Effects of nitrogen fertilizer management on maize yield and nitrogen use efficiency: Based on farmer Survey in Quzhou county, North China Plain

Abstract

The farmer survey was conducted in Quzhou county, Hebei province of China in three villages (Wang Zhuang, Xing yuan, and Sitton) with the objectives of elucidating the effects of nitrogen fertilizer (N) on maize production and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). A total of 61 maize producers were randomly selected and interviewed. The educational level result revealed that about 8% of sampled farmers have no formal education, 11.6% have a basic level education, 21.6% have completed the middle-level education, and 58.3% have upperlevel education. Most producers use nitrogen (40%), then phosphorus fertilizer (25%), and thirdly the compound fertilizer NPK, the least used fertilizers in the region are potassium and organic fertilizers such as straw and vegetable remains. The farmer applies twice, at base planting and in vegetative tasselling (VT), also, fertilizer N is the most used by farmers, whose application rates were higher ranging from 375 kg ha -1 representing 49.2%, followed by 300 kg ha -1 representing 39.3%, and finally, a small number of producers apply 225 kg ha -1 of fertilizer which represents 11.5%. The yield of maize was around 6443.3 kg ha -1 in the region, it was observed that the partial factor productivity of nitrogen remains low as compared with the optimal N management, the value was 20.4 kg kg -1 , and the rates of cost fertilizer was 125￥ 50 kg -1 . We can conclude that the low cost of N and less knowledge of fertilizer management is the motivation for excessive utilization. However, regular training of producers can help adopt good practices of optimal N management, minimize environmental risks, and can save money, and reduce the cost of production.