Assessment of Crop Residues and Corresponding Nutrients Return to Fields via Root, Stubble, and Straw in Southwest China

Yong Luo, Dianpeng Chen () and Xiaoguo Wang
Additional contact information
Yong Luo: College of Earth Sciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Dianpeng Chen: College of Earth Sciences, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
Xiaoguo Wang: Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-13

Abstract: China stands as one of the world’s largest agricultural powerhouses, boasting abundant crop resources. Nonetheless, there remains a lack of clarity regarding the extensive scale of crop residue return in the fields. Drawing from direct field measurements and comprehensive survey data, this paper pioneers the reporting of residues from the five primary crops, shedding light on the associated nutrient components, including carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) replenishment via crop roots, stubble, and straw in the Southwest China region for the year 2012. The results showed that the total amount of the main crop residue resources was 97.4 Mt, which was composed of 17.8 Mt, 12.6 Mt, and 67 Mt for crop root, stubble, and straw, respectively. After crops harvested, there were 7165.8 kilotonne nutrient C, 132.2 kilotonne nutrient N, and 9.8 kilotonne nutrient P of crop residues returned to the fields through crop root, respectively, accounting for 44.6%, 48.2%, and 43.4% of the total nutrient returned, which was the main part of crop nutrients return to fields. The amount of nutrient C, N, and P returned through stubbles were 5017.3 kilotonne, 75.9 kilotonne, and 6.8 kilotonne, respectively, accounting for 31.3%, 27.6%, and 30.6% of the total return of crops. From the composition proportion of residues nutrients return to field, the orders were all expressed as follows: root > stubble > straw. According to the optimum fertilization amount of the main crops in Southwest China, the returned of crop residues nutrient N in maize, rice, rapeseed, and wheat can replace approximately 5.6%, 18.4%, 11.2%, and 14.8% of nitrogen fertilizer, and 2.4%, 8.3%, 3%, and 9.2% of phosphate fertilizer, respectively. This conclusion is beneficial for regulating the practice of returning crop residues to the fields and the use of agricultural fertilizers, aiming to achieve sustainable development in agricultural production.

Keywords: crop residues; root; stubble; straw; crop residues return (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/15138/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/15138/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:20:p:15138-:d:1264942

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().