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Article

Straw Return Substituting Potassium Fertilizer Increases Crop Yield, Efficiency, and Quality in Maize-Wheat Rotation System

1
College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang 471023, China
2
Luoyang Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Luoyang 471023, China
3
Luoyang Dryland Agriculture Test Site, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Luoyang, Luoyang 471023, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agronomy 2024, 14(6), 1266; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14061266
Submission received: 6 May 2024 / Revised: 31 May 2024 / Accepted: 4 June 2024 / Published: 12 June 2024
(This article belongs to the Section Soil and Plant Nutrition)

Abstract

The application of potassium fertilizer application and straw return are effective agronomic measures for increasing crop productivity; however, information on how straw return—when substituting potassium fertilizer—affects crop yield, efficiency, and quality in dryland remains limited. In this study, an experiment on a dryland summer maize and winter wheat rotation system was initiated in 2007. This study included four treatments: CK (no fertilizer and no straw return), NP (nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer application without straw return), NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer application without straw return), and NPS (NP treatment with straw return, substituting potassium fertilizer as used in the NPK treatment). These treatments were employed to assess grain yield and fertilizer agronomic efficiency in 2015–2020. Additionally, we evaluated the content of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), as well as the protein content and protein yield in maize and wheat grains and the protein components in wheat grains in 2019–2020. The results showed that compared to the CK treatment, NP, NPK, and NPS treatments not only significantly increased the yield, protein yield, and fertilizer agronomic efficiency in both maize and wheat but also increased the content of protein and protein components in wheat grains. Compared to the NP treatment, the NPK treatment significantly increased the contents of N, K, globulin, and gluten in wheat grains by 5.11%, 21.59%, 10.06%, and 15.14%. Compared to NPK treatment, NPS treatment significantly increased the average yield of summer maize by 21.33% and 20.91%, respectively, as well as the annual yield by 9.99% and 13.59%, the N fertilizer agronomic efficiency of summer maize by 132.47%, and the annual N and P fertilizer agronomic efficiency by 42.83% and 64.36%, over the five-year period. The NPS treatment also significantly increased the summer maize protein yield and annual protein yield by 10.43% and 23.08%, as well as the content of protein components, the protein content, and P content in wheat grains by 4.93–13.58%, 7.81%, and 28.89%, respectively. In conclusion, NPS treatment can not only enhance crop yield, protein yield, and fertilizer agronomic efficiency in summer maize annually but also has the advantage of promoting wheat quality. NPS is an efficient strategy to improve crop yield, efficiency, and quality in a dryland maize–wheat rotation system.
Keywords: straw return; potassium; grain yield; nutrient content; protein components; fertilizer agronomic efficiency; maize-wheat rotation straw return; potassium; grain yield; nutrient content; protein components; fertilizer agronomic efficiency; maize-wheat rotation

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MDPI and ACS Style

Guo, J.; Jiang, P.; Zhang, J.; Dong, S.; Tian, W.; Li, J.; Li, F.; Lv, J.; Yao, Y.; Hou, Y.; et al. Straw Return Substituting Potassium Fertilizer Increases Crop Yield, Efficiency, and Quality in Maize-Wheat Rotation System. Agronomy 2024, 14, 1266. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14061266

AMA Style

Guo J, Jiang P, Zhang J, Dong S, Tian W, Li J, Li F, Lv J, Yao Y, Hou Y, et al. Straw Return Substituting Potassium Fertilizer Increases Crop Yield, Efficiency, and Quality in Maize-Wheat Rotation System. Agronomy. 2024; 14(6):1266. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14061266

Chicago/Turabian Style

Guo, Jinhua, Peipei Jiang, Jun Zhang, Shiyan Dong, Wenzhong Tian, Junhong Li, Fang Li, Junjie Lv, Yuqing Yao, Yuanquan Hou, and et al. 2024. "Straw Return Substituting Potassium Fertilizer Increases Crop Yield, Efficiency, and Quality in Maize-Wheat Rotation System" Agronomy 14, no. 6: 1266. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14061266

APA Style

Guo, J., Jiang, P., Zhang, J., Dong, S., Tian, W., Li, J., Li, F., Lv, J., Yao, Y., Hou, Y., Wu, S., Shaaban, M., Huang, M., & Li, Y. (2024). Straw Return Substituting Potassium Fertilizer Increases Crop Yield, Efficiency, and Quality in Maize-Wheat Rotation System. Agronomy, 14(6), 1266. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14061266

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