Highly Efficient Nutrient Management Strategy for Modern Rice Planting in China

Rice is the most important grain crop in China. Large amounts of commercial fertilizers are used annually for higher rice production, but with low use efficiency. To establish better nutrient management strategies for rice in different regions of China, the IPNI China program in collaboration with Soil and Fertilizer Institute of Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Science, a nationwide cooperative research project was carried out in 11 main rice production provinces (Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan, and Yunnan). A total of 37 on-farm rice fertilization trials were conducted in the 11 provinces in 2011 with different cropping rotations and soil fertility levels.

Results indicated that, in all regions, optimal fertilizer treatment (OPT; NPKZn) obtained higher rice yields compared with the no fertilizer (CK) treatment (22% to 70%) and common farmer practices (12%). Nitrogen was the most important nutrient limiting factor for rice, followed by P, K, and Zn. The optimum N fertilization rates for late rice and mid-season rice were 180 and 240 kg/ha, respectively. Based on the results, an optimum N application strategy was suggested that included the application of 40% of N fertilizer as basal, and then top dressing 20% of N fertilizer each at tillering, panicle initiation, and spike growth stages of rice. Jiangxi-30