Determination of the critical soil mineral nitrogen concentration for maximizing maize grain yield

Background and aims A critical soil mineral nitrogen concentration (N min ) for guiding fertilizer application and maximizing maize grain yield is needed. Methods A three-year field experiment with three N regimes, unfertilized (N0), optimized N management (Opt.) and conventional N practice (Con.) w...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant and soil 2013-11, Vol.372 (1/2), p.41-51
Main Authors: Peng, Yunfeng, Yu, Peng, Li, Xuexian, Li, Chunjian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural site preparation
Agricultural soils
Agrology
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Corn
Crop yields
Ecology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agronomy. Plant production
Grains
Life Sciences
Minerals
Nitrogen
Nitrogen content
Nitrogen fertilizers
Physiological aspects
Plant growth
Plant Physiology
Plant Sciences
Plants
Regular Article
Soil chemistry
Soil pollution
Soil samples
Soil science
Soil Science & Conservation
Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility
Soil-plant relationships. Soil fertility. Fertilization. Amendments
Soils
Zea mays
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Summary:Background and aims A critical soil mineral nitrogen concentration (N min ) for guiding fertilizer application and maximizing maize grain yield is needed. Methods A three-year field experiment with three N regimes, unfertilized (N0), optimized N management (Opt.) and conventional N practice (Con.) was performed in maize. Results The mean soil N m¡n in 0-60 cm soil profile for N0, Opt. and Con. treatments was 2.0, 6.7 and 8.9 mg kg⁻¹ at V8-VT growth stages and 2.2, 6.1 and 11.2 mgkg⁻¹ on average over the whole growth season, respectively. Correspondingly, the soil N supplying capacity (soil N min content+fertilizer N) of the three N treatments was smaller, identical or greater than the plant N accumulation at different growth stages. The Opt. treatment had significantly higher N use efficiency, N recovery efficiency and N partial factor productivity compared with the Con. treatment, while it did not cause maize yield loss. Conclusions Compared with the insensitivity of the critical shoot N dilution curve to excessive N application, soil N min showed strong response to all treatments. We propose a minimum of soil N min of 6.1 mgkg⁻¹ at the sowing-V8, 6.7 mgkg⁻¹ at the V8-VT, and 5.5 mgkg⁻¹ at the VT-R6 growing stages with an average of about 6 mgkg⁻¹ of soil N min in the 0-60 soil depth for maximizing maize yield and N use efficiency in northern China. To maintain this critical N min value over the whole growth period, N topdressing at V8 and V12 stages was recommended.
ISSN:0032-079X
1573-5036
DOI:10.1007/s11104-013-1678-0