Nutrient management and balanced fertilization in Xinjiang

IPNI-2006-CHN-XJ2

03 Feb 2012

2011 Annual Interpretive Summary


Nutrient Management of Cotton and Processing Tomato with Drip Irrigation in Xinjiang Province, 2011

Agriculture in Xinjiang is water dependent, and more than 90% of crops here are irrigated. Drip irrigation continues to be most popular in crops such as cotton and processing tomato. The study in 2011 mainly focused on balanced fertilization and P management in cotton and processing tomato.

In the drip-irrigated cotton grown in Changji City, the recommended NPK rate of 240-150-75 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) at the recommendation fertilizer rate were 7 kg seed cotton increase/kg N, 7 kg seed cotton increase/kg P2O5, and 54 kg seed cotton increase/kg K2O, while recovery efficiencies (RE) were 56, 25, and 58%, respectively. Basal application of 65% of the recommended P rate before planting and the remaining 35% applied through drip irrigation produced 6% more yield than 100% basal application, and also improved P use efficiency. Fertigation with reduced P rate (2/3 recommended P) produced 5% more yield than 100% recommended P as basal application.

In drip-irrigated processing tomatoes grown in Changji City, the recommended NPK rate of 360-210-120 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha increased tomato yields by 567, 16, and 5% when compared with yields in -N, -P and -K plots, respectively. Agronomic efficiencies at the recommended fertilizer rate 77 kg tomato/kg N, 49 kg tomato/kg P2O5, and 32 kg tomato/kg K2O, while RE were 48, 25, and 54%, respectively. Application of P with fertigation produced similar tomato yields as with 100% basal application. XINJIANG-NMBF