Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer Management on CH4 and N2O Emissions in Paddy Field

Abstract

Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are two extremely important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Nitrogen fertilizer is an important factor affecting CH4 and N2O emissions in rice fields. Rational application of nitrogen fertilizer can not only promote high yields of rice but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Existing studies have shown that nitrogen reduction and optimal application can effectively improve the nitrogen use efficiency of rice on the basis of ensuring the yield and reduce the loss of N2O caused by nitrification and denitrification of excessive nitrogen in soil. Fertilization times and fertilizer types have significant effects on CH4 and N2O emissions in paddy fields. In this study, a field experiment was conducted for two consecutive years (2019-2020) to study the effects of fertilizer application on CH4 and N2O emissions from rice fields by setting up four treatments consisting of no fertilizer (CK), customary fertilizer application by farmers (CF), twice fertilizer (TT), and 20% replacement of chemical fertilizer by organic fertilizer (OF) using static chamber-gas chromatography. Additionally, the effect of integrating rice yield and integrated global warming potential (GWP) on the greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI) per unit of rice yield was analyzed to explore fertilizer application for yield increase and emission reduction in a typical rice growing area in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River. The results showed that:① compared with those of CK, the fertilizer treatments reduced CH4 emissions by 14.6%-25.1% and increased N2O emissions by 610%-1836% in both years; ② compared with those of CF, both the TT and OF treatments showed a trend of increasing CH4 emissions and reducing N2O emissions. CH4 emissions increased by 1.8% (P>0.05) and 14.0% (P<0.05), respectively. The annual average of N2O emissions decreased by 63.3% (P<0.05) and 49.2% (P<0.05) in both the TT and OF treatments, respectively. ③ Compared with that of CK, both fertilizer applications increased rice yield and reduced GHGI; compared with that of CF, the OF and TT treatments increased the average annual rice yield by 17.0% and 10.7%, respectively, and reduced GHGI by 6.8% and 13.7%, respectively. The OF treatment had a better yield increase than that of the TT treatment, and the TT treatment had a slightly better emission reduction than that of the OF treatment. In terms of combined yield and GHG emission reduction, both twice fertilizer (TT) and 20% replacement of chemical fertilizer by organic fertilizer (OF) could reduce the intensity of GHG emission per unit of rice yield and achieve yield increase and emission reduction while ensuring rice yield.