Conservative strip tillage system in maize maintains high yield and mitigates GHG emissions but promotes N2O emissions

Yingmiao Wang; Ye Sha; Zizi Ren; Yiwen Huang; Qiang Gao; Shaojie Wang; Xiaoyu Li; Guozhong Feng

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173067

Conservative strip tillage system in maize maintains high yield and mitigates GHG emissions but promotes N₂O emissions

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jul 1:932:173067. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173067. Epub 2024 May 7.

Authors

Yingmiao Wang¹, Ye Sha², Zizi Ren¹, Yiwen Huang², Qiang Gao¹, Shaojie Wang¹, Xiaoyu Li³, Guozhong Feng⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Straw Comprehensive Utilization and Black Soil Conservation, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Sustainable Utilization of Soil Resources in the Commodity Grain Bases in Jilin Province, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, Jilin, China.
² College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Straw Comprehensive Utilization and Black Soil Conservation, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Sustainable Utilization of Soil Resources in the Commodity Grain Bases in Jilin Province, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, Jilin, China. Electronic address: lxy1995418@163.com.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Straw Comprehensive Utilization and Black Soil Conservation, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Sustainable Utilization of Soil Resources in the Commodity Grain Bases in Jilin Province, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, Jilin, China. Electronic address: gzf@jlau.edu.cn.

PMID: 38723964
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173067

Abstract

Optimizing N application under straw-covered strip tillage is of great significance to the rational utilization of stover resources as well as ensure food and ecosystem security, and especially N₂O emissions from agricultural systems. Quantifying N₂O emissions and even the carbon footprint (CF) from agricultural systems is crucial for future protecting agricultural production systems. A two-year field experiment was conducted on black soil in Northeast China, which set up two tillage systems: strip tillage with straw returning (ST) and conventional tillage (control: CT) without straw and three nitrogen rates: 0, farmers' practice (Nfp 240 kg hm^-2), and optimized nitrogen fertilizer (Nopt 180 kg hm^-2). We examined the characteristics of N₂O emissions and CF under the ST and CT systems. Among them, we indirectly calculated GHG emissions using the LCA method. Compared with CT, the ST system significantly reduces indirect GHG emissions, but did significantly increase direct cumulative N₂O emissions by 20.7 %, most likely because the higher soil residual nitrate nitrogen content, WFPS, and soil temperature under ST was 13.0 %, 2 % and 5.7 % higher than that under CT. Nopt treatment markedly reduced cumulative N₂O emissions by 36.0 %, CF_area, CF_yield, and CF_NPV by 22.4 %, 23.1 %, and 23.5 % in ST, respectively, compared to Nfp. The reduction in energy use of machinery in ST results in lower fuel consumption and thus generating less CF. What's more, the decrease of CF_yield and CF_NPV between nitrogen application treatments under ST was 5.2 % and 7.7 % higher than CT, respectively. ST system can effectively achieve higher grain yield and mitigate GHG emissions on black soil in Northeast China compared with CT, but attention should be paid to N₂O emissions in the soil during the maize growth period. The sustainability of balancing GHG emissions, and economic and environmental benefits can be achieved by optimizing nitrogen fertilizer manage.

Keywords: Carbon footprint; Maize; N(2)O emissions; Optimize nitrogen; Strip tillage.

Publication types

Review