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Reducing nitrous oxide emissions from irrigated maize by using urea fertilizer in combination with nitrapyrin under different tillage methods

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of nitrification inhibitor (nitrapyrin; NI) as a mitigation option for yield-scaled emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) under tillage management and urea fertilization in the irrigated maize fields in northern Iran. A split-plot experiment was performed based on a randomized completed blocks design with three replicates. The main plots were the levels of tillage practices (conventional tillage (CT) and minimum tillage (MT), and the subplots were the fertilizer treatments (control, urea, and urea + NI). The gas samples for measuring N2O emissions were collected during the maize growing season from June to September, using opaque manual circular static chambers. Soil samples were taken at 0–10 cm to determine water-filled pore space, ammonium (NH4+), and nitrate (NO3−) concentrations in the soil. When the crop reached physiological maturity, maize was harvested to measure grain yield, biomass production, N uptake of aboveground, and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The results showed that the applying NI in combination with urea reduced the total N2O emissions by up to 58% and 64% in MT and CT, respectively. In the urea + NI treatment, mean soil concentrations of NH4+ and NO3− were significantly higher (20%) and lower (23.5%), respectively, compared with other treatments. The NI reduced the yield-scaled N2O–N emission up to 79% and 55% for CT and MT, respectively. Furthermore, compared to treatment with urea alone, the application of NI increased the NUE of the MT and CT systems by an average of 55% and 46%, respectively. This study emphasized that the application of nitrapyrin should be encouraged in irrigated maize fields, in order to minimize N2O emissions and improve NUE and biomass production.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, through the coordinated research project Minimizing Farming Impacts on Climate Change by Enhancing Carbon and Nitrogen Capture and Storage in Agro-Ecosystems (No. 18595) of Soil and Water Management and Crop Nutrition Section, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, Department of Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Vienna, Austria.

Funding

This work was funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, 31465-1498, Karaj, Iran

    Azam Borzouei & Safoora Saadati

  2. Department of Plant Ecology, University Giessen, D-35392, Giessen, Germany

    Christoph Müller

  3. School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Christoph Müller

  4. ETSI Agrónomos, Technical University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Alberto Sanz-Cobena

  5. Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Hawassa University, PO Box 128, Shashemene, Ethiopia

    Dong-Gill Kim

  6. Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Agricultural University Peshawar, Peshawar, 25130, Pakistan

    Khadim Dawar

  7. Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food & Agriculture, P.O. Box 100, A-1400, Vienna, Austria

    Mohammad Zaman

Authors
  1. Azam Borzouei
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  2. Safoora Saadati
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  3. Christoph Müller
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  4. Alberto Sanz-Cobena
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  5. Dong-Gill Kim
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  6. Khadim Dawar
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  7. Mohammad Zaman
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Contributions

AB carried out the experiment, performed the data analyses, and wrote the manuscript. CM and KD designed the research, provided all the technical support during the laboratory work, and wrote the manuscript. CM, MZ, and DK helped in the design of the experiment. CM and AS measured the gas data. AS and SS revised and corrected the draft manuscript. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript, and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Azam Borzouei.

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Borzouei, A., Saadati, S., Müller, C. et al. Reducing nitrous oxide emissions from irrigated maize by using urea fertilizer in combination with nitrapyrin under different tillage methods. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 14846–14855 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16768-0

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