[Effects of nitrogen and irrigation water application on yield, water and nitrogen utilization and soil nitrate...

A field experiment was carried out to study the effects of nitrogen and irrigation water application on growth, yield, and water and nitrogen use efficiency of summer cotton, and to develop the optimal water and nitrogen management model for suitable yield and less nitrogen loss in summer cotton field in the Huang-Huai region. Two experimental factors were arranged in a split plot design. The main plots were used for arranging nitrogen factor which consisted of five nitrogen fertilizer le-vels(0, 60, 120, 180, 240 kg·hm^-2, referred as N₀, N₁, N₂, N₃, N₄), and the subplots for irrigation factor which consisted of three irrigation quota levels (30, 22.5, 15 mm, referred as I₁, I₂, I₃). There were 15 treatments with three replications. Water was applied with drip irrigation system. Experimental results showed that both irrigation and nitrogen fertilization promoted cotton growth and yield obviously, but nitrogen fertilizer showed more important effects than irrigation and was the main factor of regulating growth and yield of summer cotton in the experimental region. With the increase of nitrogen fertilization rate and irrigation amount, the dry mater accumulation of reproductive organs, the above-ground biomass at the flowering-bolling stage and seed cotton yield increased gradually, reached peak values at nitrogen fertilization rate of 180 kg·hm^-2 and decreased slowly with the nitrogen fertilization rate further increased. The maximum yield of 4016 kg·hm^-2 was observed in the treatment of N₃I₁. Increasing nitrogen fertilizer amount would improve significantly total N absorption of shoots and N content of stem and leaf, but decrease nitrogen partial factor productivity. The maximum irrigation-water use efficiency of 5.40 kg·m^-3 and field water use efficiency of 1.24 kg·m^-3 were found in the treatments of N₃I₃ and N₃I₁, respectively. With increasing nitrogen fertilization amount, soil NO₃^--N content increased and the main soil NO₃^--N accumulation layer moved downward. By comprehensively considering above-ground biomass, seed cotton yield, water and nitrogen uptake and utilization, and soil NO₃^--N accumulation in the soil profile, the treatment N₃I₁ could be recommended as the optimal water and nitrogen application pattern for summer cotton production in the experimental region.