IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v285y2023ics0378377423002354.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quantifying water productivity and nitrogen uptake of maize under water and nitrogen stress in arid Northwest China

Author

Listed:
  • Ran, Junjun
  • Ran, Hui
  • Ma, Longfei
  • Jennings, Stewart A.
  • Yu, Tinggao
  • Deng, Xin
  • Yao, Ning
  • Hu, Xiaotao

Abstract

Water and nitrogen (N) are critical determinants of crop water productivity (WP) and N uptake (Nuptake), and are also key factors in crop modelling. Through a two-year field experiment with three irrigation levels (full irrigation (W1), moderate water stress (W0.75), and severe water stress (W0.5)), three N application rates (150, 75, and 0 kg N ha−1, i.e., N150, N75, and N0) and three replications for each treatment in Northwest China, we quantified the effects of water and N stress on the growth, yield, and water and N use efficiency (WP and NUE) of hybrid seed maize (Zea mays L. cv. Tianruifeng). Furthermore, nonlinear dynamic water productivity (WP) models and water (ET)-based Nuptake models were developed. The results showed that water stress had a larger impact than N stress on the growth and yield of maize, with water stress reducing yield (Y), final aboveground biomass (B), and N uptake by 36.5%, 15.4%, and 25.7% on average, respectively, and N stress decreasing them by 18.7%, 12.3%, and 13.6%, respectively. Biomass-based water productivity (WPB-ET) and yield-based water productivity (WPY-ET) at the end of the growth period responded differently to water stress but similarly to N stress because of a higher decrease of harvest index (HI) under water stress than under N stress. Specifically, WPY-ET decreased significantly while WPB-ET kept relatively stable as water stress increased. The variation of the measured WP during the growth period presented a single peak trend. The Logistic, Sigmoid, and Linear models showed similar high accuracy for quantifying the relationship between evapotranspiration accumulation and biomass growth. However, the derived WP values from the nonlinear dynamic models were more in line with the single peak variation of the measured WP during the growth period, with the agreement index (d) improved from 0.21 to 0.65–0.75 in comparison to the Linear model. The developed ET-based N accumulation models can quantify N uptake through evapotranspiration. The results can contribute to improving the accuracy of crop modelling under drought stress conditions, and the design of irrigation and N management in arid and semi-arid regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ran, Junjun & Ran, Hui & Ma, Longfei & Jennings, Stewart A. & Yu, Tinggao & Deng, Xin & Yao, Ning & Hu, Xiaotao, 2023. "Quantifying water productivity and nitrogen uptake of maize under water and nitrogen stress in arid Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:285:y:2023:i:c:s0378377423002354
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108370
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377423002354
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108370?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ye, Tianyang & Ma, Jifeng & Zhang, Pei & Shan, Song & Liu, Leilei & Tang, Liang & Cao, Weixing & Liu, Bing & Zhu, Yan, 2022. "Interaction effects of irrigation and nitrogen on the coordination between crop water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency in wheat production on the North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    2. Li, Cheng & Feng, Hao & Luo, Xiaoqi & Li, Yue & Wang, Naijiang & Wu, Wenjie & Zhang, Tibin & Dong, Qin’ge & Siddique, Kadambot H.M., 2022. "Limited irrigation and fertilization in sand-layered soil increases nitrogen use efficiency and economic benefits under film mulched ridge-furrow irrigation in arid areas," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    3. Liao, Qi & Ding, Risheng & Du, Taisheng & Kang, Shaozhong & Tong, Ling & Li, Sien, 2022. "Stomatal conductance drives variations of yield and water use of maize under water and nitrogen stress," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    4. Ran, Hui & Kang, Shaozhong & Li, Fusheng & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Li, Sien & Ding, Risheng & Zhang, Xiaotao, 2018. "Parameterization of the AquaCrop model for full and deficit irrigated maize for seed production in arid Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 438-450.
    5. Pandey, R. K. & Maranville, J. W. & Chetima, M. M., 2000. "Deficit irrigation and nitrogen effects on maize in a Sahelian environment: II. Shoot growth, nitrogen uptake and water extraction," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 15-27, November.
    6. Guo, Jinjin & Fan, Junliang & Xiang, Youzhen & Zhang, Fucang & Yan, Shicheng & Zhang, Xueyan & Zheng, Jing & Li, Yuepeng & Tang, Zijun & Li, Zhijun, 2022. "Coupling effects of irrigation amount and nitrogen fertilizer type on grain yield, water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency of drip-irrigated maize," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    7. Lai, Zhenlin & Fan, Junliang & Yang, Rui & Xu, Xinyu & Liu, Lanjiao & Li, Sien & Zhang, Fucang & Li, Zhijun, 2022. "Interactive effects of plant density and nitrogen rate on grain yield, economic benefit, water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency of drip-fertigated maize in northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    8. Xin Zhang & Eric A. Davidson & Denise L. Mauzerall & Timothy D. Searchinger & Patrice Dumas & Ye Shen, 2015. "Managing nitrogen for sustainable development," Nature, Nature, vol. 528(7580), pages 51-59, December.
    9. Pandey, R. K. & Maranville, J. W. & Admou, A., 2000. "Deficit irrigation and nitrogen effects on maize in a Sahelian environment: I. Grain yield and yield components," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 1-13, November.
    10. Yuan, Chengfu & Feng, Shaoyuan & Huo, Zailin & Ji, Quanyi, 2019. "Effects of deficit irrigation with saline water on soil water-salt distribution and water use efficiency of maize for seed production in arid Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 424-432.
    11. Kang, Jian & Hao, Xinmei & Zhou, Huiping & Ding, Risheng, 2021. "An integrated strategy for improving water use efficiency by understanding physiological mechanisms of crops responding to water deficit: Present and prospect," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    12. Katerji, Nader & Campi, Pasquale & Mastrorilli, Marcello, 2013. "Productivity, evapotranspiration, and water use efficiency of corn and tomato crops simulated by AquaCrop under contrasting water stress conditions in the Mediterranean region," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 14-26.
    13. Payero, Jose O. & Melvin, Steven R. & Irmak, Suat & Tarkalson, David, 2006. "Yield response of corn to deficit irrigation in a semiarid climate," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(1-2), pages 101-112, July.
    14. Tarkalson, David D. & King, Bradley A. & Bjorneberg, Dave L., 2022. "Maize grain yield and crop water productivity functions in the arid Northwest U.S," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    15. Qiang, Shengcai & Zhang, Yan & Zhao, Hong & Fan, Junliang & Zhang, Fucang & Sun, Min & Gao, Zhiqiang, 2022. "Combined effects of urea type and placement depth on grain yield, water productivity and nitrogen use efficiency of rain-fed spring maize in northern China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    16. Wang, Yin & Zhang, Xinyue & Chen, Jian & Chen, Anji & Wang, Liying & Guo, Xiaoying & Niu, Yali & Liu, Shuoran & Mi, Guohua & Gao, Qiang, 2019. "Reducing basal nitrogen rate to improve maize seedling growth, water and nitrogen use efficiencies under drought stress by optimizing root morphology and distribution," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 328-337.
    17. Kang, Shaozhong & Hao, Xinmei & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Su, Xiaoling & Lu, Hongna & Li, Xiaolin & Huo, Zailin & Li, Sien & Ding, Risheng, 2017. "Improving agricultural water productivity to ensure food security in China under changing environment: From research to practice," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 5-17.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Pengzhao & Fan, Zhen & Yan, Zinan & Ren, Xiaolong & Zhao, Xining & Zhang, Jianjun & Chen, Xiaoli, 2024. "Evaluation of N nutrition and optimal fertilizer rate for ridge-furrow mulched maize based on critical N dilution curve under different water conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    2. Pan, Xiaofan & Zhang, Hengjia & Yu, Shouchao & Deng, Haoliang & Chen, Xietian & Zhou, Chenli & Li, Fuqiang, 2024. "Strategies for the management of water and nitrogen interaction in seed maize production; A case study from China Hexi Corridor Oasis Agricultural Area," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shi, Rongchao & Wang, Jintao & Tong, Ling & Du, Taisheng & Shukla, Manoj Kumar & Jiang, Xuelian & Li, Donghao & Qin, Yonghui & He, Liuyue & Bai, Xiaorui & Guo, Xiaoxu, 2022. "Optimizing planting density and irrigation depth of hybrid maize seed production under limited water availability," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    2. Jiao, Fengli & Ding, Risheng & Du, Taisheng & Kang, Jian & Tong, Ling & Gao, Jia & Shao, Jie, 2024. "Multi-growth stage regulated deficit irrigation improves maize water productivity in an arid region of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    3. Comas, Louise H. & Trout, Thomas J. & DeJonge, Kendall C. & Zhang, Huihui & Gleason, Sean M., 2019. "Water productivity under strategic growth stage-based deficit irrigation in maize," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 433-440.
    4. Wang, Feng & Meng, Haofeng & Xie, Ruizhi & Wang, Keru & Ming, Bo & Hou, Peng & Xue, Jun & Li, Shaokun, 2023. "Optimizing deficit irrigation and regulated deficit irrigation methods increases water productivity in maize," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    5. Zhu, Hongyan & Zheng, Bingyan & Nie, Weibo & Fei, Liangjun & Shan, Yuyang & Li, Ge & Liang, Fei, 2024. "Optimization of maize irrigation strategy in Xinjiang, China by AquaCrop based on a four-year study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 297(C).
    6. Mansouri-Far, Cyrus & Modarres Sanavy, Seyed Ali Mohammad & Saberali, Seyed Farhad, 2010. "Maize yield response to deficit irrigation during low-sensitive growth stages and nitrogen rate under semi-arid climatic conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 12-22, January.
    7. Manning, Dale T. & Lurbé, Salvador & Comas, Louise H. & Trout, Thomas J. & Flynn, Nora & Fonte, Steven J., 2018. "Economic viability of deficit irrigation in the Western US," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 114-123.
    8. Geerts, Sam & Raes, Dirk, 2009. "Deficit irrigation as an on-farm strategy to maximize crop water productivity in dry areas," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(9), pages 1275-1284, September.
    9. Gao, Jia & Liu, Ninggang & Wang, Xianqi & Niu, Zuoyuan & Liao, Qi & Ding, Risheng & Du, Taisheng & Kang, Shaozhong & Tong, Ling, 2024. "Maintaining grain number by reducing grain abortion is the key to improve water use efficiency of maize under deficit irrigation and salt stress," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    10. Wang, Feng & Xie, Ruizhi & Ming, Bo & Wang, Keru & Hou, Peng & Chen, Jianglu & Liu, Guangzhou & Zhang, Guoqiang & Xue, Jun & Li, Shaokun, 2021. "Dry matter accumulation after silking and kernel weight are the key factors for increasing maize yield and water use efficiency," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    11. Gheysari, Mahdi & Mirlatifi, Seyed Majid & Bannayan, Mohammad & Homaee, Mehdi & Hoogenboom, Gerrit, 2009. "Interaction of water and nitrogen on maize grown for silage," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(5), pages 809-821, May.
    12. Dániel Fróna & János Szenderák & Mónika Harangi-Rákos, 2019. "The Challenge of Feeding the World," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    13. Ran, Hui & Kang, Shaozhong & Li, Fusheng & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Li, Sien & Ding, Risheng & Zhang, Xiaotao, 2018. "Parameterization of the AquaCrop model for full and deficit irrigated maize for seed production in arid Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 438-450.
    14. Miodrag Tolimir & Branka Kresović & Katarina Gajić & Violeta Anđelković & Milan Brankov & Marijana Dugalić & Boško Gajić, 2024. "Integrated effect of irrigation rate and plant density on yield, yield components and water use efficiency of maize," Plant, Soil and Environment, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 70(8), pages 475-482.
    15. Zhang, Guangxin & Dai, Rongcheng & Ma, Wenzhuo & Fan, Hengzhi & Meng, Wenhui & Han, Juan & Liao, Yuncheng, 2022. "Optimizing the ridge–furrow ratio and nitrogen application rate can increase the grain yield and water use efficiency of rain-fed spring maize in the Loess Plateau region of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    16. Franco-Luesma, Samuel & Álvaro-Fuentes, Jorge & Plaza-Bonilla, Daniel & Arrúe, José Luis & Cantero-Martínez, Carlos & Cavero, José, 2019. "Influence of irrigation time and frequency on greenhouse gas emissions in a solid-set sprinkler-irrigated maize under Mediterranean conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 303-311.
    17. Xiao, Xuechen & Zang, Hecang & Liu, Yang & Zhang, Zhen & Liu, Ying & Ejaz, Irsa & Du, Chenghang & Wang, Zhimin & Sun, Zhencai & Zhang, Yinghua, 2023. "Promoting winter wheat sustainable intensification by higher nitrogen distribution in top second to fourth leaves under water-restricted condition in North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    18. Barron, Jennie & Okwach, George, 2005. "Run-off water harvesting for dry spell mitigation in maize (Zea mays L.): results from on-farm research in semi-arid Kenya," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 1-21, May.
    19. Sampathkumar, T. & Pandian, B.J. & Rangaswamy, M.V. & Manickasundaram, P. & Jeyakumar, P., 2013. "Influence of deficit irrigation on growth, yield and yield parameters of cotton–maize cropping sequence," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 90-102.
    20. Chen, Yang & Wang, Lu & Tong, Ling & Hao, Xinmei & Wu, Xuanyi & Ding, Risheng & Kang, Shaozhong & Li, Sien, 2023. "Effects of biochar addition and deficit irrigation with brackish water on yield-scaled N2O emissions under drip irrigation with mulching," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:285:y:2023:i:c:s0378377423002354. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agwat .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.