Impact of Fertilizer on Crop Yield and C:N:P Stoichiometry in Arid and Semi-Arid Soil

Qiang Liu, Hongwei Xu and Haijie Yi
Additional contact information
Qiang Liu: College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui 741000, China
Hongwei Xu: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China
Haijie Yi: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling 712100, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-12

Abstract: Fertilization can significantly affect the quality of crop and soil. To determine the effects of long-term fertilization on crop yield and carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) stoichiometry in soil, a study was conducted on the terraced fields of the Loess Plateau from 2007 to 2019. Nine fertilization treatments were included: no fertilizer; organic fertilizer (O); organic and nitrogen fertilizers (ON); organic, nitrogen, and phosphorus fertilizers (ONP); organic and phosphorus fertilizers (OP); phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers; potash and nitrogen fertilizers; potash, nitrogen, and phosphorus fertilizers; and potash and phosphorus fertilizers. Under these treatments except for CK and PK, crop yields initially decreased but later increased. The nutrient content and C:N:P stoichiometry increased in soil depth of 0–20 cm. The soil available nutrients did not change significantly with the duration of fertilization. The O, ON, ONP, and OP had the most evident effect on the enhancement of soil nutrient content, whereas O and ON had the most evident effect on the increase in soil organic carbon (SOC):total phosphorus (TP) and total nitrogen (TN):TP. In soil depth of 0–20 cm, crop yield, SOC:TN, SOC:TN, SOC:TP, and TN:TP significantly correlated with soil nutrients. This study indicated that long-term fertilization can effectively improve crop yield, soil fertility, and soil C:N:P stoichiometry. Meanwhile, the single application of an organic fertilizer or the combination of organic and nitrogen fertilizers can improve the condition of nitrogen limitation in arid and semi-arid areas.

Keywords: C:N:P stoichiometry; crop yield; organic fertilizer; inorganic fertilizer; long-term fertilization; arid and semi-arid soil (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4341/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4341/ (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:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4341-:d:539324

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

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