Nutrient Management and Optimized Fertilization on Wheat and Maize in Henan Province

This study was conducted to validate Nutrient Expert® (NE)-based fertilizer recommendation for winter wheat and summer maize in farmer fields and compare them with farmer fertilizer practice (FFP). For this project, nine on-farm wheat and three on-farm maize experiments were conducted in Hebi and Zhengzhou, in Henan Province. The NE-based fertilizer recommendation plots received on average 174-92-78 kg N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha for wheat and 182-79-90 N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha for maize, respectively, while FFP plots received 161-112-90 N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha for wheat and 249-48-42 N-P₂O₅-K₂O/ha for maize.

Results from the study in 2013 showed that grain yields in NE plots were 7.5 t/ha and 10.6 t/ha for wheat and maize, respectively; while respective profits were US$2,894/ha and US$3,346. In FFP plots, the corresponding values were 7.4 and 10.6 t/ha and profits were US$2,846 and $US3,389/ha. However, higher agronomic efficiency of N (8.5 kg/kg for wheat and 9.4 kg/kg for maize), N recovery efficiency (32% for wheat and 41% for maize) and partial factor productivity of N (43.7 kg/kg for wheat and 58.5 kg/kg for maize) were obtained using NE-based fertilizer recommendations compared to FFP, where the corresponding values were 8.1 and 6.7 kg/kg, 26.4 and 24.7%, and 46.3 and 42.5 kg/kg for wheat and maize, respectively.