Grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency of various modern rice cultivars grown at different nitrogen levels

ABSTRACT

Field trials were conducted to study the responses of grain yield and nitrogen (N) use efficiency at five input rates (N₀, N_82.5, N₁₆₅, N_247.5, and N₃₃₀ kg ha⁻¹) in a set of nine of the most representative rice cultivars. Grain yields of rice across the nine cultivars were increased significantly by N level. All the cultivars contained a significant linear plus plateau or quadratic relationship between N levels and grain yields.The minimum yields (means of 2 years) at N₀, N_82.5, N₁₆₅, N_247.5, and N₃₃₀ level all occurred in No. 2 cultivar. Compared with the grain yield of No. 2 at different N levels, those of the maximum cultivars increased by 37.1 (No. 8), 39.1 (No. 7), 48.4 (No.3), 43.3 (No. 4), and 43.9% (No. 3), respectively. In 2011, the highest average apparent nitrogen recovery efficiency (ANRE) in grain of the 4 N levels occurred in No. 3 cultivar (45.9%), followed by No. 4, No. 6, and No. 1, and the highest average agronomic efficiency (AE) in grain of the 4 N levels occurred in No. 9 cultivar [29.0 kg (kg N)⁻¹], followed by No. 3, No. 1, and No. 4. For the second-season planting, the highest average ANRE occurred in No. 4 cultivar (28.4%), followed by No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6, and the highest average AE occurred in No. 5 cultivar [18.1 kg (kg N)⁻¹], followed by No. 4, No. 3, and No. 7. Overall, No. 3 and No. 4 cultivars were the ideal ones that not only increased the grain yield but also improved the N use efficiency.

KEYWORDS:

• agronomic efficiency
• apparent nitrogen recovery efficiency
• grain yield
• rice cultivar

Funding

This research was supported by the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest from the Ministry of Agriculture, China (201303103), the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University of China (IRT1247), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2013PY113), and the China Scholarship Council (201308420450).