Highly Efficient Nutrient Management Strategy for Modern Rice Planting in China

This project was implemented by the Soil and Fertilizer Institute, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Science. In 2012, 29 on-farm fertilizer experiments were conducted in 11 provinces including Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hubei, Sichuan, and Yunnan. The experiments mainly included eight treatments, and were conducted simultaneously in both high-yield and low-yield fields. Single-rice cropping system experiments were conducted in seven provinces (Hubei, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Yunnan and Heilongjiang), and double-rice cropping system experiments were conducted in four provinces (Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, and Guangxi). All provinces involved in the project have: (1) built five levels of soil nutrient evaluating indices, (2) analyzed the last 10-year rice plant nutrient utilization trend with results showing a decreasing trend in nutrient utilization with fertilizer input increase, (3) analyzed the agronomic efficiency, which again showed a decreasing trend in the last 10 years, and (4) have built a database on nutrient application method and timing according to actual rice production and the preliminary rice high efficiency nutrient management technology system.

For the double-rice cropping system, the optimum (OPT) fertilizer application rates were calculated as 150 kg N, 90 kg P₂O₅, 150 kg K₂O, and 15 kg ZnSO₄/ha as base fertilizer for early rice and for late rice, the OPT were calculated as 180 kg N, 60 kg P₂O₅, 150 kg K₂O, and 1 kg ZnSO₄/ha. For the single-rice cropping system, the OPT was calculated as 240 kg N, 150 kg P₂O₅, 150 kg K₂O, and 1 kg ZnSO₄/ha. The results also showed that N nutrition has the highest contribution rate to rice yield, followed by P, K, and Zn nutrition.

The results of N fertilizer use pattern experiments showed that when fertilizer N was split-applied as 40% basal and 20% each at tillering, panicle initiation and grain formation stages (the double-season rice received fertilizer N at 180 kg/ha, the single-season rice received fertilizer N at 240 kg/ha, all fertilizer P was applied basally, and fertilizer K was applied half at seeding (basal) and half at panicle initiation stage), rice obtained highest yields in five of the 11 provinces, and rice grain yields increased by 5.5 to 8.0% (6.8% and 494 kg/ha on average) compared to the 100% N applied as basal treatment. Jiangxi-30