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Background Excessive nitrogen (N) application rate with low N use efficiency (NUE) caused a considerable amount of N losses, especially ammonia volatilization (AV). Proper N fertilizer reduction (RN) could significantly reduce AV. However, continuous RN led to a nutrient deficiency in the soil and therefore negatively impacted the NUE and rice yield. Paddy Azolla, a good green manure, is considered as a promising measure to decrease AV and improve NUE and grain yield of rice. However, there is limited information on the integrated effects of RN and Azolla cover on the AV, NUE, and rice yield, especially in the highly fertilized rice-growing systems. Methods The experiment was conducted including eight treatments: the control (without N fertilizer and Azolla cover), Azolla cover without N fertilizer (A), farmer’s N application rate (FN), FN + Azolla cover (FNA), 15% RN from FN (RN15), RN15 + Azolla cover (RN15A). 30% RN from FN (RN30), RN30 + Azolla cover (RN30A). The integrated effects of N fertilizer reduction and Azolla cover on AV, NUE, and rice grain was evaluated. Results RN15A and RN30A substantially reduced total AV by 50.3 and 66.9% compared with FN, respectively, primarily due to the lower surface water ammonia concentrations and pH. RN improved the efficiency of Azolla cover on reducing AV, with 4.1–9.9% higher than for FN. Compared with the FN, RN15A and RN30A enhanced apparent N recovery efficiency (ANRE) by 46.5 and 39.1%, which might be responsible for the lower NH3 emission and the increased total N uptake / total chemical N applied. Furthermore, RN15A and RN30A reduced yield-scaled volatilization by 52.3 and 64.3% than for FN, respectively. Thus, combining 15–30% RN with Azolla cover may be a way to reduce AV and improve ANRE without decreasing rice grain yield.

BackgroundInsect-proof nets are commonly used in crop production and scientific research because of their environmental, economic, and agronomic benefits. However, insect-proof nets can unintentionally alter the microclimate inside the screenhouse and therefore greatly affect plant growth and yield. To examine the microclimate and agronomic performance of pesticide-free rice under insect-proof nets, two-year field experiments were carried out in 2011 and 2012.MethodsIn the present study, the experiment was conducted by using a split-plot design considering the cultivation environment (open field cultivation (OFC) and insect-proof nets cultivation (IPNC)) as the main plot and the varieties as the subplot (Suxiangjing3 and Nanjing44).ResultsIPNC significantly reduced the air speed and solar radiation, and slightly increased the daytime soil temperature, daytime air temperature, and nighttime relative humidity. By contrast, the nighttime soil temperature, nighttime air temperature, and daytime relative humidity were relatively unaffected. The grain yield of both rice cultivars decreased significantly under IPNC, which was largely attributed to the reduced panicle number. The reduced panicle number was largely associated with the decreased maximum tiller number, which was positively correlated with the tillering rate, time of tillering onset, and tillering cessation for both rice cultivars under IPNC. In addition, dry matter accumulation significantly decreased for both rice cultivars under IPNC, which was mainly caused by the decreased leaf area duration resulting from the reduced leaf area index. By contrast, the mean net assimilation rate was relatively unaffected by IPNC.DiscussionInsect-proof nets altered the microclimate in comparison with OFC by reducing the air speed and changing the radiation regime, which significantly affected dry matter production and yield of both japonica rice cultivars. Our results indicated that cultivation measures that could increase the tillering rate and the maximum tiller number under IPNC would lead to a significant increase in panicle number, ultimately increasing grain yield. In addition, maintaining a high leaf area duration by increasing the leaf area index would be important to compensate for the dry matter accumulation losses under IPNC. These findings are critical to provide a theoretical basis for improving agronomic performance of pesticide-free rice under IPNC.