Abstract
A two-year experiment was conducted in the field to measure the combined impact of tilling and N fertilization on various agronomic traits related to nitrogen (N) use efficiency and to grain yield in maize cultivated in the presence of a cover crop. Four years after conversion to no-till, a significant increase in N use efficiency N harvest index, N remobilization and N remobilization efficiency was observed both under no and high N fertilization conditions. Moreover, we observed that grain yield and grain N content were higher under no-till conditions only when N fertilizers were applied. Thus, agronomic practices based on continuous no-till appear to be a promising for increasing N use efficiency in maize.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.), known as corn, is an essential dual-use food and energy crop, both in terms of cultivated area and production of harvestable material
N use efficiency (NUE), originally defined by Moll et al [9] as the grain yield or biomass production yield obtained per unit of N available in the soil, is inversely proportional to the amount of N fertilizer applied [10]
The field experiment performed over two consecutive years showed that conversion to no-till under a continuous cover cropping system significantly increased maize NUE and N utilization efficiency (NUtE), in comparison to a cultivation system based on continuous till
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.), known as corn, is an essential dual-use food and energy crop, both in terms of cultivated area and production of harvestable material. Maize requires large amounts of nitrogen (N) inputs for optimum grain and silage production, due mainly to the ability of the crop to produce large quantities of dry matter [3,4,5]. In several studies it has been shown that increasing N fertilization above a certain threshold, neither leads to an increase in plant uptake nor in grain production [6,7,8]. N use efficiency (NUE), originally defined by Moll et al [9] as the grain yield or biomass production yield obtained per unit of N available in the soil (already present and originating from fertilizer application), is inversely proportional to the amount of N fertilizer applied [10]. Fertilizer-derived N oxide emissions into the atmosphere contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer [13], whilst volatilized ammonia
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