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SOIL & CROP MANAGEMENT

On-Farm Evaluation of Winter Wheat Yield Response to Residual Soil Nitrate-N in North China Plain

^a Dep. of Plant Nutrition, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100094, China
^b Dep. of Agronomy, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao 266023, China
^c College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450000, China
^d Institute of Soil Science and Fertilizer, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Taiyuan 030031, China
^e College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China

^* Corresponding author (cauzfs{at}cau.edu.cn).

High soil nitrate-N accumulation has been observed in North China Plain (NCP), but it was seldom considered as a N source in N management due to the lack of data on crop response to soil nitrate-N accumulation. A total of 124 on-farm N-response experiments were conducted from 2003 to 2006 in seven key winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production regions of NCP to evaluate wheat yield response to residual soil nitrate-N. High soil nitrate-N accumulation ( 172 kg N ha^–1 in 90 cm soil depth) was observed during wheat growing season. Compared with 165 nitrate-N ha^–1 in 0 to 90 soil layer before sowing, added fertilizer N did not increase wheat yield under 262 kg nitrate-N ha^–1 condition, but increased residual nitrate-N and N losses and reduced recovery N efficiency (P < 0.05). Wheat yield response to residual soil nitrate-N could be fitted by a linear plus plateau model, and calculated minimum soil nitrate-N content for maximum grain yield was 211 kg N ha^–1 (R² = 0.31) before sowing across all 223 zero-N plots in 124 sites. When two growth periods (before and after shooting stage) were analyzed separately, the coefficient of determination between yield and soil nitrate-N increased significantly. We conclude that winter wheat yield response to added N fertilizer was unlikely if soil nitrate-N content exceeded 72 (0–30 cm soil depth) and 175 kg N ha^–1 (0–90 cm soil depth) before sowing and shooting stage, respectively. According to these thresholds, 55% and 37% of farmer's fields did not need to apply N fertilizer before sowing and at shooting stage, respectively.

Abbreviations: NCP, North China Plain • NUE, nitrogen use efficiency • REN, recovery nitrogen efficiency • RY, relative grain yield • RB, relative biomass

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Received for publication January 3, 2008.