Management of Furrow Irrigation and Nitrogen Application on Summer Maize

Abstract

The efficient use of water and N represents a primary concern to agricultural production in Northwest China. The objective of this study was to assess the impacts of irrigation and fertilization on water and N use, soil volatilized NH 3 , soil NO 3 leaching, and NO 3 transfer in soil profiles. A 2-yr field experiment was conducted to assess the separation of N fertilizer and water with alternating furrow irrigation (SNWAFI) and conventional irrigation and fertilization (CIF) in a maize (Zea mays L.) production system. The yields with SNWAFI were 10 to 16% greater than with CIF. Compared with CIF, SNWAFI increased water use efficiencies (WUEs) by 13 to 33%, agronomic efficiency of fertilizer N by 36 to 56%, and NO 3 --N in the upper soil layers (0-60 cm) by 30 to 60%. However, SNWAFI reduced NO 3 --N in the deeper soil layers (60-200 cm) by 8 to 44% compared with CIF. The use of SNWAFI also decreased soil NH 3 emission with the combination with lower irrigation (40 mm) and N rate (100 kg N ha -1 ), which indicated that SNWAFI emitted less soil NH 3 than CIF. Therefore, compared with CIF, SNWAFI increased maize yield WUE and N use efficiency, reduced N leaching, and curtailed soil NH 3 loss with appropriate irrigation and N rates. The use of SNWAFI, leading to better spatial management of irrigation water and N application, can provide both agronomic and environmental benefits.

Coupled one-off alternate furrow irrigation with nitrogen topdressing at jointing optimizes soil nitrate-N distribution and wheat nitrogen productivity in dryland

“…Studies, such as Jia et al (2021), found that alternate furrow irrigation (AFI), with an equivalent water volume of 150 mm, significantly increased winter wheat's N uptake efficiency (NUPE) by 8.0% compared to the flood irrigation. Han et al (2014) also demonstrated that AFI combined with separated N fertilizer applications, improved N agronomic efficiency by 36−56% in summer maize compared to conventional irrigation methods. Comparable enhancements in N use efficiency (NUE) of AFI under the same irrigation quantities were recorded with sugar beets in Turkey (Mon et al, 2016) and safflower in Iran (Shahrokhnia and Sepaskhah, 2016).…”

“…Previous research demonstrated that N fertilizer topdressing can modulate soil nitrate−N accumulation, and its effects influenced by water management strategies (Zhao and Yu, 2006;Shi et al, 2012;Li et al, 2020). Han et al (2014) compared AFI and N topdressing paired to conventional irrigation and fertilization, noting that the former increased nitrate−N in the upper soil (0-60 cm) by 30−60% while reducing it in the deeper layers (60-200 cm) by 8−44% in summer maize farmland, mainly due to the enhancement of N requirement and root morphology from the optimized moisture introduced by AFI. In our investigation, TN treatments with 60 kg N ha −1 topdressing at the jointing stage consistently improved the soil nitrate−N accumulation in most soil layers at the booting and anthesis stages, regardless of the irrigation techqiue employed, although the differences waned as the wheat matured.…”

“…Previous research demonstrated that N fertilizer topdressing can modulate soil nitrate−N accumulation, and its effects influenced by water management strategies ( Zhao and Yu, 2006 ; Shi et al., 2012 ; Li et al., 2020 ). Han et al. (2014) compared AFI and N topdressing paired to conventional irrigation and fertilization, noting that the former increased nitrate−N in the upper soil (0–60 cm) by 30−60% while reducing it in the deeper layers (60–200 cm) by 8−44% in summer maize farmland, mainly due to the enhancement of N requirement and root morphology from the optimized moisture introduced by AFI.…”

Strategies for water productivity enhancement in maize—A comprehensive review

“…In Pakistan, the maize yield and water requirement under the furrow method were reported to be 6.12 t ha −1 and 425.9 mm, respectively (Khan et al, 2015). The use of AFI enhances maize yield (9–16%) and WP (36–56%) (Han et al, 2014). AFI, at 70% soil moisture depletion, showed a saving of 65% irrigation water compared to the normal furrow method (Narayanan & Seid, 2015).…”

Effects of Varied Nitrogen Supply and Irrigation Methods on Distribution and Dynamics of Soil NO3-N during Maize Season

“…Excess application of water resulted in NO 3 -N leaching (Ju, Liu, Zhang, & Roelcke, 2004;Gheysari, Mirlatifi, Homaee, Asddi, & Hoogenboom, 2009). Furthermore, compared to conventional furrow irrigation (CI) and fertilization, separation of N fertilizer and water with alternate PRI increased NO 3 -N in the upper soil layers (0-60 cm) by 30 to 60%, while reduced that in the deeper soil layers (60-200 cm) by 13 to 33% (Han et al, 2014). Placement of N fertilizer in the ridge rather than the furrow could lower N leaching in fixed PRI or CI (Benjamin, Havis, Ahuja, & Alonso, 1994;Benjamin, Poter, Duke, & Alnoso, 1997), so did placement of N fertilizer in non-irrigated rather than irrigated furrow in fixed PRI (Zhu et al, 2013).…”