Qingfeng Meng

Integrated soil-crop system management for food security

China and other rapidly developing economies face the dual challenge of substantially increasing yields of cereal grains while at the same time reducing the very substantial environmental impacts of intensive agriculture. We used a model-driven integrated soil–crop system management approach to develop a maize production system that achieved mean maize yields of 13.0 t ha−1 on 66 on-farm experimental plots—nearly twice the yield of current farmers’ practices—with no increase in N fertilizer use. Such integrated soil–crop system management systems represent a priority for agricultural research and implementation, especially in rapidly growing economies.

Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from optimized and alternative cereal cropping systems on the North China Plain: A two-year field study

The impacts of different crop rotation systems with their corresponding management practices on grain yield, greenhouse gas emissions, and fertilizer nitrogen (N) and irrigation water use efficiencies are not well documented. This holds especially for the North China Plain which provides the staple food for hundreds of millions of people and where groundwater resources are polluted with nitrate and depleted through irrigation. Here, we report on fertilizer N and irrigation water use, grain yields, and nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) emissions of conventional and optimized winter wheat-summer maize double-cropping systems, and of three alternative cropping systems, namely a winter wheat-summer maize (or soybean)-spring maize system, with three harvests in two years; and a single spring maize system with one crop per year. The results of this two-year study show that the optimized double-cropping system led to a significant increase in grain yields and a significant decrease in fertilizer N use and net greenhouse gas intensity, but the net greenhouse gas N2O emissions plus CH4 uptake and the use of irrigation water did not decrease relative to the conventional system. Compared to the conventional system the net greenhouse gas emissions, net greenhouse gas intensity and use of fertilizer N and irrigation water decreased in the three alternative cropping systems, but at the cost of grain yields except in the winter wheat-summer maize-spring maize system. Net uptake of CH4 by the soil was little affected by cropping system. Average N2O emission factors were only 0.17% for winter wheat and 0.53% for maize. In conclusion, the winter wheat-summer maize-spring maize system has considerable potential to decrease water and N use and decrease N2O emissions while maintaining high grain yields and sustainable use of groundwater.

Understanding Dry Matter and Nitrogen Accumulation with Time-Course for High-Yielding Wheat Production in China

Understanding the time-course of dry matter (DM) and nitrogen (N) accumulation in terms of yield–trait relationships is essential to simultaneously increase grain yield and synchronize N demand and N supply. We collected 413 data points from 11 field experiments to address patterns of DM and N accumulation with time in relation to grain yield and management of winter wheat in China. Detailed growth analysis was conducted at the Zadok growth stages (GS) 25 (regreening), GS30 (stem elongation), GS60 (anthesis), and GS100 (maturity) in all experiments, including DM and N accumulation. Grain yield averaged 7.3 Mg ha−1, ranging from 2.1 to 11.2 Mg ha−1. The percent N accumulation was consistent prior to DM accumulation, while both DM and N accumulation increased continuously with growing time. Both the highest and fastest DM and N accumulations were observed from stem elongation to the anthesis stage. Significant correlations between grain yield and DM and N accumulation were found at each of the four growth stages, although no positive relationship was observed between grain yield and harvest index or N harvest index. The yield increase from 7–9 Mg ha−1 to >9 Mg ha−1 was mainly attributed to increased DM and N accumulation from stem elongation to anthesis. Although applying more N fertilizer increased N accumulation during this stage, DM accumulation was not improved, indicating that N fertilizer management and related agronomic management should be intensified synchronously across the wheat growing season to simultaneously achieve high yields and match N demand and N supply.

Growing sensitivity of maize to water scarcity under climate change.

Climate change can reduce crop yields and thereby threaten food security. The current measures used to adapt to climate change involve avoiding crops yield decrease, however, the limitations of such measures due to water and other resources scarcity have not been well understood. Here, we quantify how the sensitivity of maize to water availability has increased because of the shift toward longer-maturing varieties during last three decades in the Chinese Maize Belt (CMB). We report that modern, longer-maturing varieties have extended the growing period by an average of 8 days and have significantly offset the negative impacts of climate change on yield. However, the sensitivity of maize production to water has increased: maize yield across the CMB was 5% lower with rainfed than with irrigated maize in the 1980s and was 10% lower (and even >20% lower in some areas) in the 2000s because of both warming and the increased requirement for water by the longer-maturing varieties. Of the maize area in China, 40% now fails to receive the precipitation required to attain the full yield potential. Opportunities for water saving in maize systems exist, but water scarcity in China remains a serious problem.

Improving Yield and Nitrogen Use Efficiency Simultaneously for Maize and Wheat in China: A Review

Abstract Achieving both high yield and high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) simultaneously has become a major challenge with increased global demand for food, depletion of natural resources, and deterioration of environment. As the greatest consumers of N fertilizer in the world, Chinese farmers have overused N, and there has been poor synchrony between crop N demand and N supply because of limited understanding of the N uptake-yield relationship. To address this problem, this study evaluated the total and dynamic N requirement for different yield ranges of two major crops (maize and wheat), and suggested improvements to N management strategies. Whole-plant N aboveground uptake requirement per grain yield (Nreq) initially deceased with grain yield improvement and then stagnated, and yet most farmers still believed that more fertilizer and higher grain yield were synonymous. When maize yield increased from 12.0 Mg ha−1, Nreq decreased from 19.8 to 17.0 kg Mg−1 grain. For wheat, it decreased from 27.1 kg Mg−1 grain for grain yield 9.0 Mg ha−1. Meanwhile, the percentage of dry matter and N accumulation in the middle-late growing season increased significantly with grain yield, which indicated that N fertilization should be concentrated in the middle-late stage to match crop demand while farmers often applied the majority of N fertilizer either before sowing or during early growth stages. We accordingly developed an integrated soil-crop system management strategy that simultaneously increases both grain yield and NUE.

Harvesting more grain zinc of wheat for human health

Increasing grain zinc (Zn) concentration of cereals for minimizing Zn malnutrition in two billion people represents an important global humanitarian challenge. Grain Zn in field-grown wheat at the global scale ranges from 20.4 to 30.5 mg kg−1, showing a solid gap to the biofortification target for human health (40 mg kg−1). Through a group of field experiments, we found that the low grain Zn was not closely linked to historical replacements of varieties during the Green Revolution, but greatly aggravated by phosphorus (P) overuse or insufficient nitrogen (N) application. We also conducted a total of 320-pair plots field experiments and found an average increase of 10.5 mg kg−1 by foliar Zn application. We conclude that an integrated strategy, including not only Zn-responsive genotypes, but of a similar importance, Zn application and field N and P management, are required to harvest more grain Zn and meanwhile ensure better yield in wheat-dominant areas.

Designing a new cropping system for high productivity and sustainable water usage under climate change

The food supply is being increasingly challenged by climate change and water scarcity. However, incremental changes in traditional cropping systems have achieved only limited success in meeting these multiple challenges. In this study, we applied a systematic approach, using model simulation and data from two groups of field studies conducted in the North China Plain, to develop a new cropping system that improves yield and uses water in a sustainable manner. Due to significant warming, we identified a double-maize (M-M; Zea mays L.) cropping system that replaced the traditional winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) –summer maize system. The M-M system improved yield by 14–31% compared with the conventionally managed wheat-maize system, and achieved similar yield compared with the incrementally adapted wheat-maize system with the optimized cultivars, planting dates, planting density and water management. More importantly, water usage was lower in the M-M system than in the wheat-maize system, and the rate of water usage was sustainable (net groundwater usage was ≤150 mm yr−1). Our study indicated that systematic assessment of adaptation and cropping system scale have great potential to address the multiple food supply challenges under changing climatic conditions.

Validation of a Critical Nitrogen Curve for Summer Maize in the North China Plain

The concept of critical N concentration (Nc) has been widely used in agronomy as the basis for diagnosis of crop N status, and allows discrimination between field situations of sub-optimal and supra-optimal N supply. A critical N dilution curve of Nc = 34.0W−0.37, where W is the aboveground biomass (Mg DM ha−1) and Nc the critical N concentration in aboveground dry matter (g kg−1 DM), was developed for spring maize in Europe. Our objectives were to validate whether this European critical N dilution curve was appropriate for summer maize production in the North China Plain (NCP) and to develop a critical N dilution curve especially for summer maize production in this region. In total 231 data points from 16 experiments were used to test the European critical N dilution curve. These observations showed that the European critical N dilution curve was unsuitable for summer maize in the NCP, especially at the early growth stage. From the data obtained, a critical N dilution curve for summer maize in the NCP was described by the equation of Nc = 27.2W−0.27, when aboveground biomass was between 0.64 and 11.17 Mg DM ha−1. Based on this curve, more than 90% of the data for the N deficiency supply treatments had an N nutrition index (NNI) 1.