The Effects of Drip Fertigation on Yield and Nutrient Use Efficiency of Banana

Abstract

【Objective】 Low nutrient use efficiency is a common problem facing agricultural production in China, and improving fertigation is an effective way to improve fertilizer use efficiency and reduce nutrient loss, especially in acidic soils. How irrigation and fertigation combine to affect water and nutrient uptake by plants, however, is an issue poorly understood. Taking banana as an example, this paper is to investigate the effect of different chemical fertilizations on banana yield and its nutrient use efficiency. 【Method】 The field experiment included three chemical fertilizations: Top-dressing 309.7 kg/hm2 of N with N∶P2O5∶K2O=1.00∶0.37∶2.61 (A), top-dressing 619.3 kg/hm2 of N with N∶P2O5∶K2O=1.00∶0.37∶1.76 (B), top-dressing 619.3 kg/hm2 of N and 18.0 kg/hm2 of compounded fertilizers with N∶P2O5∶K2O=1.00∶0.37∶1.76 (C). The control was no fertilization (CK). Plants in all treatments were drip-irrigated, and the fertilizers were fertigated simultaneously with the drip irrigation. 【Result】 Chemical fertilizations increased the pseudo-stem girth, leaf numbers and leaf length (P<0.05). Compared with treatment B, treatment A increased banana yield by 9.7% to 53 781 kg/hm2, agronomic efficiency and partial factor productivity by 125.6% and 72.6% respectively. The net income of treatment A was 116 614 yuan/hm2, 22.2% higher than that in treatment B, increasing the output-input ratio from 1.95∶1 to 2.18∶1. 【Conclusion】 Balancing economic benefit, reduction in fertilizer use and banana fruit quality, the optimal fertilization was top-dressing 309.7 kg/hm2 of N, 114.6 kg/hm2 of P2O5 and 808.3 kg/hm2 of K2O simultaneously with the drip irrigation. This is an efficient fertigation for banana grown in acidic soils in the studied area.

Keywords

• drip fertigation
• banana
• yield
• nutrient utilization efficiency