Nutrient Management Strategies for Sichuan

IPNI-1999-CHN-SC18

14 May 2003

2002 Annual Interpretive Summary

Nutrient Management Strategies for Sichuan, 2002

Initiated in 2000, the objective of the study is to track soil fertility variability and collect information from field trials and fertilizer use surveys. Two monitored villages were established to represent typical conditions for a wheat-corn/sweet potato in an upland cropping system as well as a wheat/rapeseed-rice paddy system.

For wheat grown at Jianyang, the optimal nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulfur (S) plus micronutrient [manganese (Mn) or zinc (Zn)] treatment was 150-90-75 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ha plus 15 kg MnSO4/ha. The optimal treatment for corn at this location was 300-100-75 kg/ha plus 15 kg ZnSO4/ha. In Chongzhou, the optimal treatment was 135-60-75 kg/ha plus 15 kg MnSO4/ha for wheat and 165-45-75 kg/ha plus 15 kg ZnSO4/ha for rice. After two consecutive years of research using fixed fertilizer treatments, it is clear that Jianyang has a pronounced response to P fertilizer while Chongzhou is more responsive to K. The optimal treatment increased wheat yield by 1,130 kg/ha (30%) compared to the zero P treatment in Jianyang and by 1,340 kg/ha (27%) compared to the zero K treatment at Chongzhou.

The study helps better understand the nutrient status of soils and crop responses to applied P and K fertilizers in the two types of landscapes typical in Sichuan Province. The potential on further improved crop yield and quality is significant in the province. Sichuan-NMS 01