Organic Fertilizers as Partial Substitutes for Chemical Fertilizers Enhance Nitrogen Immobilization and Optimize Nitrogen Fate in Paddy Soils

Hongqian Hou, Jianhua Ji, Xianjin Lan, Marios Drosos, Xiumei Liu, Zhenzhen Lv, Yiren Liu, Zhengxin Cheng and Weijun Zhou ()
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Hongqian Hou: Institute of Soil, Fertilizer, Resources and Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
Jianhua Ji: Institute of Soil, Fertilizer, Resources and Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
Xianjin Lan: Institute of Soil, Fertilizer, Resources and Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
Marios Drosos: Department of Agricultural, Forest, Food and Environmental Sciences (DAFE), University of Basilicata, Viale Dell’Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Xiumei Liu: Institute of Soil, Fertilizer, Resources and Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
Zhenzhen Lv: Institute of Soil, Fertilizer, Resources and Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
Yiren Liu: Institute of Soil, Fertilizer, Resources and Environment, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
Zhengxin Cheng: Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
Weijun Zhou: College of Resources, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Organic fertilizers as partial substitutes for chemical fertilizers improve soil nitrogen (N) retention capacity. However, the relative importance of biotic and abiotic N immobilization at different levels of organic N substitution and the subsequent effects on N utilization in paddy soils are not well elucidated. To address these, a combination of 15 N incubation experiments and pot experiments were conducted to investigate biotic and abiotic N immobilization features and their effects on N fertilizer fate under long-term different fertilization regimes in paddy soils in China. Test soils that had received chemical fertilization (NPK), chemical N was substituted with 30%, 50%, and 70% organic N (70 F + 30 M, 50 F + 50 M, and 30 F + 70 M, respectively), and no fertilization (control) for 36 years. The results revealed that both abiotic and biotic NH 4 + -N immobilization were enhanced under organic N substitution soils. The highest NH 4 + -N abiotic and biotic N immobilization was observed under 50 F + 50 M soil, significantly increasing by 195.5% and 51.4%, respectively, compared to the NPK soil. In contrast, only abiotic NO 3 − -N immobilization increased with rising organic substitution N proportions. N fertilizer utilization efficiency was significantly enhanced in 50 F + 50 M soil (36.7%) compared to the NPK soil (30.3%), which was primarily attributed to the enhanced N pool activity and N immobilization capacity. However, the N fertilizer residue rate was significantly higher in the 30 F + 70 M soil (23.6%) compared to the NPK soil (21.6%), largely attributed to the soil properties improvement. Our results suggest that N immobilization capacity and N fertilizer utilization can be optimized with a 50% organic substitution ratio in our studied soil–crop system.

Keywords: 15 N tracer techniques; organic N fractions; N immobilization; N fertilizer fate; paddy soil (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: 2024
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