Effect of Silicon Fertilizer and Straw Return on the Maize Yield and Phosphorus Efficiency in Northeast China

ABSTRACT

The aim was to investigate the effect of silicon fertilizer with straw return in phosphorus efficiency and maize grain yield. In 2018 and 2019, two field experiments were established in Nong’an County, Jilin province China. Four treatments were arranged in a randomized block design: S+ Si1 (straw return + Silicon), S-Si1 (no straw return + Si), S+ Si0 (straw return + no Silicon) and S-Si0 (no straw return + no Silicon). The total uptake of phosphorus under the S+ Si1 increased by 22.9% compared to that under the S-Si0. Compared to S-Si0, the average recovery phosphorus efficiency, agronomic phosphorus efficiency, and partial factor productivity for S-Si1 increased by 16.7%, 34.7%, and 4.8%, respectively. The average of the recovery phosphorus efficiency, agronomic phosphorus efficiency, and partial factor productivity in S+ Si1 was 26.6%,44.6%, and 6.3% higher than that in S-Si0, respectively. The straw and grain yield were significantly higher under the S-Si1, which increased by 10.6% and 4.8% respectively than that S-Si0, and S+ Si1 significantly outperformed S-Si0 by 17.3% and 6.3% for straw and grain yield, respectively. Our results indicate that the application of silicon fertilizer with straw return improves soil available phosphorus, plant uptake, phosphorus efficiency to meet crop requirements, and increasing crop productivity.

KEYWORDS:

• Straw return
• silicon fertilizer
• spring maize
• P use efficiency
• grain yield

Acknowledgments

We sincerely give our special recognition to the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant 2017YFD0300604) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant 2018YFD0300203) for financial support.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China [2017YFD0300604]; National Key Research and Development Program of China [2018YFD0300203].