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Nitrogen use efficiency and recovery in a wheat-corn rotation under tropical savannah conditions

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Abstract

Stable isotopes (e.g., 15N) can be used to develop best practices for fertilizer management in cereal crops under tropical conditions. The objectives of this study were to determine the N contribution from fertilizer and soil to wheat and corn grown in rotation and the residual N contribution from fertilizer applied to wheat and carried over to corn under Brazilian savannah conditions. This study was established in a no-till system on Rhodic Haplustox soil in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The N treatments applied to the wheat crops were 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 160 kg (urea-15N) ha−1. The residual effects of N on the succeeding corn crop were evaluated. During the corn phase, two additional treatments were included: a control (0 N) and a treatment with 160 kg N ha−1. Regression analysis showed that the highest estimated wheat yield (5415 kg ha−1) was observed with the application of 114 kg N ha−1. Significant effects from the residual N were observed in the corn shoot biomass and straw N uptake. On average, the recovery rate of the urea N fertilizer was 34% for wheat, and the residual urea N fertilizer use in corn (when applied to wheat) was less than 5% of the amount initially applied. The effect of the residual N was not enough to meet the N demands of the succeeding corn crop. The results of this study provide producers and the scientific community with good estimates of nitrogen use efficiency for wheat and corn.

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Funding

This study was funded by FAPESP (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo), Grant Number 2018/08485-7, and CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), Award Number 312359/2017-9.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Health, Rural Engineering, and Soils, College of Engineering, Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Avenida Brasil, 56 - Centro, Ilha Solteira, SP, CEP: 15385-000, Brazil

    Fernando Shintate Galindo, Guilherme Carlos Fernandes, Willian Lima Rodrigues, Antônio Leonardo Campos Biagini, Eduardo Bianchi Baratella, Castro Alves da Silva Júnior, Mário João Moretti Neto & Marcelo Carvalho Minhoto Teixeira Filho

  2. Ilha Solteira, Brazil

    Fernando Shintate Galindo

  3. Goiano Federal Institute, Rio Verde Campus, Rio Verde, GO, 75901-970, Brazil

    Edson Cabral da Silva

  4. Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, Southwest Research and Outreach Center, University of Minnesota, Lamberton, MN, 56152, USA

    Paulo Humberto Pagliari & Takashi Muraoka

  5. Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, 13416-000, Brazil

    Paulo Humberto Pagliari & Takashi Muraoka

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  1. Fernando Shintate Galindo
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  2. Edson Cabral da Silva
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  3. Paulo Humberto Pagliari
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  8. Castro Alves da Silva Júnior
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  11. Marcelo Carvalho Minhoto Teixeira Filho
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Correspondence to Fernando Shintate Galindo.

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Galindo, F.S., da Silva, E.C., Pagliari, P.H. et al. Nitrogen use efficiency and recovery in a wheat-corn rotation under tropical savannah conditions. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 119, 291–305 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-020-10115-4

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