Effect of Fertilization on Soil Fertility and Wheat Yield of Dryland in the Loess Plateau

摘要

Long-term fertility experiments have become an important tool for investigating the sustainability of cropping systems.Therefore, a long-term (18-year) fertilization experiment was conducted in Changwu County, Shaanxi Province, China,to ascertain the effect of the long-term application of chemical fertilizers and manure on wheat yield and soil fertility in the Loess Plateau, so as to provide a scientific basis for sustainable land management. The experiment consisted of nine fertilizer treatments with three replicates arranged in a completely randomized design: 1) CK (no fertilizer); 2) N (N 120 kg ha-i); 3) P (P 26.2 kg ha-1); 4) NP (N 120, P 26.2 kg ha-1); 5) M (manure 75 t ha-1); 6) NM (N 120 kg ha-1,manure 75 t ha-1); 7) PM (P 26.2 kg ha-1, manure 75 t ha-1); 8) NPM (N 120, P 26.2 kg ha-1, manure 75 t ha-1);and 9) fallow (no fertilizer, no crop). N fertilizer was applied in the form of urea and P was applied as calcium super phosphate. The results showed that precipitation had a large effect on the response of wheat yield to fertilization. Manure (M), NP, PM, NM, and NPM treatments significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05) average yield. In the NP, PM, NM and NPM treatments, the percentage increases in yield due to fertilization were highest in normal years, and lowest in the drought years. Long-term P application enhanced soil available P markedly, and manure applications contributed more to soil fertility than chemical fertilizers alone. Chemical fertilizers applied together with manure distinctly improved soil fertility.The results also showed that the soil nutrient concentration changed mainly in the 0-60 cm layers and fertilization and planting only slightly affected soil nutrients below the 100 cm layers.