MA ◽

Cai M ◽

Meng Y ◽

Zhou JB

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Loess Plateau ◽

Northwest China ◽

Water Saving ◽

Summer Maize ◽

Maize Yields

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Evaluating the Impact of Alternative Cropping Systems on Groundwater Consumption and Nitrate Leaching in the Piedmont Area of the North China Plain

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10111635 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 1635

Author(s):

Meiying Liu ◽

Leilei Min ◽

Yanjun Shen ◽

Lin Wu

Keyword(s):

Winter Wheat ◽

Crop Yields ◽

Cropping Systems ◽

Cropping System ◽

N Leaching ◽

Summer Maize ◽

The North ◽

Rotation System ◽

Groundwater Consumption ◽

The Impact

The overexploitation of groundwater and the excessive application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer under the intensive double cropping system are responsible for the groundwater level decline and potential contamination in the North China Plain (NCP). Alternative cropping systems have the potential to alleviate current groundwater and N problems in the region, while there are limited studies simultaneously focusing on the impact of a change of cropping systems on crop yields, groundwater consumption, and N leaching. In this study, Field observed experiments of double-cropping system (i.e., winter wheat–summer maize) and mono-cropping system (early sowing maize) were used to calibrate and validate the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2). Then, the validated RZWQM2 model was used to evaluate the long-term crop growth and environmental impact under the local winter wheat–summer maize rotation system with practical irrigation (WW-SM_pi) and auto-irrigation (WW-SM_ai), and three alternative cropping systems (single early maize, SEM; winter wheat–summer maize and single early maize, WW-SM-SEM; winter wheat-summer maize and double single early maize, WW-SM-2SEM). The net consumption of groundwater and N leaching under WW-SM_pi were 226.9 mm yr−1 and 79.7 kg ha−1 yr−1, respectively. Under the local rotation system, auto-irrigation could increase crop yields and N leaching. Compared with the WW-SM_ai, the alternative cropping systems, WW-SM-SEM, WW-SM-2SEM, and SEM, significantly decreased the net consumption of groundwater by 49.3%, 63.0%, and 97.8%, respectively (147.5–292.9 mm), and N leaching by 53.5%, 67.5%, and 89.6%, respectively (50.0–83.7 kg ha−1). However, the yields of the three alternative cropping systems were reduced by less than 30% (12.2%, 20.1%, and 29.7%, respectively). The simulated results indicated that appropriately decreasing the planting frequency of winter wheat is an effective approach to reduce groundwater overexploitation and N contamination with a relatively limited reduction in grain yields. The results could provide a scientific basis for cropping system adjustment in guaranteeing sustainable regional water and grain policy.

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