Nutrient management and balanced fertilization in Xinjiang
IPNI-2006-CHN-XJ2
20 Feb 2010
2009 Annual Interpretive Summary
Nutrient Management and Balanced Fertilization in Xinjiang, 2009
About 90% of agriculture in Xinjiang is irrigated and drip irrigation continues to be most popular in crops such as cotton and processing tomato. This study investigated nutrient responses and management for improved nutrient use efficiency in the region’s main crops in 2009.
In drip-irrigated cotton grown at Bozhou City, the recommended NPK rate of 225-150-30 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha and its corresponding omission plots found N to be most limiting followed by P and then K. Agronomic efficiencies (AE) under the recommendation were 1.6 kg lint increase/kg N, 1.5 kg lint increase/kg P2O5, and 5.1 kg lint increase/kg K2O; while recovery efficiencies (RE) were 34%, 25%, and 75% for N, P, and K, respectively. Phosphorus fertilizer increased lint yield by 8 to 16% and 150 kg P2O5/ha was considered most appropriate. Basal application of half this P rate before planting and the remainder applied through drip irrigation produced 5% and 12% more lint yield than either 100% basal application or 100% drip irrigation, and also improved P use efficiency. In drip-irrigated maize grown at Bozhou City, the recommended NPK rate of 225-105-45 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha produced 15.5 t/ha grain yield. The AE values under this recommendation were 22 kg grain increase/kg N, 16 kg grain increase/kg P2O5, and 17 kg grain increase/kg K2O. Use of this NPK recommendation plus 30 t/ha farmyard manure produced the highest grain yield of 19.0 t/ha while generating US$378/ha more income than NPK alone and US$396/ha more than the farmers’ practice (FP) of applying 308-135-0 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha.
Polymer coated urea (PCU) applied to cotton in Ma’nasi County at either 126 or 180 kg/ha respectively produced 11% and 31% more lint yield (responses valued at US$278/ha and US$882/ha) compared to the same rate of regular urea (RU). Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was also improved with use of PCU. A melon experiment also demonstrated yield and NUE benefits for PCU over RU. A balanced treatment of 360-150-105 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha applied to processing tomato in Ma’nasi County produced 17% more yield, or US$530/ha more income, over the FP of applying 272-195-45 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha. Balanced fertilization with 240-90-75 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha + 30-15 kg Fe-Mn/ha on cotton in Ma’nasi County also resulted in 9% more lint yield, or US$375/ha, over the FP of applying 183-100-20 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha. Xinjiang-NMBF