Abstract
Intensive use of groundwater and chemical fertilizer has led to serious negative impacts on environmental conditions in the North China Plain. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the best management production strategies for winter wheat that increase yield and reduce environmental impacts. This study combined field data with model analysis using the CERES-Wheat model to evaluate long-term winter wheat productivity and nitrogen use in response to plant density and nitrogen rate under limiting irrigation conditions. The CERES-Wheat model was calibrated and evaluated with 3 years of data which consisted of plant density, nitrogen rates and irrigation treatments. The simulated results using historical weather data showed that grain yield and nitrogen use were sensitive to different management practices including plant density, nitrogen rate and amount of irrigation applications. Nitrogen application of 180 kg ha−1 with 300 plants m−2 improved long-term nitrogen use, stabilized grain yield, produced the highest net return, and decreased soil residual nitrogen to reduce environment risk. There was a positive correlation between canopy nitrogen and grain yield. Compared with current nitrogen recommendations (240 kg ha−1), N rate of 180 kg ha−1 increased partial factor productivity and agronomic efficiency by about 32% and 33% due to increase in nitrogen uptake efficiency and reduced soil residual nitrogen. In conclusion, results of this study indicated that the CERES-Wheat model was a useful tool to evaluate alternative management practices in order to optimize yield and nitrogen use under limited irrigation conditions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abad A, Lloveras J, Michelena A (2004) Nitrogen fertilization and foliar urea effects on durum wheat yield and quality and on residual soil nitrate in irrigated Mediterranean conditions. Field Crop Res 87:257–269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2003.11.007
Batchelor WD, Basso B, Paz JO (2002) Examples of strategies to analyze spatial and temporal yield variability using crop models. Eur J Agron 18:141–158. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1161-0301(02)00101-6
Cabrera-Bosquet L, Molero G, Bort J, Nogués S, Araus J (2007) The combined effect of constant water deficit and nitrogen supply on WUE, NUE and Δ13C in durum wheat potted plants. Ann Appl Biol 151:277–289. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7348.2007.00195.x
Carr PM, Horsley RD, Poland WW (2003) Tillage and seeding rate effects on wheat cultivars: II. Yield components. Crop Sci 43:210–218. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2003.2100
Cui S, Wang HG, Li DX, Ma BW, Li RQ (2016) Effects of limited irrigation and reduced nitrogen on population dynamics and yield formation in high-yielding wheat field. J Triticeae Crop 36:1060–1068. https://doi.org/10.7606/j.issn.1009-1041.2016.08.12 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Dai XL, Zhou XH, Jia DY, Xiao LL, Kong HB, He MR (2013) Managing the seeding rate to improve nitrogen-use efficiency of winter wheat. Field Crop Res 154:100–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.07.024
Dai XL, Xiao LL, Jia DY, Kong HB, Wang YC, Li CX, Zhang Y, He MR (2014) Increased plant density of winter wheat can enhance nitrogen-uptake from deep soil. Plant Soil 384:141–152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2190-x
Dai J, Wang ZH, Li FC, He G, Wang S, Li Q, Cao HB, Luo LC, Zan YL, Meng XY, Zhang WW, Wang RH, Malhi SS (2015) Optimizing nitrogen input by balancing winter wheat yield and residual nitrate-N in soil in a long-term dryland field experiment in the Loess Plateau of China. Field Crop Res 181:32–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2015.06.014
Duan YH, Xu MG, Gao SD, Yang XY, Huang SM, Liu HB, Wang BR (2014) Nitrogen use efficiency in a wheat-corn cropping system from 15 years of manure and fertilizer applications. Field Crop Res 157:47–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2013.12.012
Ercoli L, Lulli L, Mariotti M, Masoni A, Arduini I (2008) Post-anthesis dry matter and nitrogen dynamics in durum wheat as affected by nitrogen supply and soil water availability. Eur J Agron 28:138–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2007.06.002
Erisman JW, Sutton MA, Galloway J, Klimont Z, Winiwarter W (2008) How a century of ammonia synthesis changed the world. Nat Geosci 1:636–639. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo325
Fageria NK, Baligar VC (2005) Enhancing nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants. Adv Agron 88:97–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(05)88004-6
Fang QX, Yu Q, Wang EL, Chen YH, Zhang GL, Wang J, Li LH (2006) Soil nitrate accumulation, leaching and crop nitrogen use as influenced by fertilization and irrigation in an intensive wheat-maize double cropping system in the North China Plain. Plant Soil 284:335–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-006-0055-7
Fang Q, Ma L, Yu Q, Malone RW, Saseendran SA, Ahuja LR (2008) Modeling nitrogen and water management effects in a wheat–maize double-cropping system. J Environ Qual 37:2232–2242. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2007.0601
Fang Y, Xu BC, Turner NC, Li FM (2010) Grain yield, dry matter accumulation and remobilization, and root respiration in winter wheat as affected by seeding rate and root pruning. Eur J Agron 33:257–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2010.07.001
Fang Q, Wang HG, Ma BW, Li DX, Li RQ, Li YM (2015) Effect of planting density and nitrogen application rate on population quality and yield formation of super high-yielding winter wheat. J Triticeae Crop 35:364–371. https://doi.org/10.7606/j.issn.1009-1041.2015.03.12 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Fu GB, Charles SP, Yu JJ, Liu CM (2009) Decadal climatic variability, trends, and future scenarios for the North China Plain. J Climate 22:2111–2123. https://doi.org/10.1175/2008JCLI2605.1
Geleta B, Atak M, Baenziger PS, Nelson LA, Baltenesperger DD, Eskridge KM, Shipman MJ, Shelton DR (2002) Seeding rate and genotype effect on agronomic performance and end-use quality of winter wheat. Crop Sci 42:827–832. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2002.0827
Gu LM, Liu TN, Wang JF, Liu P, Dong ST, Zhao BQ, So HB, Zhang JW, Zhao B, Li J (2016) Lysimeter study of nitrogen losses and nitrogen use efficiency of Northern Chinese wheat. Field Crop Res 188:82–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2015.10.014
He JQ, Dukes MD, Hochmuth GJ, Jones JW, Graham WD (2012) Identifying irrigation and nitrogen best management practices for sweet corn production on sandy soils using CERES-Maize model. Agric Water Manag 109:61–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2012.02.007
Hoogenboom G, Jones JW, Wilkens PW, Porter CH, Boote KJ, Hunt LA, Singh U, Lizaso JI, White JW, Uryasev O, Ogoshi R, Koo J, Shelia V, Tsuji G (2015) Decision support system for agrotechnology transfer (DSSAT) version 4.6. DSSAT Foundation, Prosser, Washington
Ierna A, Lombardo GM, Mauromicale G (2016) Yield, nitrogen use efficiency and grain quality in durum wheat as affected by nitrogen fertilization under a Mediterranean environment. Exp Agric 52:314–329. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0014479715000113
Jamieson PD, Porter JR, Wilson DR (1991) A test of the computer-simulation model Archwheat1 on wheat crops grown in New-Zealand. Field Crop Res 27:337–350. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-4290(91)90040-3
Jayasundara S, Wagner-Riddle C, Parkin G, von Bertoldi P, Warland J, Kay B, Voroney P (2007) Minimizing nitrogen losses from a corn–soybean–winter wheat rotation with best management practices. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 79:141–159. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-007-9103-9
Jiang YW, Zhang LH, Zhang BQ, He CS, Jin X, Bai X (2016) Modeling irrigation management for water conservation by DSSAT-maize model in arid northwestern China. Agric Water Manag 177:37–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.06.014
Jones JW, Hoogenboom G, Porter CH, Boote KJ, Batchelor WD, Hunt LA, Wilkens PW, Singh U, Gijsman AJ, Ritchie JT (2003) The DSSAT cropping system model. Eur J Agron 18:235–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1161-0301(02)00107-7
Kadiyala MDM, Jones JW, Mylavarapu RS, Li YC, Reddy MD (2015) Identifying irrigation and nitrogen best management practices for aerobic rice-maize cropping system for semi-arid tropics using CERES-rice and maize models. Agric Water Manag 149:23–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2014.10.019
Kant S, Bi YM, Rothstein SJ (2011) Understanding plant response to nitrogen limitation for the improvement of crop nitrogen use efficiency. J Exp Bot 62:1499–1509. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erq297
Laik R, Sharma S, Idris M, Singh AK, Singh SS, Bhatt BP, Saharawat Y, Humphreys E, Ladha JK (2014) Integration of conservation agriculture with best management practices for improving system performance of the rice-wheat rotation in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Agric Ecosyst Environ 195:68–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2014.06.001
Li YM, Li RQ (2013) Advances in production techniques of super high yield winter wheat in Haihe Plain. Crops 2:1–6 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Li J, Inanaga S, Li Z, Eneji AE (2005) Optimizing irrigation scheduling for winter wheat in the North China Plain. Agric Water Manag 76:8–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2005.01.006
Li XX, Hu CS, Delgado JA, Zhang YM, Ouyang ZY (2007) Increased nitrogen use efficiencies as a key mitigation alternative to reduce nitrate leaching in north China plain. Agric Water Manag 89:137–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2006.12.012
Li QQ, Dong BD, Qiao YZ, Liu MY, Zhang JW (2010) Root growth, available soil water, and water-use efficiency of winter wheat under different irrigation regimes applied at different growth stages in North China. Agric Water Manag 97:1676–1682. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2010.05.025
Li Y, Liu HJ, Huang GH (2016a) The effect of nitrogen rates on yields and nitrogen use efficiencies during four years of wheat-maize rotation cropping seasons. Agron J 108:2076–2088. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2015.0610
Li Y, Liu HJ, Huang GH, Zhang RH, Yang HY (2016b) Nitrate nitrogen accumulation and leaching pattern at a winter wheat: summer maize cropping field in the North China Plain. Environ Earth Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4867-8
Link J, Batchelor WD, Graeff S, Claupein W (2008) Evaluation of current and model-based site-specific nitrogen applications on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield and environmental quality. Precis Agric 9:251–267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-008-9068-y
Liu XJ, Ju XT, Zhang FS, Pan JR, Christie P (2003) Nitrogen dynamics and budgets in a winter wheat-maize cropping system in the North China Plain. Field Crop Res 83:111–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4290(03)00068-6
Lloveras J, Manent J, Viudas J, Lopez A, Santiveri P (2004) Seeding rate influence on yield and yield components of irrigated winter wheat in a Mediterranean climate. Agron J 96:1258–1265
Meisinger J, Delgado J (2002) Principles for managing nitrogen leaching. J Soil Water Conserv 57:485–498
Meng QF, Yue SC, Hou P, Cui ZL, Chen XP (2016) Improving yield and nitrogen use efficiency simultaneously for maize and wheat in China: a review. Pedosphere 26:137–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/81002-0160(15)60030-3
Pei HW, Shen YJ, Liu CM (2015) Nitrogen and water cycling of typical cropland in the North China Plain. Chin J Appl Ecol 26:283–296. https://doi.org/10.13287/j.1001-9332.20141021.009 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Rasmussen IS, Dresboll DB, Thorup-Kristensen K (2015) Winter wheat cultivars and nitrogen (N) fertilization-Effects on root growth, N uptake efficiency and N use efficiency. Eur J Agron 68:38–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2015.04.003
Sadras V (2002) Interaction between rainfall and nitrogen fertilisation of wheat in environments prone to terminal drought: economic and environmental risk analysis. Field Crop Res 77:201–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-4290(02)00083-7
Sylvester-Bradley R, Kindred DR (2009) Analysing nitrogen responses of cereals to prioritize routes to the improvement of nitrogen use efficiency. J Exp Bot 60:1939–1951. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erp116
Wang Q, Li FR, Zhao L, Zhang EH, Shi SL, Zhao WZ, Song WX, Vance MM (2010) Effects of irrigation and nitrogen application rates on nitrate nitrogen distribution and fertilizer nitrogen loss, wheat yield and nitrogen uptake on a recently reclaimed sandy farmland. Plant Soil 337:325–339. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0530-z
Wang B, Zhang YH, Hao BZ, Xu XX, Zhao ZG, Wang ZM, Xue QW (2016) Grain yield and water use efficiency in extremely-late sown winter wheat cultivars under two irrigation regimes in the North China Plain. PLoS ONE 11:e0153695. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153695
Wang H, Zhang Y, Chen A, Liu H, Zhai L, Lei B, Ren T (2017) An optimal regional nitrogen application threshold for wheat in the North China Plain considering yield and environmental effects. Field Crop Res 207:52–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2017.03.002
Yang Y, Watanabe M, Zhang X, Zhang J, Wang Q, Hayashi S (2006) Optimizing irrigation management for wheat to reduce groundwater depletion in the piedmont region of the Taihang Mountains in the North China Plain. Agr Water Manag 82:25–44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2005.07.020
Yu ZW, Tian QZ, Pan QM, Yue SS, Wang D, Duan ZL, Duan LL, Wang ZJ, Niu YS (2002) Theory and practice on cultivation of super high yield of winter wheat in the wheat fields of Yellow River and Huaihe River Districts. Acta Agron Sin 28:577–585 (in Chinese with English abstract)
Zhang X, Chen S, Sun H, Pei D, Wang Y (2008) Dry matter, harvest index, grain yield and water use efficiency as affected by water supply in winter wheat. Irrig Sci 27:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-008-0131-2
Zhang YP, Zhang YH, Wang ZM, Wang ZJ (2011) Characteristics of canopy structure and contributions of non-leaf organs to yield in winter wheat under different irrigated conditions. Field Crop Res 123:187–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2011.04.014
Zhang G, Wang XK, Sun BF, Zhao H, Lu F, Zhang L (2016a) Status of mineral nitrogen fertilization and net mitigation potential of the state fertilization recommendation in Chinese cropland. Agric Syst 146:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2016.03.012
Zhang XB, Xu MG, Sun N, Xiong W, Huang SM, Wu LH (2016b) Modelling and predicting crop yield, soil carbon and nitrogen stocks under climate change scenarios with fertiliser management in the North China Plain. Geoderma 265:176–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2015.11.027
Zhao ZG, Qin X, Wang EL, Carberry P, Zhang YH, Zhou SL, Zhang XY, Hu CS, Wang ZM (2015) Modelling to increase the eco-efficiency of a wheat-maize double cropping system. Agric Ecosyst Environ 210:36–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.05.005
Zhou MH, Butterbach-Bahl K (2014) Assessment of nitrate leaching loss on a yield-scaled basis from maize and wheat cropping systems. Plant Soil 374:977–991. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1876-9
Zhou JB, Wang CY, Zhang H, Dong F, Zheng XF, Gale W, Li SX (2011) Effect of water saving management practices and nitrogen fertilizer rate on crop yield and water use efficiency in a winter wheat-summer maize cropping system. Field Crop Res 122:157–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2011.03.009
Zhu ZL, Chen DL (2002) Nitrogen fertilizer use in China—contributions to food production, impacts on the environment and best management strategies. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 63:117–127. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021107026067
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by China Agriculture Research System (CARS-3-2-3), by National Science and Technology Support Program of China “The science and technology engineering for grain bumper harvest” (2013BAD07B05), and by National Key Special Program of China “Technological innovation for grain bumper harvest and high income” (2017YFD0300909), and by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Hatch project (ALA014-1-16016), and by the China Scholarship Council.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, D., Wang, H., Li, D. et al. DSSAT-CERES-Wheat model to optimize plant density and nitrogen best management practices. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 114, 19–32 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-019-09984-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-019-09984-1