Applications of land surface model to economic and environmental-friendly optimization of nitrogen fertilization and irrigation
Fei Wang,
Jingchun Fang,
Lei Yao,
Dongrui Han,
Zihan Zhou,
Baozhang Chen
Affiliations
Fei Wang
Institute of Agricultural Information and Economics, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 23788, Industrial North Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250010, China; State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China
Jingchun Fang
State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A, Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China
Lei Yao
College of Geography and Environment, Shandong Normal University, No.1, Daxue Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250358, China
Dongrui Han
Institute of Agricultural Information and Economics, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 23788, Industrial North Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250010, China; State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China
Zihan Zhou
Institute of Agricultural Information and Economics, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 23788, Industrial North Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250010, China
Baozhang Chen
State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19A, Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, China; Corresponding author. State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environment Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A, Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100101, China.
Land surface models (LSMs) have prominent advantages for exploring the best agricultural practices in terms of both economic and environmental benefits with regard to different climate scenarios. However, their applications to optimizing fertilization and irrigation have not been well discussed because of their relatively underdeveloped crop modules. We used a CLM5-Crop LSM to optimize fertilization and irrigation schedules that follow actual agricultural practices for the cultivation of maize and wheat, as well as to explore the most economic and environmental-friendly inputs of nitrogen fertilizer and irrigation (FI), in the North China Plain (NCP), which is a typical intensive farming area. The model used the indicators of crop yield, farm gross margin (FGM), nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), water use efficiency (WUE), and soil nitrogen leaching. The results showed that the total optimal FI inputs of FGM were the highest (230 ± 75.8 kg N ha−1 and 20 ± 44.7 mm for maize; 137.5 ± 25 kg N ha−1 and 362.5 ± 47.9 mm for wheat), followed by the FIs of yield, NUE, WUE, and soil nitrogen leaching. After multi-objective optimization, the optimal FIs were 230 ± 75.8 kg N ha−1 and 20 ± 44.7 mm for maize, and 137.5 ± 25 kg N ha−1 and 387.5 ± 85.4 mm for wheat. By comparing our model-based diagnostic results with the actual inputs of FIs in the NCP, we found excessive usage of nitrogen fertilizer and irrigation during the current cultivation period of maize and wheat. The scientific collocation of fertilizer and water resources should be seriously considered for economic and environmental benefits. Overall, the optimized inputs of the FIs were in reasonable ranges, as postulated by previous studies. This result hints at the potential applications of LSMs for guiding sustainable agricultural development.
