Technologies for Achieving High-Yield Maize of High Nutritional Quality

A special issue of Agriculture (ISSN 2077-0472). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Production".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2025 | Viewed by 673

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Crop Research Institute, National Engineering Research Center of Wheat and Maize, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100, China
Interests: plant nutrition; intercropping; rotation; micronutrient; biofortification; high yielding and high efficiency; agroecology; sustainable agriculture; agricultural green development
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Guest Editor
College of Agronomy, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an 271018, China
Interests: crop yield; nutrient uptake and regulation; fertilizer use efficiency; stress physiology
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Guest Editor
Institute of Eco-Environment and Industrial Technology, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China
Interests: plant nutrition; N management; micronutrient; fertilizer use efficiency; high-yielding and high efficiency; soil quality

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Achieving high-yield maize and high nutritional quality is critical to ensuring global food security in quantity and quality. There are lots of practical technologies to improve maize yields. However, most of these technologies lack nutritional quality analysis. For example, each year, the breeders, agronomists, or farmers will announce new record-breaking yields of different maize cultivars, as it seems the yield level is climbing annually; however, the explanations and nutritional qualities behind these new records are less studied and summarized. As far as we know, the yield record of maize has already broken through 39.6 t/ha in the United States of America and 25.0 t/ha in China. Therefore, the technologies for achieving high-yield maize, especially corresponding nutritional quality changes, should be thoroughly summarized.

This Special Issue focuses on the effects of a single technology and the combined/integrated systematic technologies for achieving high-yield maize, and simultaneously, changes in nutritional qualities should be presented. Research exploring new technologies involving the integration of agricultural machinery and agronomy to boost agricultural modernization and “green” technologies for improving yield and nutritional qualities and protecting the environment is particularly welcome. Original research articles and reviews are accepted.

Prof. Dr. Haiyong Xia
Prof. Dr. Baizhao Ren
Dr. Shanchao Yue
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • soil tillage
  • sowing quality
  • planting density
  • drip irrigation
  • fertilization management
  • micronutrient
  • integration of water and fertilizer
  • plant growth regulator
  • biostimulant
  • drones
 
 

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 2204 KB  
Article
Controlled-Release Urea Coordinates Maize Physiology with Soil Nitrogen Retention: Balancing High Yield and Environmental Sustainability
by Wei Yan, Meng Huang, Huiqing Yang, Zhonghua Wang, Shujuan Sun, Yinshan Xie, Jinbian Sun, Qiong Li, Bo Liu, Chengcheng Gao, Yanfang Xue and Kaichang Liu
Agriculture 2025, 15(16), 1778; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15161778 - 19 Aug 2025
Viewed by 413
Abstract
Controlled-release urea (CRU) can improve nitrogen (N) use efficiency and yield, but comprehensive evaluations of its agronomic, physiological, and environmental impacts remain limited. Through a two-year field experiment comparing three CRU types with conventional urea at five N rates (0-280 kg N ha [...] Read more.
Controlled-release urea (CRU) can improve nitrogen (N) use efficiency and yield, but comprehensive evaluations of its agronomic, physiological, and environmental impacts remain limited. Through a two-year field experiment comparing three CRU types with conventional urea at five N rates (0-280 kg N ha−1), we demonstrate that CRU at 180 kg N ha−1 maintained high maize yields (13.9 Mg ha−1) while improving N use efficiency, with thermosetting polymer-coated samples (TCU) showing superior performance. There was a significant increase in the net photosynthetic rate by 7.9–32.7% and intercellular CO2 concentration by 20.6–40.0% under CRU treatments during the silking and milking stages. The CRU treatments also sustained optimal levels of hormones, N metabolism enzymes, and sucrase and urease activities. Compared to common urea, life cycle assessment indicates that CRU has achieved a 47.5% reduction in reactive N losses and an 18.7% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. Economically, CRU outperformed common urea, with TCU providing the highest net benefit through yield stability and labor savings. These findings establish TCU at 180 kg N ha−1 as an optimal strategy of maize production in the North China Plain, balancing productivity, profitability, and environmental protection. Full article
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