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Improving Nitrogen and Water Use Efficiency in Intensive Cropping by Optimized Management and Crop Rotations
Huanxuan Chen1, Jiawen Qi1, Shangyu Guo1
1School of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
Plants (Basel, Switzerland)
|January 10, 2026
Summary
Optimized crop management and rotations significantly boost nitrogen and water use efficiency in wheat-maize systems. Combining manure with synthetic nitrogen fertilizer offers high yields, environmental benefits, and economic gains for sustainable agriculture.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Science
- Agronomy
- Sustainable Agriculture
Background:
- Nitrogen (N) and water are critical for crop production, with efficiency improvements being a global challenge.
- Intensive cropping systems face difficulties in optimizing N and water use.
- Optimized management and crop rotations are key to enhancing resource use efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of optimized management and crop rotations on crop yield, N and water use efficiency, N surplus, and economic benefits.
- To compare conventional winter wheat-summer maize (CN/WM) rotation with alternative optimized rotations.
- To identify sustainable cropping strategies for intensive systems.
Main Methods:
- Field experiment comparing conventional (CN/WM) with five optimized rotations over three years.
- Optimized treatments included adjusted N and irrigation rates, tillage, straw management, manure substitution (ONM/WM), biochar addition (ONB/WM), a double maize rotation (ON/WMM), and green manure (ON/GM).
- Evaluated crop yield, N use efficiency (NUE), water use efficiency (WUE), N surplus, and economic returns.
Main Results:
- Optimized wheat-maize rotations (ON/WM, ONM/WM, ONB/WM) maintained yields comparable to conventional methods while significantly increasing NUE (19-41%) and WUE (13-20%).
- These optimized treatments also reduced N surplus (353-531 kg N ha⁻² yr⁻¹).
- The ONM/WM treatment showed the best comprehensive performance with the highest economic benefits.
Conclusions:
- Optimized management, particularly combining manure with synthetic N fertilizer in wheat-maize rotations, enhances crop productivity, environmental quality, and economic profitability.
- Alternative rotations like ON/WMM and ON/GM improve NUE and WUE but may yield less, making them suitable for water-scarce regions.
- These findings contribute to developing more sustainable crop production systems.
Keywords:
N surplusN use efficiencymanure recyclingnitrate accumulationwater use efficiencywheat–maize rotationMore Related Videos
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