Abstract
To increase crop productivity while reducing environmental costs, an integrated soil–crop system management (ISSM) strategy was developed and successfully adopted in China. However, little information is available on the long-term ISSM effects on maize agronomic and environmental performance. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of ISSM with combining inorganic and organic fertilizers on maize productivity, N use efficiency (NUE) and N balance and losses as compared with farmers’ practice (FP) and high-yielding practice (HY), based on an 11-year field experiment in Northeast China. Maize yield in ISSM (11.7–14.3 Mg ha−1) achieved 97.7% of that in HY and was increased by 27% relative to FP. The excellent yield performance in ISSM was mainly attributed to optimum plant population structure and yield components. Annual N surplus in ISSM was only 7 kg ha−1, which was considerably lower than that in FP (52 kg ha−1) and HY (109 kg ha−1). Consequently, ISSM obtained significantly lower N losses and greenhouse gases emissions and higher NUE. In contrast to FP, crop performance in ISSM showing better sustainability and inter-annual stability. In conclusion, ISSM is an effective strategy to achieve long-term sustainable high crop yields and NUE with less environmental costs in the intensive agricultural system.
Highlights
China, as the largest developing country in the world with the largest population, has scored miraculous achievements in agricultural development and food production during the past decades, with less than 9% of the world’s arable land feeding over 22% of the world population [1]
This indicates that high crop productivity in an intensive recovered to about 30% after a 10-year period [29]
Numerous studies have demonstrated that long-term sole inorganic fertilization decreased crop yields and sustainability due to soil acidity and degraded soil quality associated with lower soil organic carbon (SOC) [21,22,23]
Summary
As the largest developing country in the world with the largest population, has scored miraculous achievements in agricultural development and food production during the past decades, with less than 9% of the world’s arable land feeding over 22% of the world population [1]. Enormous agricultural resource inputs in combination with inadequate planting and tillage methods adopted by Chinese smallholder farmers in the current intensive agriculture system, especially in regard to overuse of inorganic fertilizers, are obtaining diminishing returns in crop yield, economic income and resource use efficiency [2,3,4]. The key points of ISSM are to redesign the entire cropping system including crop variety, sowing and harvested dates and planting density to make maximum use of solar radiation and periods with favorable temperatures based on local climatic condition This strategy focuses on optimizing soil tillage and nutrient management to improve soil quality and accomplish better synchronization between crop N demand and the N supply from soil, environment and fertilizers
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