The Innovation Team of Plant Nutrition of the Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning (IARRP) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) has made significant progress in the research on determining the amount of nitrogen fertilizer that synergize potato yield increment and soil nutrient supply. The relevant findings have been published under the title "Balancing potato yield, soil nutrient supply, and nitrous oxide emissions: An analysis of nitrogen application trade-offs" in the journal "Science of The Total Environment" (IF = 9.8).

Determining an appropriate nitrogen fertilizer dosage is a prerequisite for increasing potato yield, improving nitrogen fertilizer use efficiency, and reducing nitrogen losses. The nitrogen application and soil nitrogen supply have synergistic effects on potato yield and nutrient uptake, and vary with soil nitrogen supply scenarios setting. Partial nitrogen nutrient balance can mediate the relationship between soil nitrogen supply and nitrogen fertilizer application. Further research is needed to explore the nitrogen fertilizer dosage methods that balance the synergistic relationship between environmental factors, potato yield increment, and soil nitrogen supply.

This study is based on field experiments conducted by the team in the main potato production areas of China from 2004 to 2020. By simulating the effects of nitrogen application rate and soil nitrogen supply on potato yield increment and nitrogen uptake increment, it was found that the relationship between nitrogen rate and yield increment was linear-plateau, while the relationship between nitrogen rate and nitrogen uptake increment was linear-linear. The current soil nitrogen supply in the potato production areas in China can contribute an average of 63.5% of the potato total nitrogen demand.

The study used a parabolic-nonlinear regression model to simulate and analyze the interactive effects of nitrogen application rate and soil nitrogen supply on potato yield increment and nutrient uptake increment. By setting different scenarios of soil nitrogen supply and considering nitrogen apparent balance and nitrous oxide emissions, the study derived the nitrogen application rate range for different target yields in China's potato planting areas.

The results of the study help guide sustainable potato production and provide technological support for promoting chemical fertilizer reduction and efficiency improvement in China, as well as accelerating the green transformation of the potato industry.

Ning Linyirui, a master's degree candidate at the IARRP, is the first author of this achievement. Associate researcher Xu Xinpeng and researcher He Ping are the co-corresponding authors. This achievement was supported by the Smart Fertilization Project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System, and the Science and Technology Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

[Citation and Original Article Link]:

Ning LYR, Xu XP, Qiu SJ, Lei QL, Zhang YT, Luo JF, Ding WC, Zhao SC, He P, Zhou W. Balancing potato yield, soil nutrient supply, and nitrous oxide emissions: An analysis of nitrogen application trade-offs. Science of The Total Environment, 2023, 899: 165628.

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165628