| Title: |
Optimizing N rate in wheat-maize rotation to match long-term and inter-seasonal N turnover for high yield and sustainability using STICS |
| Authors: |
Zhang, Datong; Shen, Shuaijie; Bai, zhiyuan; Harrison, Matthew; Liu, Ke; Rees, RM; Topp, CFE; Zou, Jun; Yang, Yuhao; Song, Zhenwei; Chen, Haotian; Yin, Xiaogang |
| Source: |
Zhang, D, Shen, S, Bai, Z, Harrison, M, Liu, K, Rees, RM, Topp, CFE, Zou, J, Yang, Y, Song, Z, Chen, H & Yin, X 2025, 'Optimizing N rate in wheat-maize rotation to match long-term and inter-seasonal N turnover for high yield and sustainability using STICS', pp. 109718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109718 |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Subject Terms: |
N mineralization; N surplus; NUE; Optimal N rate; STICS; Winter wheat‑summer maize rotation; /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/zero_hunger; name=SDG 2 - Zero Hunger |
| Description: |
Context The winter wheat-summer maize rotation in China’s Huang-Huai-Hai (HHH) farming region has been plagued by the long-standing problem of excessive nitrogen (N) application, driven by ambiguous N fertilizer recommendations, due to insufficient understanding of inter-seasonal N turnover and long-term N accumulation effects in the crop-soil system. Objective Our aims were (1) to calibrate the STICS model for the wheat-maize rotation in the HHH region, (2) to elucidate the annual N turnover characteristics affected by seasonal differences in N use, mineralization and leaching, and (3) to determine optimal N rates considering long-term cumulative effects of N fertilizer management. Methods Data from an 11-year field experiment were used to calibrate and evaluate the STICS model. Scenario analysis contrasting different N rates for wheat and maize, as well as their pairwise combinations, was conducted to identify optimal N ranges for each season, aiming for high yields and nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) in concert with low N surplus. Results STICS well captured the dynamics of shoot biomass (rRMSE: 20–22 %), N uptake (rRMSE: 22–28 %) and soil water content (rRMSE: 19–24 %) under different N treatments, respectively. STICS relatively well simulated crop yields under various N rates, with rRMSE of 9–13 % in the short term, and 13–15 % in the long term. Simulated N mineralization was higher in maize seasons than in wheat seasons due to the higher temperature and soil moisture, leading to a greater N surplus and increased leaching under the current management. Our simulations revealed optimal N rates of 180 kg N ha‑1 for wheat and 164 kg N ha‑1 for maize, which were 12 % and 38 % lower than contemporary N use in the region, achieving a long-term stable annual yield of 18.2 Mg ha−1, along with an annual NUE of 78 % and an N surplus of 80 kg N ha−1 per year. Conclusions High residual soil N from the wheat season and strong N mineralization during the maize season suggest that less N fertilizer can be applied to maize ... |
| Document Type: |
conference object |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109718 |
| Availability: |
https://pure.sruc.ac.uk/en/publications/a9a8ccad-2149-4fda-b0f7-a2350c5a8287; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109718; https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85213220181 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.E49A4198 |
| Database: |
BASE |