State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arid and Semi-arid Arable Land in Northern China, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
Cultivated Land Quality Monitoring and Protection Center, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100125, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 10;881:163531. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163531. Epub 2023 Apr 17.
Wheat breeding has progressively increased yield potential through decades of selection, markedly increased the capacity for food production. Nitrogen (N) fertilizer is essential for wheat production and N agronomic efficiency (NAE) is commonly index used for evaluate the effects of N fertilizer on crop yield, calculated as the difference of wheat yield between N fertilizer treatment and non-N fertilizer treatment divided by the total N application rate. However, the impact of variety on NAE and its interaction with soil fertility remain unknown. Here, to clarify whether and how wheat variety contributes to NAE, and to determine if soil conditions should be considered in variety selection, we conduct a large-scale analysis of data from 12,925 field trials spanning ten years and including 229 wheat varieties, 5 N fertilizer treatments, and a range of soil fertility across China's major wheat production zones. The national average NAE was 9.57 kg kg, but significantly differed across regions. At both the national and regional scales, variety significantly affected NAE, and different varieties showed high variability in their performance among low, moderate, and high fertility soils. Here, superior varieties with both high yield and high NAE were identified at each soil fertility fields. The comprehensive effect of selecting regionally superior varieties, optimizing N management, and improving soil fertility could potentially decrease the yield gap by 67 %. Therefore, variety selection based on soil conditions could facilitate improved food security while reducing fertilizer inputs to alleviate environmental impacts.
小麦育种通过几十年的选择，逐渐提高了产量潜力，显著提高了粮食生产能力。氮（N）肥是小麦生产的必要条件，氮农学效率（NAE）通常是用于评估氮肥对作物产量影响的指标，其计算方法为氮肥处理与无氮肥处理的小麦产量差异除以总施氮量。然而，品种对 NAE 的影响及其与土壤肥力的相互作用仍不清楚。在这里，为了阐明品种是否以及如何有助于 NAE，并确定在品种选择中是否应考虑土壤条件，我们对跨越十年、涵盖中国主要小麦产区的 12925 个田间试验的 229 个小麦品种、5 种氮肥处理和一系列土壤肥力的数据进行了大规模分析。全国平均 NAE 为 9.57kgkg，但在不同地区有显著差异。在全国和地区范围内，品种对 NAE 有显著影响，不同品种在低、中、高肥力土壤中的表现差异很大。在这里，在每个肥力土壤中都确定了具有高产和高 NAE 的优良品种。在区域内选择优良品种、优化氮肥管理和改善土壤肥力的综合效应，可能会使产量差距缩小 67%。因此，基于土壤条件的品种选择可以促进粮食安全的改善，同时减少肥料投入以减轻环境影响。
