Effects of Water and Nitrogen Management on Water Productivity, Nitrogen Use Efficiency and Leaching Loss in Rice Paddies

Abstract

Effective water and nitrogen (N) management strategies are critical for sustainable agricultural development. Lysimeter experiments with two deep percolation rates (low percolation and high percolation, i.e., LP and HP: 3 mm d⁻¹ and 5 mm d⁻¹) and five N application levels (N0~N4: 0, 60, 135, 210 and 285 kg N ha⁻¹) were conducted to investigate the effects of controlled drainage on water productivity (WP) and N use efficiency (NUE) in water-saving irrigated paddy fields. The results demonstrated that NH₄⁺-N and NO₃⁻-N were the major components of total nitrogen (TN) in ponded water and leachate, accounting for more than 77.1% and 83.6% of TN, respectively. The risk of N leaching loss increased significantly under treatment of high percolation rates or high N application levels. High percolation loss required greater irrigation input, thus reducing WP. In addition, N uptake increased with increasing N application, but fertilization applied in excess of crop demand had a negative effect on grain yield. NUE was affected by the amount of N applied and increased with decreasing N levels. Water and N application levels had a significant effect on N uptake of rice, but their interaction on N uptake or NUE was not significant. For the LP and HP regimes, the highest N uptake and WP were obtained with N application levels of 285 kg ha⁻¹ and 210 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. Our overall results suggested that the combination of controlled drainage and water-saving irrigation was a feasible mitigation strategy to reduce N losses through subdrainage percolation and to provide more nutrients available for rice to improve NUE, thus reducing diffuse agricultural pollution. Long-term field trials are necessary to validate the lysimeter results.