Effects of different fertilizer combinations on yield and nitrogen use efficiency of summer maize in Jiangsu province

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-5007796/v1

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Effects of different fertilizer combinations on yield and nitrogen use efficiency of summer maize in Jiangsu province

https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5007796/v1

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Rational application of nitrogen fertilizer plays a crucial role in promoting crop growth and increasing yields. The application of slow-release fertilizer has emerged as an important agronomic measure to increase yield and production efficiency further. In this study, a field trial with maize hybrid Jiangyu877 as material was conducted to investigate the effects of six fertilizer combinations [no fertilizer (P1), common nitrogen fertilizer application (P2), slow-release nitrogen fertilizer application (P3), common nitrogen fertilizer and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer 1:1 application (P4), 1:2 application (P5) and 2:1 application (P6)] on yield and nitrogen use efficiency. Fertilization significantly increased maize yield, with the best increase in the treatment combining common and slow-release nitrogen fertilizers. Among all treatments receiving equal amounts of nitrogen, the P5 treatment exhibited superior yield and higher nitrogen use efficiency than other treatments. Compared with the P3 treatment, the dry matter accumulation of P5 increased by 6.6 ~ 13.7%, nitrogen accumulation increased by 13.0 ~ 16.3%, and nitrogen use efficiency increased by 8.1 ~ 11.5%. Therefore, compared with the P3 treatment, the 1000-grain weight and the number of grains per panicle were significantly increased, the test increased yield by 2.6 ~ 4.5%, and the net income increased by 17.1%~80.4% in three years. In conclusion, in the actual production of summer maize in Jiangsu Province, under the planting density of 75,000 plants ha^− 1, the recommended fertilization method was common nitrogen and slow-release nitrogen (1:2) (common nitrogen 75 kg ha^− 1: slow-release nitrogen 150 kg ha^− 1) one-time base application, which synergistic improvement of yield and efficiency could be realized.

Maize

Nitrogen fertilization

Slow-release fertilizer

Nitrogen use efficiency

Net return

Increasing maize yield was of great significance to ensure food security and economic stability. Field management, especially nitrogen fertilizer application, was essential for improving maize yield (Guo et al., 2021). Rational N application plays a crucial role in all the factors of maize yield increase (Yan et al., 2021). The amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied in China has increased each year, but the rise of nitrogen fertilizer application has not brought about an increase in yield, it has led to ammonia (NH₃) volatilization also causing huge N loss, low N use efficiency (NUE), high production costs (Gao et al., 2021, Zheng et al., 2021, Zhong et al., 2021), and environmental pollution (Ladha et al., 2005). People pay more attention to the optimal application of fertilizer to reduce the adverse effects of excessive fertilization on the environment (Rahman & Zhang, 2018). At different stages of crop growth, applying nitrogen fertilizer by stages according to crop nutrient demand can improve nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) (Grant et al., 2012). However, applying nitrogen fertilizer in stages is both costly and time-consuming (Liu & Griffiths, 2011). Therefore, it is necessary to explore the combination of maize yield and nitrogen use efficiency and maintain the sustainable utilization of cultivated land.

The high fertilizer requirement of maize means it will consume great nutrients from the soil, so it needs to be supplemented with enough fertilizer to meet its growth demand. Two weeks before and after maize flowering is critical to increase yield. However, the short-release cycle of ordinary nitrogen fertilizer could not meet the nutrient demand in this period, which seriously limited the increase of maize yield. Slow-release fertilizer could adjust the nitrogen release rate and meet the demand for nitrogen in the crop growing period (Ghafoor et al., 2021), which can be used as an essential technical measure to realize simplified cultivation (Gao et al., 2021, Qiang et al., 2021, Zhang et al., 2019, Zhu et al., 2019). Slow-release fertilizers could promote N uptake, improve crop yield, and reduce soil NO₃⁻–N residues (Zhang et al., 2015, Sun et al., 2020, Gao et al., 2021), which were widely used in agriculture (Li et al., 2017, Li et al., 2020, Ke et al., 2017). One-time fertilization technology has been commonly applied in summer maize production (Jiang et al., 2018). As the carrier of one-time fertilization technology, slow-release N fertilizer application on maize showed promising effects in increasing yield and income, saving fertilizer and labor, improving NUE, and reducing N loss (Qu et al., 2020). Compared with common nitrogen application, slow-release fertilizer can significantly improve yield (1.3–10%), nitrogen uptake (5.1–12.1%), and nitrogen use efficiency (8-48.2%) (Xia et al., 2017). However, slow-release N fertilizer is too expensive to be promoted in general agricultural use (Grant et al., 2012). Therefore, exploring reasonable fertilization methods is an urgent problem that needs to be solved in maize field production.

Previous studies have proposed the optimization of mixed urea and slow-release N fertilizer (MUS) for increasing economic benefits and addressing the slow-release rate of N from slow-release N fertilizer during the early stages of the crops (Zheng et al., 2017, Andrade et al., 2021). Different amounts of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer combined with common nitrogen fertilizer could improve nitrogen uptake, yield and nitrogen utilization rate of maize (Li et al., 2020). Compared with a single application of common nitrogen fertilizer, the combined application could not only address the slow-release rate of N from slow-release N fertilizer during the early stages of the maize (Guo et al., 2017), but also meet the nutrient demand of maize in the later growth stage(Sun et al., 2019), thus obtaining high yield (Guo et al., 2016). In China, Jiangsu province lies at the boundary between north and south, rainfall frequency and precipitation are higher than in the north, the daily temperature difference is lower than that in the north, and nutrient requirements are also different in this environment. Therefore, this study is based on the reality of this province to investigate the effects of nitrogen fertilizer ratio on maize yield, dry matter accumulation, plant nitrogen uptake, nitrogen and nitrogen transport, and nitrogen use efficiency. To provide technical guidance for farmers' production and theoretical guidance for improving maize yield and nitrogen use efficiency.

2.1 Test site overview and Experiment design

The field experiment was carried out during the 2019、2021 and 2022 maize growth seasons in test plots of Suining (Xuzhou)、Sucheng (Suqian), and Shiyezhou (Zhenjiang) of Jiangsu province. The test variety is Jiangyu 877 (One of the widely cultivated varieties in Jiangsu Province). The total rainfall and accumulated temperature during the growth period were 333.5mm and 3416.2℃ (Zhenjiang), 450mm and 3349.2℃ (Xuzhou), 621.8mm and 3278.8℃ (Suqian) for 2019, while 937.6mm and 3467.7℃ (Zhenjiang), 565.5mm and 3362.36℃ (Xuzhou), 908.7mm and 3352.5℃ (Suqian) for 2021, respectively. Before the experiment, the average value of soil properties in the 0–10 cm soil layer of Zhenjiang, Xuzhou and Suqian was as follows (Table 1). Nitrogen (N) release curves for slow-release nitrogen fertilizer in 25℃ hydrostatic water was follows (Fig. 1).

Table 1

Basic soil fertility and sowing and harvesting time
Year	Place		Total N (g kg^− 1)	Available N (g kg^− 1)	Available N (g kg^− 1)	Available N (g kg^− 1)	Sowing time	Harvest time	Actual density
2019	Zhenjiang	12.6	1.2	69.3	11.9	77.1	6/22	10/9	69810
	Xuzhou	14.6	1.5	84.1	12.9	68.9	6/17	10/4	60956
	Suqian	13.1	1.1	72.4	11.8	69.1	6/18	10/4	69260
2021	Zhenjiang	10.6	0.9	71.2	7.3	65.9	6/19	10/7	75000
	Xuzhou	14.2	1.4	82.5	10.6	70.2	6/22	10/10	66534
	Suqian	11.8	1	79.6	9.5	67.7	6/23	10/10	71332
2022	Zhenjiang	13.9	1.5	84.2	12.3	67.4	6/26	10/11	72675
	Xuzhou	12.8	1	71.9	12.1	63.2	6/22	10/10	74370
	Suqian	11.4	1	68.7	7.3	69.8	6/23	10/10	74037

The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design with two factors (2 N fertilizer types × 6 N fertilizer distribution method) replicated three times. The two N fertilizer types were urea (N ≥ 46%) and slow-release N fertilizer (N ≥ 42%). The slow-release N fertilizer used was resin-coated slow-release fertilizer, provided by Shandong Agricultural University Jiangsu Zhongdong Fertilizer Co., LTD., with a 100% coated N content of 42.0% and its release period is 90 days. A Traditional high planting density of 75,000 seed ha^–1 was used in this study. The treatment without fertilization was used as the control (abbreviated as P1). The other five treatments in this experiment were common nitrogen fertilizer (P2), slow-release nitrogen fertilizer application (P3), routine nitrogen fertilizer, and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer 1:1 application (P4), 1:2 application (P5), and 2:1 application (P6). The plots (area 96 m², length 'width: 20 m × 4.8 m) were selected randomly with three replicates. Phosphate fertilizer for superphosphate (P₂O₅ ≥ 12), potassium fertilizer for potassium sulfate (K₂O ≥ 60%). All fertilizers were applied once as a base fertilizer. The application amount of N, P and K fertilizer was the same in all treatments for 225 kg N ha^− 1、75kg P ha^− 1 and 90kg K ha^− 1 were applied before planting. There is no irrigation throughout the growth period.

2.2 Determination items and methods

2.2.1 Yield Determination

Two central lines were harvested to determine grain yield at maturity, and the number of grains per ear was counted. The grains were manually stripped from the cobs and air-dried, and the yield was calculated (kg ha^− 1). The harvested grain yield was determined to have a 14% moisture content (Chen et al., 2015).

2.2.2 Dry Matter Accumulation

Once they reached the silking stage, maize plants were sampled and separated into leaves, stems, sheaths, and tassels. At maturity, they were sampled and separated into leaves, stems, tassels, cobs, husks, and ears. The accumulation of dry matter and nutrients was limited to above ground because the root system was excluded (Ciampitti & Vyn, 2012). All samples were oven-dried at 80 ◦C to a constant weight after de-enzyme was conducted at 105 ◦C for 30 min.

The following equations were used for calculations: Post-silking dry matter accumulation (kg ha^− 1) = whole plant dry weight at maturity – whole plant dry weight at silking; Post-silking dry matter translocation (kg ha^− 1) = whole plant dry weight at silking – dry weight of vegetative organs (leaves, stems, sheaths and tassels) at maturity (Yang et al., 2017).

2.2.3 Nitrogen uptake and utilization

After grinding, the dried samples were sieved (0.5-mm mesh) and digested in H₂SO₄-H₂O₂, followed by Kjeldahl's evaluation of the overall N content. Nitrogen uptake, N remobilization efficiency (NRE), N fertilizer partial productivity (PFPN), and recovery efficiency of N (REN) were calculated as follows (Congreves et al., 2021, Qiang et al., 2020):

N uptake (kg ha^− 1) = N content (%) × dry matter

NRE (%) = (Plant N_f − Plant N₀) / Fertilizer N

NPFP (kg kg^− 1) = Yield_f / Fertilizer N

NAE (kg kg^− 1) = (Yield_f – Yield₀) / Fertilizer N

Where Plant N_f denotes the amount of N in a fertilized plant; Plant N0 is the amount of N in a non-fertilized plant; Fertilizer N is conceptualized as the inorganic N contained in any form of N input; Yield_f denotes the grain yield of a fertilized plant; Yield₀ denotes the grain yield of a non-fertilized plant.

2.2.4 Economic benefit

Fertilizer costs and benefits were calculated based on market prices in 2019 and 2021, with the price per unit for grain of 0.28 $ kg^− 1 and 0.45 $ kg^− 1, respectively. Input project costs included seed、fertilizers and other inputs. The costs of conventional urea, slow-release N fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer and potassium fertilizer were 0.3 $ kg^− 1, 0.56 $ kg^− 1, 0.3 $ kg^− 1 and 0.6 $ kg^− 1, respectively. And the seed costs were 148.95 $ kg^− 1, respectively. Other inputs include agricultural machinery and labor and other agricultural inputs were 1500.5 $ ha^− 1.

Net income ($ ha^− 1) = Income ($ ha^− 1) - Total cost ($ ha^− 1).

2.3 Statistical analysis

Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), with N fertilizer types and N fertilizer application method as the two fixed factors, was used to assess variations in each indicator. Differences between all treatments were detected using least significant difference (LSD) testing at the 0.05 significance level. We compared each indicator using one-way ANOVA, followed by posthoc pairwise comparisons (Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference [HSD] procedure) if warranted. Statistical analyses and data plotting were performed using SPSS Statistics Software 16.0 (https://www.IBM.com/products/ spss-statistics) and Sigma Plot 14.0 (https://systatsoftware.com/products/sigmaplot/), respectively.

3.1 Grain yield and yield components

The individual factors of year、locations and N fertilizer application method had a significant influence on kernel number per cob, 1000-grain weights and grain yield (Fig. 1). Compared with P2, averaged across 1000-grain weights and grain yield of P3、P4、P5 and P6 was a significant increase. Also, the average grain yield of P4、P5 and P6 was 4.7%、15.2%、3.4%, 6.4%、12.6%、2.1% and 3.5%、15.4%、8.1% higher than that with P3 in Zhenjiang, Xuzhou and Suqian in three years, respectively (Fig. 2). Moreover, grain yield of P5 was higher under combined application conditions (for Zhenjiang, Xuzhou and Suqian was 11523.7kg ha^− 1, 9983.2kg ha^− 1, 16730.1kg ha^− 1 in 2019, 7581.3kg ha^− 1, 8697.7kg ha^− 1, 9795.9kg ha^− 1 in 2021 and 12460.6kg ha^− 1, 14095.5kg ha^− 1, 10731.2kg ha^− 1 in 2022). Variance analysis showed that there was also a significant two-way interaction between year and N fertilizer application、year and locations method on kernel number per cob, thousand kernel weights and grain yield (Table S1)。

3.2 Dry Matter Accumulation

Different fertilization methods significantly affected dry matter accumulation (DMA) of summer maize, with significant differences among different locations, years and treatments (Fig. 3). Fertilization significantly increased the total DMA of maize. Compared with P2, the average DMA of P3、P4、P5 and P6 were significantly increased by 2.7%、5.6%、12.1% and 5.3% in different years and locations. Moreover, the DMA of P5 was higher under combined application conditions (for Zhenjiang, Xuzhou and Suqian was 19484.9kg ha^− 1, 21333.7kg ha^− 1, 20932.6kg ha^− 1 in 2019, 17860.7kg ha^− 1, 16386.6kg ha^− 1, 17561.1kg ha^− 1 in 2021 and 18488.2kg ha^− 1, 24863.0kg ha^− 1, 19980.8kg ha^− 1 in 2022). As a whole, the DMA of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer was higher than that of ordinary nitrogen fertilizer, and the ratio of post-silking accumulation to total growth period of P5 treatments was higher than that of other treatments.

3.3 Dry matter translocation

Fertilization significantly increased dry matter transport of maize, and there were significant differences among different fertilization methods (Table 2). Compared with P2, averaged across total translocation of P3、P4、P5 and P6 was significantly increased by 8.9%、19.9%、48.4% and 19.0% in different years and locations. The effect of combined application was better than that of a single application of slow-release fertilizer. Moreover, the translocation of P5 was higher under combined application conditions. The trend of transfer rate and contribution rate was consistent with that of translocation. For yield formation, it was mainly attributed to dry matter accumulation after flowering and dry matter transportation before flowering, and the appropriate increase of dry matter transportation could promote yield formation. Also, as shown in Table 3, there were significant differences in leaf translocation, total translocation and Transfer rate among years, while stems, heaths and contribution had no significant effect. Only leaf translocation and transfer rate had a significant effect between locations, while total translocation and contribution for stems and sheaths had no significant impact. There was also no significant three-way interaction between years、locations and treatments on translocation.

Table 2

Effects of different fertilizer combinations on maize dry matter translocation.
	Location	Treatment		Leaves (kg ha^− 1)	Total translocation (kg ha^− 1)	Transfer rate (%)	Contribution (%)
2019	Zhenjiang	P1	745.5c	236.9c	982.5de	12.8bc	11.1b
		P2	751.9c	274.7abc	1026.6cde	12.9bc	11.2b
		P3	752.7c	295.3abc	1048.1cde	13.0bc	11.1b
		P4	860.5bc	283.4abc	1143.9cde	14.1bc	11.5b
		P5	871.0bc	459.4a	1330.5bcd	14.3bc	11.5b
		P6	844.9bc	296.1abc	1141.1cde	13.5bc	11.1b
	Xuzhou	P1	732.4c	313.5abc	1046.0cde	14.6abc	10.1b
		P2	920.8bc	309.4abc	1230.3bcd	15.7abc	11.8b
		P3	922.0bc	327.5abc	1249.6bcd	15.5abc	11.9b
		P4	939.7bc	405.7abc	1345.5bcd	16.8ab	13.2ab
		P5	1167.7ab	432.9ab	1600.7ab	18.7a	13.5ab
		P6	1013.0ab	345.8abc	1358.9abc	16.7ab	12.6ab
	Suqian	P1	735.8c	233.0c	968.8e	12.0c	11.8b
		P2	714.4c	272.3abc	986.7cde	12.1c	11.1b
		P3	794.1bc	307.0abc	1101.2cde	12.6bc	12.8ab
		P4	815.0bc	336.5abc	1151.6cde	13.0bc	12.9ab
		P5	1361.1a	366.4abc	1727.6a	18.7a	16.6a
		P6	896.4bc	264.9bc	1161.4cde	13.6bc	14.1ab
2021	Zhenjiang	P1	664.7cd	256.7cd	921.5de	14.8bc	12.8bc
		P2	744.0bc	420.5ab	1164.5bc	14.6bc	13.3bc
		P3	896.7bc	304.7bc	1201.5bc	14.9bc	14.0bc
		P4	905.2bc	364.0bc	1269.2bc	15.4bc	14.7bc
		P5	961.2bc	496.7a	1458.0ab	17.4ab	15.6bc
		P6	948.2bc	312.0bc	1260.2bc	15.0bc	14.6bc
	Xuzhou	P1	421.8e	202.0e	623.8g	11.8c	12.3bc
		P2	696.6cd	191.6e	888.2ef	12.3c	12.2cd
		P3	706.5cd	270.3cd	976.9cd	13.1bc	13.7bc
		P4	791.5bc	274.5cd	1066.0cd	13.5bc	14.7bc
		P5	1359.2a	326.6bc	1685.9a	20.3a	20.7a
		P6	832.7bc	208.4de	1041.2cd	14.1bc	14.0bc
	Suqian	P1	486.4de	190.9e	677.4fg	11.4c	10.1d
		P2	742.8bc	213.5de	956.3de	12.5c	13.5bc
		P3	817.4bc	214.9de	1032.4cd	12.6c	14.8bc
		P4	938.7bc	235.3de	1174.1bc	13.9bc	15.3bc
		P5	1067.ab	253.4cd	1321.3bc	14.4bc	17.1ab
		P6	917.3bc	197.3e	1114.6bc	13.4bc	14.7bc
2022	Zhenjiang	P1	550.6i	551.6ab	1102.2ij	15.7de	13.9de
		P2	689.9gh	592.5ab	1282.4fg	16.8cd	15.3cd
		P3	846.6ef	524.9ab	1371.6ef	17.6ab	15.5cd
		P4	1012.4bc	582.3ab	1594.7bc	19.6ab	16.7bc
		P5	1285.8b	686.2ab	1972.1ab	21.7a	21.4a
		P6	969.7bc	668.8ab	1638.5bc	19.7ab	18.5ab
	Xuzhou	P1	807.9ef	430.4bc	1238.3gh	14.5ef	12.3gh
		P2	929.4cd	623.5ab	1552.9cd	16.6cd	13.6ef
		P3	1170.7bc	629.4ab	1800.2bc	17.4bc	13.7ef
		P4	1218.4bc	719.7ab	1938.1ab	18.4ab	14.8cd
		P5	1614.3a	685.1ab	2299.4a	20.3ab	16.7bc
		P6	1121.9bc	730.4ab	1852.3bc	19.2ab	13.7ef
	Suqian	P1	595.0hi	359.8c	954.8j	14.1f	10.9h
		P2	726.7fg	474.5bc	1201.3hi	16.5cd	13.3fg
		P3	910.1cd	521.4ab	1431.6de	18.6ab	15.4cd
		P4	944.2cd	716.4ab	1660.6bc	20.1ab	17.6ab
		P5	1191.0bc	688.7ab	1879.7bc	21.4ab	19.9ab
		P6	885.4de	793.4a	1678.9bc	20.1ab	17.9ab
Note: Different letters represent the significance of differences between different treatments in the same place at P < 0.05. P1 as no fertilizer, P2 common nitrogen fertilizer application, P3 slow-release nitrogen fertilizer application, P4 common nitrogen fertilizer and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer 1:1 application, P5 1:2 application, P6 2:1 application.

Table 3

Analysis of variance for stems and sheaths, leaves, total translocation, transfer rate and contribution
Sources	Stems and sheaths (kg ha^− 1)	Leaves (kg ha^− 1)	Total translocation (kg ha^− 1)	Transfer rate (%)	Contribution (%)
Y	**	**	**	**	**
L	ns	ns	**	ns	ns
M	**	**	**	**	**
Y×L	ns	ns	**	ns	ns
Y×M	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
L×M	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
Y×L×M	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns

Using year (Y), locations (L) and nitrogen fertilizer application method (M) as three fixed factors ns not significant (p > 0.05). ns: indicates p > 0.05 (non-significance), while * and ** respectively indicate p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 (significance).

3.4 Nitrogen uptake at pre-silking and post-silking

Different fertilization methods significantly affected nitrogen uptake at pre-silking and post-silking of summer maize, with significant differences among different locations, years and treatments (Fig. 4). Fertilization significantly increased the total nitrogen uptake of maize. Compared with P2, averaged across total nitrogen uptake of P3、P4、P5 and P6 were significantly increased by 4.8%、10.2%、21.3% and 11.6% in different years and locations. The effect of combined application was better than that of a single application of slow-release fertilizer. Moreover, P5 treatment has the best impact (for Zhenjiang, Xuzhou and Suqian was 204.1kg ha^-1, 227.2kg ha^-1, 222.7kg ha^-1 in 2019, 198.6kg ha^-1, 191.8kg ha^-1, 190.2kg ha^-1 in 2021 and 229.4kg ha^-1, 235.4kg ha^-1, 221.9kg ha^-1 in 2022).

3.5 Nitrogen translocation

Different fertilization methods had significant effects on nitrogen translocation of summer maize, and significant differences between treatments (Table 4). Compared with P2, averaged across total translocation of P3、P4、P5 and P6 was significantly increased by 12.7%、28.0%、49.7% and 25.9% in different years and locations. Moreover, the translocation of P5 was higher under combined application conditions. Also, as shown in Table 5, There were significant differences in stems and sheaths translocation, total translocation and contribution among years, while leaves、transfer rate had no significant effect. There was also no significant three-way interaction between years、locations and treatments on translocation. The trend of transfer rate and contribution rate was consistent with that of translocation.

Table 4

Effects of different fertilizer combinations on maize nitrogen translocation.
Year	Locations	Treatment	Stems and sheaths (kg ha-1)	Leaves (kg ha-1)	Total translocation (kg ha-1)	Transfer rate (%)	Contribution (%)
2019	Zhenjiang	P1	31.0gh	10.3e	41.4h	50.9de	43.7ef
		P2	36.9de	17.9de	54.9fgh	52.8cd	54.5de
		P3	38.8cd	20.5de	59.3de	55.3ab	59.0ab
		P4	44.2bc	22.0de	66.2de	57.3ab	63.9ab
		P5	57.3ab	26.2cd	83.5bc	59.6a	64.0ab
		P6	44.7d	22.5de	67.3de	57.1ab	63.0ab
	Xuzhou	P1	26.6h	22.2de	48.8h	48.9de	41.9g
		P2	33.6ef	23.9cd	57.5ef	48.2f	45.3fg
		P3	43.5bc	25.0cd	68.6cd	51.0cd	50.9de
		P4	48.9ab	26.1bcd	75.1bc	53.0bc	54.3bc
		P5	54.1ab	30.4abc	84.5ab	55.3ab	58.1ab
		P6	47.7ab	26.1bcd	73.9bc	53.6bc	52.4cd
	Suqian	P1	31.1fg	20.2de	51.3gh	48.8ef	52.0cd
		P2	43.7bc	24.3cd	68.1cd	52.7bc	57.0ab
		P3	45.4bc	29.7abc	75.1bc	55.0ab	58.7ab
		P4	52.2ab	33.0ab	85.3ab	57.0ab	64.2ab
		P5	57.8a	34.3a	92.1a	59.5a	66.9a
		P6	50.1ab	29.8abc	80.0ab	54.1bc	63.0ab
2021	Zhenjiang	P1	23.6i	15.2j	38.9g	50.0c	41.0h
		P2	30.7ef	26.3ef	57.0de	52.3bc	49.7efg
		P3	30.2ef	29.8bc	60.0cde	52.7bc	50.0efg
		P4	32.5def	33.4ab	65.9bc	53.5bc	51.1def
		P5	35.6cd	36.0a	71.7ab	55.8ab	52.9de
		P6	35.6cd	30.5bc	66.2bc	54.0bc	50.6efg
	Xuzhou	P1	17.4j	18.0ij	35.5g	49.5c	49.4efg
		P2	28.2gh	20.7hi	49.0f	51.9bc	45.4fgh
		P3	27.2hi	22.1gh	49.4f	51.1bc	46.2fgh
		P4	32.9de	27.4cd	60.4cde	52.9bc	52.6de
		P5	44.9ab	31.5bc	76.4a	59.5a	57.1bcd
		P6	32.6de	27.2de	59.8cde	55.6ab	49.1efg
	Suqian	P1	13.3j	21.9hi	35.3g	49.2c	44.3gh
		P2	29.4fg	20.0hi	49.4f	49.5c	53.8cde
		P3	33.9de	20.1hi	54.0ef	51.8bc	59.3abc
		P4	40.3bc	21.2hi	61.5cd	52.0bc	61.5ab
		P5	48.0a	26.9de	75.0a	53.3bc	64.8a
		P6	37.6cd	23.3fg	60.9cde	52.1bc	60.2ab
2022	Zhenjiang	P1	19.8i	17.1jk	37.0i	48.0fg	39.4e
		P2	35.6fg	22.4gh	58.0gh	50.3ef	53.5ab
		P3	40.7de	26.7ef	67.5fg	52.5bc	56.0ab
		P4	45.8cd	34.9cd	80.8cde	60.0ab	58.5ab
		P5	66.3a	33.5cd	99.8ab	61.4ab	63.1a
		P6	47.7cd	27.6ef	75.4def	55.6ab	59.8ab
	Xuzhou	P1	18.3i	17.8ij	36.2i	39.6h	40.5de
		P2	26.5hi	33.6cd	60.2gh	51.9cd	47.0bc
		P3	31.1gh	41.5bc	72.7ef	54.2ab	52.1ab
		P4	42.6cd	39.7bc	82.4cde	57.9ab	56.6ab
		P5	50.3bc	534.0a	103.0a	62.8a	62.1a
		P6	41.0de	47.1ab	88.1bc	60.4ab	57.3ab
	Suqian	P1	20.9i	15.3k	36.3i	43.4gh	44.9cd
		P2	34.6fg	20.6hi	55.3h	47.2fg	50.1ab
		P3	38.8ef	25.4fg	64.3fgh	50.6de	56.2ab
		P4	41.8cd	32.3cd	74.2def	52.4bc	57.9ab
		P5	56.7b	28.5ef	85.3cd	54.3ab	63.3a
		P6	43.0cd	30.7de	73.7def	51.2cd	60.1ab
Note: Different letters represent the significance of differences between different treatments in the same place at P < 0.05. P1 as no fertilizer, P2 common nitrogen fertilizer application, P3 slow-release nitrogen fertilizer application, P4 common nitrogen fertilizer and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer 1:1 application, P5 1:2 application, P6 2:1 application.

Table 5

Analysis of variance for stems and sheaths, leaves, total translocation, transfer rate and contribution.
Sources	Stems and sheaths (kg ha^− 1)	Leaves (kg ha^− 1)	Total translocation (kg ha^− 1)	Transfer rate (%)	Contribution (%)
Y	**	**	**	ns	**
L	**	**	ns	ns	**
M	**	**	**	**	**
Y×L	**	**	**	ns	ns
Y×M	ns	ns	**	ns	ns
L×M	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
Y×L×M	ns	ns	ns	ns	ns
Using year (Y), locations (L) and nitrogen fertilizer application method (M) as three fixed factors ns not significant (p > 0.05). ns: indicates p > 0.05 (non-significance), while * and ** respectively indicate p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 (significance)

3.6 Nitrogen utilization

Different fertilization methods had significant effects on partial factor productivity of the nitrogen utilization of summer maize, and significant differences between locations and treatments (Table 6). Compared with P2, averaged across PFP, NAE and NRE of P3、P4、P5 and P6 was significantly increased. Moreover, in the experiment of three years and places, the P5 treatment had the best effect among all the treatments. Also, as shown in Table 7, there were significant differences in PFP and NAE over the years, while NRE had no significant effect. There was also significant two-way interaction between years and locations while no significant three-way interaction between years、 locations and treatments.

Table 6

Effects of different fertilizer combinations on maize nitrogen use efficiency.
Year	Location	Treatment	NPFP (kg/kg)	NAE (kg/kg)	NRE (%)
2019	Zhenjiang	P1	-	-	-
		P2	45.6ab	10.4cd	18.4bc
		P3	48.0ab	12.8bcd	26.2ab
		P4	47.9ab	12.7bcd	28.6ab
		P5	51.2a	15.9bcd	36.3a
		P6	44.9b	9.75d	34.9a
	Xuzhou	P1	-	-	-
		P2	36.3g	8.73d	18.7bc
		P3	42.8efg	15.1bcd	18.0bc
		P4	42.0fg	14.3bcd	19.0bc
		P5	44.3efg	16.6bcd	24.2bc
		P6	40.9fg	13.2bcd	19.5bc
	Suqian	P1	-	-	-
		P2	62.4bc	16.7bcd	9.45d
		P3	64.4abc	18.7abc	17.1cd
		P4	66.1ab	20.5ab	19.5bc
		P5	71.3a	25.6a	27.3ab
		P6	57.2cd	11.5cd	25.8ab
2021	Zhenjiang	P1	-	-	-
		P2	28.0i	6.2bc	15.9fg
		P3	28.8hi	6.9bc	18.0ef
		P4	30.2gh	8.4ab	24.0cd
		P5	33.6ef	11.8a	26.1bc
		P6	31.0fg	9.1ab	23.9cd
	Xuzhou	P1	-	-	-
		P2	31.9fg	2.3f	20.2def
		P3	33.2ef	3.6de	20.9de
		P4	34.8de	5.2cd	26.9bc
		P5	38.6bc	9.0ab	34.7a
		P6	34.9de	5.3cd	27.9bc
	Suqian	P1	-	-	-
		P2	35.8cd	3.0ef	10.2h
		P3	38.0bc	5.2cd	11.9gh
		P4	40.1ab	7.3ab	18.2ef
		P5	43.5a	10.0ab	29.6b
		P6	42.4ab	9.6ab	17.6ef
2022	Zhenjiang	P1	-	-	-
		P2	47.7bc	13.4cd	14.3f
		P3	44.9cd	10.6de	22.6cd
		P4	49.3bc	15.0bc	26.1cd
		P5	55.3ab	21.0ab	39.1a
		P6	49.1bc	14.8bc	23.8cd
	Xuzhou	P1	-	-	-
		P2	45.7cd	8.3ef	17.3ef
		P3	54.0ab	16.6ab	24.7cd
		P4	60.3a	22.8ab	28.0bc
		P5	62.6a	25.2a	39.2a
		P6	55.4ab	18.0ab	33.4ab
	Suqian	P1	-	-	-
		P2	37.1e	7.0f	20.4de
		P3	40.3de	10.2de	23.5cd
		P4	40.9de	10.8de	31.5ab
		P5	47.6bc	17.6ab	37.2ab
		P6	43.8de	13.7bc	29.8ab
Note: Different letters represent the significance of differences between different treatments in the same place at P < 0.05. P1 as no fertilizer, P2 common nitrogen fertilizer application, P3 slow-release nitrogen fertilizer application, P4 common nitrogen fertilizer and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer 1:1 application, P5 1:2 application, P6 2:1 application. NRE stands for efficiency of N recovery, NPFP refers to partial factor productivity of N and NAE stands for agronomic efficiency of N. ns: indicates p > 0.05 (non-significance), while * and ** respectively indicate p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 (significance).

Table 7

Analysis of variance for nitrogen use efficiency.
Sources	NPFP (kg/kg)	NAE (kg/kg)	NRE (%)
Y	**	**	**
L	**	**	**
M	**	**	**
Y×L	**	**	**
Y×M	ns	ns	ns
L×M	ns	ns	ns
Y×L×M	ns	ns	ns

3.7 Economic benefits

The main cost of maize planting in Jiangsu province is the whole land, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, harvesting and other field labor, and the total cost is approximately 11043 yuan ha^-1 ~ 13578 yuan ha^-1 (Table 8). Compared with P3, P5 reduced costs by 2.6%、2.8%、2.8% and increased income by 6.6%、16.9% and 38.6% in 2019、2021 and 2022. This showed that a single application of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer increased the income with higher cost. In contrast, the combined application of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer could further reduce the cost based on increasing income. Compared with other treatments, P5 increased yield to achieve the maximum net returns.

Table 8

Effects of different fertilizer combinations on maize economic benefits (yuan ha^-1).
Year	Location	Treatment	Input costs			Total cost	Income	Net returns
Year	Location	Treatment	Seed	Fertilizer	Other agricultural inputs	Total cost	Income	Net returns
2019	Zhenjiang	P1	993	/	10050	11043	15847.7hi	4804.7gh
		P2	993	1319.0	10050	12362	20537.4ef	8175.4de
		P3	993	2349.0	10050	13392	21612.1ef	8220.1de
		P4	993	1834.0	10050	12877	21586.1ef	8709.1de
		P5	993	2007.5	10050	13050.5	23047.5de	9997.0cd
		P6	993	1662.2	10050	12705.2	20236.3ef	7531.0de
	Xuzhou	P1	993	/	10050	11043	12438.8i	1395.8i
		P2	993	1319.0	10050	12362	16371.4gh	4009.4hi
		P3	993	2349.0	10050	13392	19277.6fg	5885.6ef
		P4	993	1834.0	10050	12877	18906.3fg	6029.3ef
		P5	993	2007.5	10050	13050.5	19946.0ef	6895.5de
		P6	993	1662.2	10050	12705.2	18405.4fgh	5700.2fg
	Suqian	P1	993	/	10050	11043	20555.2ef	9512.2cd
		P2	993	1319.0	10050	12362	28109.7bc	15747.7ab
		P3	993	2349.0	10050	13392	28989.1ab	15597.2ab
		P4	993	1834.0	10050	12877	29783.7ab	16906.7a
		P5	993	2007.5	10050	13050.5	32093.6a	19043.1a
		P6	993	1662.2	10050	12705.2	25740.4cd	13035.1bc
2021	Zhenjiang	P1	993	/	10050	11043	14759.7k	3716.7j
		P2	993	1470.0	10050	12513	17025.3j	4512.3hi
		P3	993	2535.0	10050	13578	17496.6ij	3918.6ij
		P4	993	2002.5	10050	13045.5	18362.4gh	5316.9gh
		P5	993	2160.0	10050	13203	20469.5ef	7266.5ef
		P6	993	1845.0	10050	12888	19331.1fg	6443.1fg
	Xuzhou	P1	993	/	10050	11043	18001.7hi	6958.7ef
		P2	993	1470	10050	12513	20211.0fg	7698.0de
		P3	993	2535	10050	13578	20890.9de	7312.9ef
		P4	993	2002.5	10050	13045.5	21190.9de	8145.4de
		P5	993	2160.0	10050	13203	23483.8bc	10280.8bc
		P6	993	1845.0	10050	12888	21255.8de	8367.8de
	Suqian	P1	993	/	10050	11043	19913.9fg	8870.9cd
		P2	993	1470.0.	10050	12513	21767.2cd	9254.2cd
		P3	993	2535.0	10050	13578	23088.6bc	9510.6cd
		P4	993	2002.5	10050	13045.5	24363.3ab	11317.8ab
		P5	993	2160.0	10050	13203	26448.8a	13245.8a
		P6	993	1845.0	10050	12888	25777.9ab	12889.9ab
2022	Zhenjiang	P1	993	/	10050	11043	15438.5gh	4395.5fg
		P2	993	1470.0	10050	12362	21494.4bc	8981.4cd
		P3	993	2535.0	10050	13392	20214.9de	6636.9ef
		P4	993	2002.5	10050	12877	22198.8bc	9153.3cd
		P5	993	2160.0	10050	13050.5	24921.2ab	11718.ab
		P6	993	1845.0	10050	12705.2	22136.2bc	9248.2cd
	Xuzhou	P1	993	/	10050	11043	16845.4fg	5802.4ef
		P2	993	1470.0	10050	12513	20588.8cd	8075.8cd
		P3	993	2535.0	10050	13578	24340.6ab	10762.2bc
		P4	993	2002.5	10050	13045.5	27145.5a	14100.1ab
		P5	993	2160.0	10050	13203	28191.1a	14988.1a
		P6	993	1845.0	10050	12888	24948.8ab	12060.ab
	Suqian	P1	993	/	10050	11043	13529.7h	2486.7h
		P2	993	1470.0.	10050	12513	16712.4fg	4199.4gh
		P3	993	2535.0	10050	13578	18156.7ef	4578.7fg
		P4	993	2002.5	10050	13045.5	18419.4de	5373.9ef
		P5	993	2160.0	10050	13203	21462.5bc	8259.5cd
		P6	993	1845.0	10050	12888	19713.1de	6825.1de
Significant level (F value)
Y			-	-	-	-	**	**
P			-	-	-	-	**	*
T			-	-	-	-	**	**
V×P			-	-	-	-	**	**
V ×T			-	-	-	-	*	*
P×T			-	-	-	-	ns	ns
V×P×T			-	-	-	-	ns	ns
Note: Different letters denote significant treatment differences (Tukey's HSD post hoc tests, P < 0.05). P1 as no fertilizer, P2 common nitrogen fertilizer application, P3 slow-release nitrogen fertilizer application, P4 common nitrogen fertilizer and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer 1:1 application, P5 1:2 application, P6 2:1 application. Y denotes the year, P is the location and T refers to the treatment. ns: indicates p > 0.05 (non-significance), while * and ** respectively indicate p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 (significance)

3.8 Correlation analysis

Correlation analysis between yield and each index under different fertilizer combinations(Fig. 5). The yield was positively correlated with kernel number per cob, thousand kernel weights, dry matter accumulation, nitrogen uptake and nitrogen translocation. Moreover, nitrogen uptake and translocation positively correlated with PFP, NAE and NRE. This showed that fertilization combinations could improve nitrogen uptake and translocation to meet the demand of yield increase and increase NAE, and grain yield could also be increased by cultivation measures to increase kernel number per cob and thousand kernel weights.

Many factors affect maize yield, and fertilization treatment is one of them (Nirmal Mani et al., 2021). In this study, we analyzed the influence of the N fertilizer combination on maize grain yield. This differs from previous studies that only considered the interaction between grain yield of maize with different fertilizer types at the same amount (Fu et al., 2020, Yang et al., 2019). Under the same amount of nitrogen fertilizer, compared with conventional nitrogen fertilizer, the 1000-grain weight of maize treated with slow-release nitrogen fertilizer was higher, so the yield was higher. This may be because nitrogen could enhance the activity of mesophyll cells and increase the SPAD value of leaves, thereby improving photosynthesis and increasing yield (Tian et al., 2021). Also, the longer release cycle of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer compared with conventional nitrogen fertilizer can be released continuously to meet the nutrient demand of maize in the later growth stage (Sun et al., 2019). We also found that the yield of combined fertilizer treatment was higher than that of slow-release nitrogen treatment. This may be because the combined application can release nutrients to promote the early growth of maize and maintain fertilizer efficiency to meet the demand for fertilizer for the late growth of maize. Moreover, the combined application's net benefit was higher than that of conventional nitrogen fertilizer and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer. This is because slow-release fertilizer is more expensive than conventional nitrogen fertilizer (Farmaha & Sims, 2013), and the problem was well solved by combined application.

In addition to the effect on yield components, N fertilizer application significantly affected dry matter accumulation (DMA), and DMA is the material basis of crop yield formation (Fan et al., 2020). Moreover, the total DMA of different nitrogen fertilizer application ratios significantly differed from that of a single fertilizer. Under the ratio mode of P5 treatment, the dry matter accumulation was higher at pre- and post-floral. Thus, the DMA of summer maize was increased by increasing the proportion of slow-release N fertilizer in fertilizer combination application to achieve a better yield increase effect, which also synchronized with the rule of yield change. This may be because slow-release N fertilizer could promote the development of the maize root system and better effect in promoting aboveground biomass accumulation (Zhang et al., 2024). The formation of maize yield also depends on the absorption and accumulation of nitrogen. Previous studies have noted a high correlation between N uptake and crop N requirements and a strong correlation between plant N absorption and dry matter accumulation (Mueller et al., 2017). This study showed a strong correlation between maize grain yield and total plant N uptake. Similar results showed that the more N absorbed and accumulated by the whole plant, the more significant the contribution to grain yield (Wu et al., 2017). Studies have shown that applying slow-release N fertilizer can improve the plant N uptake, thus improving crop yield. Slow-release fertilizers may promote the growth and development of roots and buds, increase nitrogen absorption, and increase yield (Zhang et al., 2024). In addition, the ratio of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer and ordinary nitrogen fertilizer was used to increase the proportion of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer, which kept the balance of nutrient supply in each growth cycle of maize, improved partial nitrogen fertilizer productivity, further increased the total dry matter and nitrogen accumulation of maize, and made the fertilizer efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer and maize yield keep the synchronous growth trend.

Maize yield depends on photosynthesis and the transportation and distribution of plant assimilate. The way to obtain a high yield is to improve the dry matter's productivity after anthesis and its ability to transport grain. In this study, the transport amount of dry matter in stems and leaves treated with combined fertilization is significantly higher than that treated with single fertilization, and increasing the proportion of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer can promote the transport of dry matter to grains after anthesis and improve the transport efficiency of dry matter to grains after anthesis. Compared with other treatments, P5 was the best. This indicated that nitrogen played an important role in increasing dry matter assimilation after anthesis. Appropriate nitrogen application can promote the transportation and redistribution of dry matter before flowering (Yu et al., 2021). Slow-release fertilizer has better effects. The trend of nitrogen translocation was consistent with dry matter. This may be because the ratio of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer and conventional nitrogen fertilizer not only meets the nutrient demand of maize in the early growth stage but also provides a stable nutrient supply for the middle and late growth stages (Gao et al., 2021). Nitrogen apparent use efficiency is one of the critical indicators of nitrogen use efficiency, which can show the nitrogen uptake and utilization degree of maize (Yang et al., 2012). In this study, the NRE of slow-release fertilizer treatment was higher than that of conventional fertilizer treatment, combined with the application of ordinary nitrogen fertilizer and slow-release nitrogen fertilizer, which can make NRE higher, while P5 was the highest. P5 achieved a coordinated increase in yield and efficiency and performed better.

In Jiangsu province, the combined application of slow-release and ordinary nitrogen fertilizer (one-time application) can significantly improve maize grain yield, but the effect was different under different ratios. Under the same amount of nitrogen application, the yield and nitrogen use efficiency of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer: common nitrogen fertilizer (2: 1) treatment were better than other treatments. In addition, the dry matter and nitrogen accumulation are the highest under this treatment, and the nitrogen utilization rate is the highest under the same nitrogen application rate, which can obtain the most significant net income. Therefore, in the actual production of summer maize in Jiangsu province, the one-time basal application of 150 kg N ha^-1 of slow-release nitrogen fertilizer and 75 kg N ha^-1 of common nitrogen fertilizer could achieve cost-saving, net income increasing, efficiency-enhancing, and production-increasing synergies, and provide theoretical basis and technical support for realizing high resource efficiency and high yield of summer maize in Jiangsu Province.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Jue Wang: Investigation Data curation, Validation, Software, Writing-original draft preparation. Jian Guo: Methodology, Writing-review and editing. Guanghao Li: Methodology. Weiping Lu: Methodology, Funding acquisition. Dalei Lu: Methodology, Funding acquisition.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests.

Declaration of data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0300109), the Earmarked Fund for Jiangsu Agricultural Industry Technology System (JATS[2019]458, JATS[2021]497, JATS[2022]497), the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and High-end Talent Support Program of Yangzhou University.

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No competing interests reported.

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Effects of different fertilizer combinations on yield and nitrogen use efficiency of summer maize in Jiangsu province

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Abstract

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Introduction

Materials and methods

2.1 Test site overview and Experiment design

2.2 Determination items and methods

Results

Discussion

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References

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