Designing Corn Management Strategies for High Yield and High Nitrogen Use Efficiency. (1st March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Guo, Jiameng; Wang, Yonghong; Fan, Tinglu; Chen, Xinping; Cui, Zhenling
• Is Part Of: Agronomy Journal. Volume 108:Number 2(2016)
• Page Start: 922
• Page End: 929
• Publication Date: 2016-03-01
• Subjects: Agronomy -- Periodicals; 630
• DOI: 10.2134/agronj2015.0435
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0002-1962

Abstract

Abstract : The challenge of increasing crop productivity and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has led to a search for novel pathways leading to more sustainable agriculture. Here, we designed a whole‐corn ( Zea mays L.) production system based on the local environment, drawing on appropriate crop varieties, sowing dates, densities, and advanced N management on the Loess Plateau in the Northwest of China. A 4 site‐years field experiment was performed to examine this corn system based on grain yield, biomass, N application rate, and NUE. Grain yield with designed crop management varied from 16.1 to 19.1 Mg ha −1 for these 4 site‐years, which attained 98 to 108% of the yield potential (ranging from 15.5–19.3 Mg ha −1 ). Equally importantly, the optimal N rate ranged from 207 to 222 kg N ha −1 with a high over ratio of 65 to 80 kg grain per kg applied N. Designing an integrated crop management system and N practice is an alternative approach for maximizing the use of solar radiation and periods with favorable temperature, ultimately achieving high yield and high NUE.