Abstract
ABSTRACTA good understanding of the relationship between vegetable quality and soil N balance is very important for proper nitrogen (N) management for crop productions. In this study, a field experiment was carried out to investigate the N application rate and times on Chinese cabbage yield and quality, N use efficiency, soil nitrate-N concentration, and soil pH. The experiment was implemented in a two-way factorial design and the two factors comprises of number of N applications (once, twice and three times, denoted as T1, T2 and T3) and N rates (15%, 30% and 45% less than conventional rates (CF), denoted as F1, F2 and F3, respectively). The treatments were also compared with a no-fertilizer blank and a control (CF) with a conventional N management practice. The results showed that the highest yield of cabbage (164.65 t hm−2), Vitamine C content (14.80 g 100 g−1 fresh mass), soluble sugar content (2.33 mg kg−1), plant N uptake (119.2 kg hm−2) were obtained under T3F1 treatment. Compared with CF treatment, T3F1 treatment significantly increased vegetable yield, vitamin C and soluble sugar content in fruit, and nitrogen use efficiency by 10.97%, 13.76% and 17.68%, and 18.76%, respectively. Nitrate-N content in cabbage was reduced by 7.55% in T3F1 treatment. With the reduced N application rate, soil pH gradually changed from 6.25 to 7.26. T3F1 treatment is a most suitable N management practice for vegetable production, in terms of higher vegetable yield and quality, soil N content, depressed soil acidification and nutrient uptake by Chinese cabbage.
Highlights
Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris spp. pekinensis) is one of the important winter vegetables in China, even in East Asia, due to high yield and rich nutrition [1,2]
The objectives of this research were to investigate the influence of N application rate, topdressing times on Chinese cabbage growth, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), soil pH and soil nitrate content under green chamber
Reduced N application rate significantly decreased the nitrate content in edible part of Chinese cabbage, and correspondingly reduced the supply of nitrate N in soil
Summary
Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris spp. pekinensis) is one of the important winter vegetables in China, even in East Asia, due to high yield and rich nutrition [1,2]. Low-cost, high N content and rapid N release make urea a frequently-used base N fertilizer for Chinese cabbage production [12]. N release from urea is relatively rapid, and soluble N is susceptible to loss, which would cause plant N deficiency in long term For this sake, multiple N applications are recommended to meet the N demand of Chinese cabbage, especially at later growth stages when more N is required for plant growth. Previous studies showed that compared with base application of urea, urea topdressing could increase NUE and crop yields [17,18]. The objectives of this research were to investigate the influence of N application rate, topdressing times on Chinese cabbage growth, NUE, soil pH and soil nitrate content under green chamber
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