Integrated farming optimization ensures high-yield crop production with decreased nitrogen leaching and improved soil fertility: The findings from a 12-year experimental study

作者：Xuan Yang, Roland Bol, Longlong Xia, Cong Xu, Ning Yuan, Xiuchun Xu, Wenliang Wu, Fanqiao Meng · 发表于：Field Crops Research · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1016/j.fcr.2024.109572 · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Crop Yield and Soil Fertility、Agronomic Practices and Intercropping Systems、Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement

Context or problem Sustainable farming practices, including precision fertilization, water-saving irrigation and recycling of organic materials, have been implemented worldwide in recent decades to achieve high crop yields and minimize nonpoint source pollution . However, the comprehensive impacts of these agricultural practices have seldom been systematically evaluated in field production. As agricultural intensification started in the 1980s, most previous studies focused on a single practice in the context of low land productivity . Objective or research question The objective of this research is to investigate and evaluate how holistic farming practices affect both crop production and environmental quality. Methods We reported findings from a 12-year experiment (2008–2020) in the highly intensive North China Plain (NCP) farming region, and conventional and optimized farming measures were compared. Three field treatments with annual double cropping (winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum L . ) and summer maize (Z ea mays L . )) were chosen in the study, i.e., control without nitrogen (N) application (CK), farmers’ conventional practices (CON), and optimized practices (OPT), were chosen for this study. Results Compared with the CON treatment, OPT reduced N fertilizer input by 41.4 % and irrigation water by 27.1 % but produced similar grain yields; OPT increased the N recovery efficiency (RE N ) and N utilization efficiency (NUT 2 E) by 90.4 % and 53.0 %, respectively; these values...