Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering (Dec 2021)

PLANT DENSITY, IRRIGATION AND NITROGEN MANAGEMENT: THREE MAJOR PRACTICES IN CLOSING YIELD GAPS FOR AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY IN NORTH-WEST CHINA

  • Xiuwei GUO, Manoj Kumar SHUKLA, Di WU, Shichao CHEN, Donghao LI, Taisheng DU

DOI
https://doi.org/10.15302/J-FASE-2020355
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 4
pp. 525 – 544

Abstract

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<List><ListItem><ItemContent><p>• A relative yield of 70% was obtained under both border and drip irrigation.</p></ItemContent></ListItem><ListItem><ItemContent><p>• Drip irrigation saved water and lowered yield variability compared to border irrigation.</p></ItemContent></ListItem><ListItem><ItemContent><p>• Drip irrigation led to accumulation of soil nitrogen and phosphorus in the root zone.</p></ItemContent></ListItem><ListItem><ItemContent><p>• Relative yield may increase 8% to 10% by optimizing field management.</p></ItemContent></ListItem><ListItem><ItemContent><p>• Plant density, irrigation and nitrogen are major factors closing yield gap in NW China.</p></ItemContent></ListItem></List></p><p>Agriculture faces the dual challenges of food security and environmental sustainability. Here, we investigate current maize production at the field scale, analyze the yield gaps and impacting factors, and recommend measures for sustainably closing yield gaps. An experiment was conducted on a 3.9-ha maize seed production field in arid north-western China, managed with border and drip irrigation, respectively, in 2015 and 2016. The relative yield reached 70% in both years. However, drip irrigation saved 227 mm irrigation water during a drier growing season compared with traditional border irrigation, accounting for 44% of the maize evapotranspiration (ET). Yield variability under drip irrigation was 12.1%, lower than the 18.8% under border irrigation. Boundary line analysis indicates that a relative yield increase of 8% to 10% might be obtained by optimizing the yield-limiting factors. Plant density and soil available water content and available nitrogen were the three major factors involved. In conclusion, closing yield gaps with agricultural sustainability may be realized by optimizing agronomic, irrigation and fertilizer management, using water-saving irrigation methods and using site-specific management.

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