In:
Global Change Biology, Wiley, Vol. 19, No. 8 ( 2013-08), p. 2467-2477
Abstract:
Although the goal of doubling food demand while simultaneously reducing agricultural environmental damage has become widely accepted, the dominant agricultural paradigm still considers high yields and reduced greenhouse gas ( GHG ) intensity to be in conflict with one another. Here, we achieved an increase in maize yield of 70% in on‐farm experiments by closing the yield gap and evaluated the trade‐off between grain yield, nitrogen (N) fertilizer use, and GHG emissions. Based on two groups of N application experiments in six locations for 16 on‐farm site‐years, an integrated soil‐crop system ( HY ) approach achieved 93% of the yield potential and averaged 14.8 Mg ha −1 maize grain yield at 15.5% moisture. This is 70% higher than current crop ( CC ) management. More importantly, the optimal N rate for the HY system was 250 kg N ha −1 , which is only 38% more N fertilizer input than that applied in the CC system. Both the N 2 O emission intensity and GHG intensity increased exponentially as the N application rate increased, and the response curve for the CC system was always higher than that for the HY system. Although the N application rate increased by 38%, N 2 O emission intensity and the GHG intensity of the HY system were reduced by 12% and 19%, respectively. These on‐farm observations indicate that closing the yield gap alongside efficient N management should therefore be prominent among a portfolio of strategies to meet food demand while reducing GHG intensity at the same time.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1354-1013
,
1365-2486
DOI:
10.1111/gcb.2013.19.issue-8
Language:
English
Publisher:
Wiley
Publication Date:
2013
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2020313-5
SSG:
12
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