Effects of Humic Acid Added to Controlled-Release Fertilizer on Summer Maize Yield, Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emission

Yanqing Guo, Zhentao Ma, Baizhao Ren, Bin Zhao, Peng Liu and Jiwang Zhang
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Yanqing Guo: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College of Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China
Zhentao Ma: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College of Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China
Baizhao Ren: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College of Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China
Bin Zhao: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College of Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China
Peng Liu: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College of Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China
Jiwang Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Agronomy College of Shandong Agricultural University, Taian 271018, China

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Humic acid plays an important role in improving grain yield and reducing N losses. In order to explore the effects of humic acid added to controlled-release fertilizer on summer maize yield, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and the characteristics of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in maize farmland soil, a two-year field experiment was set up. The treatments consisted of two fertilizers: 3% humic acid added to controlled-release fertilizer (HACRF), controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) and a control (without N fertilizer, N0). The results demonstrate that the yield and NUE of summer maize were significantly increased with the addition of humic acid in N fertilizer. Compared with N0 and CRF, the yield of maize was increased by 99.1% and 5.0%, respectively. Compared with CRF, the contents of soil ammonium–nitrogen (NH 4 + -N) and nitrate–nitrogen (NO 3 − -N) in HACRF were higher during early maize growth stage but lower during the late grain-filling stage. The NUE and soil nitrogen interdependent rate of HACRF were significantly increased by 4.6–5.4% and 7.2–11.6%, respectively, across the years compared with those of CRF. Moreover, the annual cumulative N 2 O emissions in HACRF were decreased by 29.0% compared with the CRF. Thus, the global warming potential and greenhouse emission intensity of HACRF were significantly decreased by 29.1% and 32.59%, respectively, compared with CRF. In conclusion, adding humic acid to controlled-release fertilizer can result in higher yield and nitrogen uptake, improve nitrogen use efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which have better yield and environmental effects.

Keywords: summer maize; humic acid; yield; nitrogen use efficiency; greenhouse gas emissions; fertilization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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