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Abstract
Excessive nitrogen (N) application has been considered as one of the reasons for restricting yield increases in rice-wheat rotation system in the Yangtze River area. From 2007 to 2009, field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of optimized N management on grain yield, nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and N surplus of winter wheat in Jianghan Plain (Hubei province, China). Results indicated that grain yield and crop N uptake of treatments with reducing fertilizer N (N135(2) for the first year and N120(3) for the second season) did not significantly reduce yield compared to farmers’ practice (FP). Under the same amount of N application, three-time splitting improved grain yield and enhanced NUE as compared with two-time splitting. The optimized N treatment of N135(2) and N120(3) was observed with higher NUE parameters, i.e. recovery efficiency (REN), agronomic efficiency (AEN) and partial factor productivity (PFPN). Positive correlation between SPAD value and leaf N concentration provided the effective tool to evaluate N status during the growth season. The optimized N rate and top dressing frequency could reduce the residual N retained in the 0–20 cm soil layer after harvest, which could reduce the possibility of soil N loss to the environment. This paper provides insights into N management strategy based on farmers’ practices, which could be regarded as a guideline to improve agricultural management for wheat growth season.