Abstract
Drought stress is one of the premier limitations to global agricultural production. Increasing water and nitrogen (N) use efficiencies in dryland agroecosystems to maintain high agricultural output are key responsibilities to assure food security, especially on the semiarid Loess Plateau region of China, as it is one of the important grain production areas in China. The impact of controlled-release urea (CRU) on the soil water content, soil enzyme activities, soil N content, biomass accumulation, grain yield, water use efficiency (WUE), and agronomic use efficiency of N fertilizer (AEN) were examined on the maize production of the rainfed Loess Plateau during 2020–2021. Two-growing-season field treatments at the Zhengyuan Agri-ecological Station, Qingyang, Gansu, including six N treatments, were investigated for maize: a control without N fertilization (CK) and five application proportions of CRU (i.e., 0, 30, 50, 70, and 100%CRU) under a N rate of 225 kg ha−1. Results showed that compared with common urea (0%CRU), on average, CRU applications significantly increased soil enzyme activity related to N conversion and improved biomass accumulation by 4–11% at the silking stage and by 2–12% at the maturity stage, respectively. As the proportion of CRU increased, the grain no. per ear, 100-grain weight, and harvest index first increased and then decreased. Grain yield was increased by 5.3, 11.4, 20.1, and 5.7% under 30, 50, 70 and 100%CRU, respectively, compared to common urea. Compared to common urea, 70%CRU combined with 30% common urea achieved the highest yield. These results indicate that optimal controlled-release N fertilization increases the yield and water and nitrogen use efficiencies of maize, and 70%CRU combined with 30% common urea under a single application of nitrogen fertilizer at sowing was the optimal application proportion of controlled-release urea for increasing water and nitrogen use efficiencies in dryland agroecosystems. The results of this study can provide a theoretical basis for the efficient fertilization of maize on the semiarid Loess Plateau of China.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Compared with common urea, controlled-release urea applications significantly increased soil enzyme activity related to N conversion in maize fields.
- Treatment
- CRU applicationse0
- Outcome
- soil enzyme activity related to N conversione0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Comparator
- common ureae0
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“compared with common urea (0%CRU), on average, CRU applications significantly increased soil enzyme activity related to N conversion”
Claim · model-written summary
CRU applications improved maize biomass accumulation by 4-11% at the silking stage compared with common urea.
- Organ / stage
- silking stagee0
- Treatment
- CRU applicationse0
- Outcome
- biomass accumulatione0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- 4–11%e0
- Comparator
- common ureae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“compared with common urea (0%CRU), on average, CRU applications significantly increased soil enzyme activity related to N conversion and improved biomass accumulation by 4–11% at the silking stage”
Claim · model-written summary
CRU applications improved maize biomass accumulation by 2-12% at the maturity stage compared with common urea.
- Organ / stage
- maturity stagee0
- Treatment
- CRU applicationse0
- Outcome
- biomass accumulatione0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- 2–12%e0
- Comparator
- common ureae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“compared with common urea (0%CRU), on average, CRU applications significantly increased soil enzyme activity related to N conversion and improved biomass accumulation by 4–11% at the silking stage and by 2–12% at the maturity stage”
Claim · model-written summary
As the CRU proportion increased, grain number per ear, 100-grain weight and harvest index first increased and then decreased.
- Treatment
- proportion of CRUe0
- Outcome
- grain no. per ear, 100-grain weight, and harvest indexe0
- Direction
- first increased and then decreasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“As the proportion of CRU increased, the grain no. per ear, 100-grain weight, and harvest index first increased and then decreased”
Claim · model-written summary
Grain yield of maize increased by 5.3% under 30% CRU compared with common urea.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“Grain yield was increased by 5.3, 11.4, 20.1, and 5.7% under 30, 50, 70 and 100%CRU, respectively, compared to common urea”
Claim · model-written summary
Grain yield of maize increased by 11.4% under 50% CRU compared with common urea.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“Grain yield was increased by 5.3, 11.4, 20.1, and 5.7% under 30, 50, 70 and 100%CRU, respectively, compared to common urea”
Claim · model-written summary
Grain yield of maize increased by 20.1% under 70% CRU compared with common urea.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“Grain yield was increased by 5.3, 11.4, 20.1, and 5.7% under 30, 50, 70 and 100%CRU, respectively, compared to common urea”
Claim · model-written summary
Grain yield of maize increased by 5.7% under 100% CRU compared with common urea.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“Grain yield was increased by 5.3, 11.4, 20.1, and 5.7% under 30, 50, 70 and 100%CRU, respectively, compared to common urea”
Claim · model-written summary
70%CRU combined with 30% common urea achieved the highest yield compared with common urea.
- Treatment
- 70%CRU combined with 30% common ureae0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- higheste0
- Comparator
- common ureae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“Compared to common urea, 70%CRU combined with 30% common urea achieved the highest yield”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors conclude that optimal controlled-release N fertilization increases the yield and the water and nitrogen use efficiencies of maize.
- Treatment
- optimal controlled-release N fertilizatione0
- Outcome
- yield and water and nitrogen use efficienciese0
- Direction
- increasese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“optimal controlled-release N fertilization increases the yield and water and nitrogen use efficiencies of maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend 70%CRU combined with 30% common urea applied once at sowing as the optimal proportion of controlled-release urea for raising water and nitrogen use efficiencies in dryland maize.
- Outcome
- optimal application proportion of controlled-release ureae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Maize Yield”
e0“70%CRU combined with 30% common urea under a single application of nitrogen fertilizer at sowing was the optimal application proportion of controlled-release urea for increasing water and nitrogen use efficiencies”
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