Residual effects of preceding crops and nitrogen fertilizer on yield and crop and soil N dynamics of spring wheat and canola in varying environments on the Canadian prairies

Grant, C. A.; O’Donovan, John T.; Blackshaw, Robert E.; Harker, K. Neil; Johnson, Eric N.; Gan, Yantai; Lafond, G. P.; May, William E.; Turkington, T. K.; Lupwayi, Newton Z.; McLaren, Debra L.; Zebarth, Bernie J.; Khakbazan, Mohammad; Luce, Mervin St.; Ramnarine, Ravindra

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2016.04.019

Cited by 57 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Thus, in order to increase crop yield, additional N fertilizer application on both the summit and the bottom, and conservation tillage systems or additional soil amendments (application of biochar, crop residues application, manure, organic fertilizer, and so on) on the back slopes should be adopted to improve the soil physicochemical properties and reduce soil bulk density and nutrient–soil–water loss (Kaleeem et al, ; Rogovska et al, ; Grant et al . ; Zhang et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Soil Available Nitrogen During Crop Growth Stages on Mollisol Slopes of Northeast China

et al. 2016

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Spatiotemporal heterogeneity of soil available nitrogen (AN) (sum of NO3−–N and NH4+–N) is the essential basis for soil management and highly correlates to crop yield. Both geostatistical and traditional analyses were used to describe the spatiotemporal distribution of AN in the 0–20‐cm soil depth on typical Mollisol slopes (S1 and S2) in Northeast China. The concentration of NO3−–N dynamics at slope positions was typically opposite to NH4+–N. The peak values of AN typically moved from the summit of the slope to the bottom from spring to autumn and were mainly influenced by the content of NO3−–N (S1, 7·9–18·9 mg kg−1; S2, 1·2–103·6 mg kg−1), both of NO3−–N (S1, 3·9–8·3 mg kg−1; S2, 2·2–28·0 mg kg−1) and NH4+–N (S1, 21·4–30·5 mg kg−1; S2, 2·1–23·3 mg kg−1), and NH4+–N (S1, 10·5–28·9 mg kg−1; S2, 5·0–39·0 mg kg−1) in the seedling stage, vegetative growth stage, and reproductive growth stage, respectively. The spatial autocorrelation of AN was strong and was mainly influenced by structural factors during crop growth stages. This was mainly determined by soil erosion–deposition (SED) and soil temperature–moisture (STM) in the seedling stage; this was also mainly influenced by SED, STM, crop type, and crop growth in the vegetative growth stage and by early STM and early SED in the reproductive growth stage. Generally, the content of AN, NO3−–N, and NH4+–N on the whole slope was mainly determined by the early SED and local fertilizer application, while their spatiotemporal heterogeneity, especially the evenness, was mainly changed by SED, STM, crop growth, and crop types on the slope scale. In order to increase more crop yields, additional N fertilizer application on both the summit and the bottom during the vegetative growth stage and conservation tillage systems or additional soil amendments on the back slopes was necessary. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Soil Available Nitrogen During Crop Growth Stages on Mollisol Slopes of Northeast China

et al. 2016

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“…Although the grain yield, net returns and benefit to cost ratios of pea/maize intercropping were similar or even lower than sole maize, the grain composition and quality from this cereal-legume intercropping is more valid for animal or human consumption compared to the sole maize because of the higher protein in pea [42]. Furthermore, the inclusion of annual legumes in cropping systems via either legume-cereal intercropping or cereal-legume rotations can significantly reduce the use of synthetic N fertilizer [43,44], as the legumes fix N 2 O from the atmosphere [45]. Such a legume-cereal system can provide significant ecological and environmental benefits by reducing carbon emissions [27,46], lowering the environmental footprint [47,48] and enhancing soil and ecological sustainability [49,50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Agronomic and Economic Benefits of Pea/Maize Intercropping Systems in Relation to N Fertilizer and Maize Density

2018

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Abstract:Intercropping has been shown to increase crop yields and improve land utilization in many cases but it is unknown how the interspecies relationship is enhanced with improved crop management schemes. In this study, we investigated the effect of different maize densities and N rates on the growth, crop yields and economic benefits of pea (Pisum sativum L.)/maize (Zea mays L.) intercropping. The results indicated that total yields of pea/maize intercropping were higher than the yield of maize alone, and that pea/maize intercropping improved land use efficiency significantly compared to sole crops, the partial land equivalent ratio (LER) of maize and pea with high planting density increased from 0.98% to 9.36% compared to low planting densities during 2012 and 2013. The pea strips provided significant compensatory effects on the growing maize after the earlier-sown, shorter-seasoned pea was harvested. The crop growth rate (CGR) of the intercropped maize was 18.5% to 216.9% greater than that of sole maize after pea harvest, the leaf area index (LAI) of pea/maize intercropping was 6.9% and 45.4% greater compared with the weighted average of sole maize and sole pea in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Net returns and benefit to cost ratios of pea/maize intercropping were increased with an increase of maize planting density. A low rate of N fertilizer was coupled with increased maize plant density, allowing interspecific facilitation to be fully expressed, thus improving the land utilization rate and increasing economic benefits. Overall, our findings show that a higher density of maize and lower N application can be used to increase grain production with no adverse effects on the growth components of either pea or maize crops. It could be considered an advanced farming system for agricultural sustainable development in the oasis region of northwest China.

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“…In a previous study, we found that plant density had a significant effect on aboveground dry matter accumulation in intercropping (Yin et al, 2017), suggesting that the belowground interspecies interactions may also stimulate the growth of the aboveground plant parts. Furthermore, the outcome of the recovery effect may be related to other soil-related factors because soil environments in the rooting zone are complex in nature and are affected by many factors, such as soil water availability (Niu et al, 2017), and soil physical (Luo et al, 2017), chemical (Grant et al, 2016), and biological (Taheri et al, 2016) properties. Agronomic practices may also affect the outcome of the recovery such as preceding crops in the rotation (Luce et al, 2016), tillage practices (Lupwayi et al, 2015), and soil microbial community structure and functionalities (Borrell et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecies Interactions in Relation to Root Distribution Across the Rooting Profile in Wheat-Maize Intercropping Under Different Plant Densities

Wang

Qin²,

Chai

et al. 2018

Front. Plant Sci.

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In wheat-maize intercropping systems, the maize is often disadvantageous over the wheat during the co-growth period. It is unknown whether the impaired growth of maize can be recovered through the enhancement of the belowground interspecies interactions. In this study, we (i) determined the mechanism of the belowground interaction in relation to root growth and distribution under different maize plant densities, and (ii) quantified the “recovery effect” of maize after wheat harvest. The three-year (2014–2016) field experiment was conducted at the Oasis Agriculture Research Station of Gansu Agricultural University, Wuwei, Northwest China. Root weight density (RWD), root length density (RLD), and root surface area density (RSAD), were measured in single-cropped maize (M), single-cropped wheat (W), and three intercropping systems (i) wheat-maize intercropping with no root barrier (i.e., complete belowground interaction, IC), (ii) nylon mesh root barrier (partial belowground interaction, IC-PRI), and (iii) plastic sheet root barrier (no belowground interaction, IC-NRI). The intercropped maize was planted at low (45,000 plants ha−1) and high (52,000 plants ha−1) densities. During the wheat/maize co-growth period, the IC treatment increased the RWD, RLD, and RSAD of the intercropped wheat in the 20–100 cm soil depth compared to the IC-PRI and IC-NRI systems; intercropped maize had 53% lower RWD, 81% lower RLD, and 70% lower RSAD than single-cropped maize. After wheat harvest, the intercropped maize recovered the growth with the increase of RWD by 40%, RLD by 44% and RSAD by 11%, compared to the single-cropped maize. Comparisons among the three intercropping systems revealed that the “recovery effect” of the intercropped maize was attributable to complete belowground interspecies interaction by 143%, the compensational effect due to root overlap by 35%, and the compensational effect due to water and nutrient exchange (CWN) by 80%. The higher maize plant density provided a greater recovery effect due to increased RWD and RLD. Higher maize plant density stimulated greater belowground interspecies interaction that promoted root growth and development, strengthened the recovery effect, and increased crop productivity.

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Residual effects of preceding crops and nitrogen fertilizer on yield and crop and soil N dynamics of spring wheat and canola in varying environments on the Canadian prairies

Cited by 57 publications

References 25 publications

Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Soil Available Nitrogen During Crop Growth Stages on Mollisol Slopes of Northeast China

Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Soil Available Nitrogen During Crop Growth Stages on Mollisol Slopes of Northeast China

Agronomic and Economic Benefits of Pea/Maize Intercropping Systems in Relation to N Fertilizer and Maize Density

Interspecies Interactions in Relation to Root Distribution Across the Rooting Profile in Wheat-Maize Intercropping Under Different Plant Densities

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