Capra Federico, Ardenti Federico, Abalos Diego, Lommi Michela, Pochintesta Davide, Ganugi Paola, Perego Alessia, Tabaglio Vincenzo, Fiorini Andrea
Department of Sustainable Crop Production, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29122, Piacenza, Italy.
Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, 8830, Tjele, Denmark.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 15;15(1):16890. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-01487-0.
The European Union (EU) actively promotes the adoption of organic farming, in which crop N requirements are satisfied via organic fertilizers, such as slurry. Maize (Zea mays L.) is a key crop for both feed and food production with high N uptake. In this short-term study, we tested fertigation with microfiltered slurry liquid faction for maize fertilization as viable strategy to enhance nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) under organic farming while reducing N losses, via ammonia (NH), nitrous oxide (NO), and nitrate leaching (NO). We compared three strategies (i) slurry application through surface broadcast of the liquid fraction before sowing as reference fertilization ("Ante" treatment, or "A"), (ii) slurry application through both pre-sowing broadcast of the liquid fraction and fertigation as side-dressing with the microfiltered liquid fraction ("Ante + Post" treatment, or "A + P"), and (iii) slurry microfiltered liquid fraction application as side dressing via fertigation ("Post" treatment, or "P"). Compared to "A", cumulative N losses were reduced by 38% under "A + P" and 58% under "P". Furthermore, NH volatilization decreased by 43% and 71% under "A + P" and "P", respectively. These treatments also reduced NO emissions by 30% and 37%. Nitrate leaching was reduced by 56% in the "P" treatment. Overall, the "P" strategy was the most effective in reducing N losses, while "A + P" tended to increase grain production (12.6 Mg ha) and NUE (38.1 kg grain kg N supply) compared to "P" (11.0 Mg ha and 35.5 kg grain kg N supply). These results were primarily attributed to the improved synchronization between N supply and maize N requirements, emphasizing the risk associated with slurry application before sowing. Although conducted over a short experimental period, our study suggests that drip fertigation with slurries can overcome the potential yield losses of organic systems for crops with high N demand such as maize, while reducing N losses, fulfilling the environmental principles of organic farming and current requirements from EU policies.
欧盟积极推动有机农业的采用，在有机农业中，作物的氮需求通过有机肥料（如粪肥）来满足。玉米（Zea mays L.）是饲料和粮食生产的关键作物，氮吸收量高。在这项短期研究中，我们测试了用微滤粪肥液进行滴灌施肥作为玉米施肥的可行策略，以提高有机农业下的氮利用效率（NUE），同时减少通过氨（NH）、一氧化二氮（N₂O）和硝酸盐淋失（NO₃⁻）造成的氮损失。我们比较了三种策略：（i）在播种前通过地面撒施粪肥液进行施肥作为对照施肥（“前期”处理，或“A”）；（ii）通过播种前撒施粪肥液和滴灌施肥（用微滤粪肥液作为追肥）相结合的方式进行施肥（“前期+后期”处理，或“A+P”）；（iii）通过滴灌施肥用微滤粪肥液作为追肥（“后期”处理，或“P”）。与“A”相比，“A+P”处理下的累积氮损失减少了38%，“P”处理下减少了58%。此外，“A+P”和“P”处理下的NH挥发分别减少了43%和71%。这些处理还使N₂O排放分别减少了30%和37%。“P”处理下的硝酸盐淋失减少了56%。总体而言，“P”策略在减少氮损失方面最有效，而与“P”（11.0 Mg ha和35.5 kg籽粒/kg氮供应）相比，“A+P”往往能提高粮食产量（12.6 Mg ha）和氮利用效率（38.1 kg籽粒/kg氮供应）。这些结果主要归因于氮供应与玉米氮需求之间更好的同步性，强调了播种前施用粪肥的风险。尽管我们的研究是在较短的试验期内进行的，但研究表明，对玉米等高氮需求作物进行粪肥滴灌施肥可以克服有机系统的潜在产量损失，同时减少氮损失，符合有机农业的环境原则和欧盟政策的当前要求。
Zotero 插件
