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Effects of reduced nitrogen application and soybean intercropping on nitrogen balance of sugarcane field.

LIU Yu1,2,3, ZHANG Ying1,2,3, YANG Wen-ting1,2,3, LI Zhi-xian1,2,3, GUAN Ao-mei1,2,3, WANG Jian-wu1,2,3   

  1. (1Institute of Tropical and Subtropical Ecology, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China; 2Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of AgroEnvironment in the Tropics, Guangzhou 510642, China; 3Key Laboratory of Agroecology and Rural Environment of Guangdong Regular Higher Education Institutions, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China)
  • Online:2015-03-18 Published:2015-03-18

Abstract: A four-year (2010-2013) field experiment was carried out to explore the effects of three planting patterns (sugarcane, soybean monoculture and sugarcane-soybean 1:2 intercropping) with two nitrogen input levels (300 and 525 kg·hm-2) on soybean nitrogen fixation, sugarcane and soybean nitrogen accumulation, and ammonia volatilization and nitrogen leaching in sugarcane field. The results showed that the soybean nitrogen fixation efficiency (NFE) of sugarcane-soybean intercropping was lower than that of soybean monoculture. There was no significant difference in NFE among the treatments with the two nitrogen application rates. The nitrogen application rate and intercropping did not remarkably affect nitrogen accumulation of sugarcane and soybean. The ammonia volatilization of the reduced nitrogen input treatment was significantly lower than that of the conventional nitrogen input treatment. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in nitrogen leaching at different nitrogen input levels and among different planting patterns. The sugarcane field nitrogen balance analysis indicated that the nitrogen application rate dominated the nitrogen budget of sugarcane field. During the four-year experiment, all treatments leaved a nitrogen surplus (from 73.10 to 400.03 kg·hm-2), except a nitrogen deficit of 66.22 kg·hm-2 in 2011 in the treatment of sugarcane monoculture with the reduced nitrogen application. The excessive nitrogen surplus might increase the risk of nitrogen pollution in the field. In conclusion, sugarcane-soybean intercropping with reduced nitrogen application is feasible to practice in consideration of enriching the soil fertility, reducing nitrogen pollution and saving production cost in sugarcane field.