College of Geography and Environmental Science/Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development and Collaborative Innovation Center On Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Henan University), Ministry of Education/National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 21;14(1):24777. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-74910-7.
Dryland agriculture is fundamental to global crop production and vital to food security. Conservation tillage is extensively practiced in USA wheat cultivation. Meanwhile, the adoption of conservation tillage by Chinese farmers is limited. This meta-analysis compared the yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) between conservation tillage and conventional tillage (CT) with different types of cropping systems, mulching methods, levels of nitrogen fertilizer (NF), and addition of manure. The meta-analysis presented that conservation tillage at high-NF enhanced the yield and NUE, and reduced the yield and NUE at low-NF, compared to CT. The interaction of conservation tillage with leguminous cover crops (LCC) and manure application increased the yield and NUE at low-NF, compared to CT. Non-leguminous cover crops (NLCC) increased the yield and NUE under high-NF than low-NF. The interaction of conservation tillage with management practices showed that the no-tillage (NT) with leguminous cover crops (LCC) significantly increased wheat yield by 58% and NUE by 47% under low-NF compared to CT. However, increasing the rate of NF did not increase the yield under such interaction. Cropping systems, mulching types, and manure application mainly determined the effects of conservation tillage on wheat yield and NUE. The adverse impact of CT on yield and NUE could be alleviated with the application of LCC and manure under moderate NF. We demonstrate that adding LCC and manure have a generally substitutive relationship with N fertilizer, resulting in a significant increase in wheat yield and NUE at low-NF doses as at high N fertilizer dosages. Therefore, based on the obtained results, moderate NF with LCC and manure application is recommended for growing winter wheat in dryland regions of the USA and China.
旱地农业是全球作物生产的基础，对粮食安全至关重要。保护性耕作在美国的小麦种植中得到广泛应用。然而，中国农民对保护性耕作的采用是有限的。本研究通过Meta 分析比较了不同种植制度、覆盖方式、施氮水平和有机肥添加条件下，保护性耕作与传统耕作（CT）对作物产量和氮肥利用效率（NUE）的影响。结果表明，与 CT 相比，高施氮量下的保护性耕作提高了产量和 NUE，而低施氮量下的产量和 NUE 则降低。与 CT 相比，保护性耕作与豆科覆盖作物（LCC）和有机肥的结合增加了低施氮量下的产量和 NUE。与 CT 相比，在高施氮量下，非豆科覆盖作物（NLCC）增加了产量和 NUE。保护性耕作与管理措施的相互作用表明，与 CT 相比，低施氮量下，免耕（NT）与豆科覆盖作物（LCC）的结合显著提高了小麦产量 58%，NUE 提高了 47%。然而，在这种相互作用下，增加施氮率并没有提高产量。种植制度、覆盖类型和有机肥的应用主要决定了保护性耕作对小麦产量和 NUE 的影响。在适度施氮条件下，应用 LCC 和有机肥可以减轻 CT 对产量和 NUE 的不利影响。研究表明，在低氮处理下，添加 LCC 和有机肥与氮肥具有普遍的替代关系，从而显著提高了小麦的产量和 NUE，与高氮处理下的效果相当。因此，基于研究结果，建议在美国和中国的旱地地区，在适度施氮条件下，应用 LCC 和有机肥来种植冬小麦。
