Pedosphere 25(3): 364--371, 2015
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2015 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Fertilization and catch crop strategies for improving tomato production in North China |
YUAN Hui-Min1, M. BLACKWELL2, C. RAHN3 and CHEN Qing1 |
1College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, 2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Beijing 100193 (China)
2Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Okehampton EX20 2SB (UK)
3Warwick Crop Centre, School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Warwick CV35 9EF (UK) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Overuse of fertilizers and the resultant pollution and eutrophication of surface and groundwater is a growing issue in China. Consequently, improved management strategies are needed to optimize crop production with reduced nutrient inputs. Conventional fertilization (CF), reduced fertilization (RF), and reduced fertilization with maize (Zea mays L.) as a summer catch crop (RF+C) treatments were evaluated in 2008 and 2009 by quantifying tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) fruit yield and soil nutrient balance in a greenhouse tomato double-cropping system. Fertilizer nitrogen (N) application was reduced by 37% in the RF and RF+C treatments compared to the CF treatment with no significant reduction in fruit yield. Mean soil mineral N (Nmin) content to a depth of 180 cm following tomato and maize harvest was lower in the RF and RF+C treatments than in the CF treatment. Residual soil Nmin content was reduced by 21% and 55% in the RF and RF+C treatments, respectively, compared to the CF treatment. Surplus phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents in the RF+C treatment were significantly lower than those in the RF treatment, mainly due to additional P and K uptake by the catch crop. We concluded that for intensive greenhouse production systems, the RF and RF+C treatments could maintain tomato fruit yield, reduce the potential for nitrate (NO3--N) leaching, and with a catch crop, provide additional benefits through increased biomass production. |
| Key Words: maize, nutrient surplus, nutrient uptake, reduced fertilization, soil mineral N, soil nutrient balance |
| Citation: Yuan, H. M., Blackwell, M., Rahn, C. and Chen, Q. 2015. Fertilization and catch crop strategies for improving tomato production in North China. Pedosphere. 25(3): 364-371. |
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