EFFECTS OF SUBSTITUTION OF MINERAL NITROGEN WITH ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON NITROGEN LOSS FROM SLOPING CROPLAND OF PURPLE SOIL

doi:10.15302/J-FASE-2022456

Front. Agr. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 9

Issue (3) : 396-406 https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2022456

RESEARCH ARTICLE

EFFECTS OF SUBSTITUTION OF MINERAL NITROGEN WITH ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON NITROGEN LOSS FROM SLOPING CROPLAND OF PURPLE SOIL

Bo ZHU^1,²(

), Zhiyuan YAO^1,², Dongni HU^1,^2,³, Hamidou BAH^1,³

¹. Key Laboratory of Mountain Surface Processes and Ecological Regulation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
². Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
³. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100049, China

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Abstract

● Interflow acts as the dominant pathway for N loss loadings.

● The purple soil region is a hot spot of nitrate leaching in China.

● Mineral N substitution with organic amendments can be recommended as optimal practices for cropland N management.

Nitrogen loss from purple soil can lead to large negative impacts to the environment considering the wide distribution of this soil type in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Therefore, nitrogen loss patterns from sloping cropland of purple soil in the Sichuan Basin with the following fertilization regimes were studied in a wheat-maize rotation system: 100% organic fertilizer (OM), using pig manure to replace 30% of mineral N (OMNPK) and crop residue to replace 15% of the mineral N (CRNPK) plus standard mineral fertilization (NPK) and no fertilizer control. The cumulative hydrological N loss could be as high as 45 kg·ha⁻¹ N. The interflow accounted for up to 90% of the total N loss followed by sediment and overland flow losses. The high N loss via interflow found in this study highlighting that sloping cropland of purple soil may be one of the hot spots of N leaching. Compared to the NPK regime, organic substitution regimes (i.e., OM, OMNPK and CRNPK) decreased total hydrological N loss loadings by 30% to 68%. In addition, they can maintain annual crop yields and decrease yield-scaled total hydrological N losses by 18% to 71%. In conclusion, long-term substitution of mineral N with organic amendments can maintain high crop productivity and reduce environmental N loss loadings, and thereby recommended as good N management practices to minimize the risk of agricultural non-point source pollution in the purple soil region of China.

Keywords improved fertilization regime interflow nitrogen forms nitrogen leaching purple soil sloping cropland

Corresponding Author(s): Bo ZHU

About author:

Tongcan Cui and Yizhe Hou contributed equally to this work.

Just Accepted Date: 30 June 2022 Online First Date: 01 August 2022 Issue Date: 09 September 2022

Cite this article:

Bo ZHU,Zhiyuan YAO,Dongni HU, et al. EFFECTS OF SUBSTITUTION OF MINERAL NITROGEN WITH ORGANIC AMENDMENTS ON NITROGEN LOSS FROM SLOPING CROPLAND OF PURPLE SOIL[J]. Front. Agr. Sci. Eng. , 2022, 9(3): 396-406.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/10.15302/J-FASE-2022456
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fase/EN/Y2022/V9/I3/396

Fig.1 Schematic of the free-drained lysimeters used in this study.

Fig.2 Daily precipitation (mm) and mean air temperature (°C) during the experimental period of 2016–2018.

Fig.3 Average annual runoff discharges of overland flow and interflow from five fertilization regimes over the experimental period of 2016–2018. Vertical bars indicate the standard error of the three spatial replicates. Means with the same letter are not significantly different at P < 0.05 within each measure: mean annual overland flow and interflow. CK: control with no fertilizer; NPK: standard application of chemical fertilizers; OM: pig manure with equivalent nitrogen as NPK treatment; OMNPK: using pig manure to replace 30% of the mineral nitrogen; CRNPK: using crop residue to replace 15% of the mineral nitrogen.

Fig.4 Mean annual cumulative discharge of overland flow, interflow and sediment yield under five fertilization regimes on sloping cropland of purple soil over period of 2016–2018. Vertical bars indicate the standard error of the three spatial replicates. Means with the same letter are not significantly different at P < 0.05 within each measure: mean annual cumulative discharges of overland flow and interflow and sediment yield, respectively. CK: control with no fertilizer; NPK: standard application of chemical fertilizers; OM: pig manure with equivalent nitrogen as NPK treatment; OMNPK: using pig manure to replace 30% of the mineral nitrogen; CRNPK: using crop residue to replace 15% of the mineral nitrogen.

Fig.5 Annual loss fluxes of N forms through overland flow (a–c) and interflow (d–f) from five fertilization regimes over the three experimental years (2016–2018). The vertical bars indicate the standard error of the three spatial replicates. Means with the same uppercase and lowercase letter are not significantly different at P < 0.05 for annual total and forms of N losses, respectively, within each measure: overland flow and interflow.

Fig.6 Average annual cumulative TN loss fluxes through overland flow, sediment yield and interflow under five fertilization regimes on sloping cropland of purple soil. Vertical bars indicate the standard error of the three spatial replicates. Means with the same letter are not significantly different at P < 0.05 within each measure: overland flow, sediment yield and interflow.

Tab.1 Average annual crop biomass, grain yield, cumulative TN loss and yield-based TN loss in the wheat-maize rotation systems under five fertilization regimes over a 3-year experimental period from 2016 to 2018

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