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Journal of Desert Research ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (1): 30-40.DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-694X.2025.00341

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Effects of reduced tillage combined with nitrogen application on soil physicochemical propertiesmaize productivityand water and nitrogen use efficiency in the arid oasis farmland

Jianjun Kang(), Wenzhi Zhao(), Zhibin He, Rong Yang, Bin Liu, Liwen Zhao   

  1. Linze Inland River Basin Research Station,Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Lanzhou 730000,China
  • Received:2025-11-23 Revised:2025-12-23 Online:2026-01-20 Published:2026-03-09
  • Contact: Wenzhi Zhao

Abstract:

In this study, taking the traditional tillage mulching without N application as the controls (CK), a three-year consecutive field experiment was carried out to explore how three different pure nitrogen (N) applications affect the soil physicochemical properties, yield, and water and N use efficiency of corn “Jinzhangye 905” under the traditional tillage mulching, no tillage (NT) for one year, and no tillage for two years. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the improvement effect of soil bulk density and total porosity between reduced tillage with N application for 2 years and traditional tillage mulching with N application for 3 years, while the effect of increasing soil nutrients, promoting maize yield, and improving water and N use efficiency were significantly better than traditional tillage mulching with N application. Among them, the promotion effect of reduced tillage with nitrogen application at 250 kg·hm-2 (NT-N2) was the most significant. Compared with traditional tillage with N application for 3 years, the soil organic carbon (C) and total N contents increased by 56.1%-62.7% and 8.6%-15.9%, respectively, the soil C: N ratio remained at 12.6-14.06, the soil alkali hydrolyzed N (AN), available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) contents increased by 32.8%-38.4%, 30.2%-34.6%, and 21.4%-26.5%, respectively, the seed yield increased by 22.6%-27.1%, and the WUE and NUE increased by 39.2%-45.4% and 14.5%-32.2%, respectively after 2 a of reduced tillage with N application. The fitting curve results indicated that when the N application rate was 262.5-280.5 kg·hm-2, the maximum corn seed yield could be achieved. By comparing the N application rates under the traditional tillage mode of 3 a and combining with the actual N application rates under the reduced tillage mode of 2 a, it is recommended that the optimal management measure for increasing corn yield and efficiency is reduced tillage with N application rate of 260-280 kg·hm-2 in arid oasis farmland in the Hexi Corridor.

Key words: arid oasis farmland, reduced tillage, nitrogen application, soil properties, maize productivity, water and nitrogen use efficiency

CLC Number: