Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73

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Field Crops Research

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Long-term effects of controlled release urea application on crop yields

and soil fertility under rice-oilseed rape rotation system
Jibiao Geng a , Yunbao Sun a , Min Zhang a,∗ , Chengliang Li a , Yuechao Yang a , Zhiguang Liu a ,
Shuanglai Li b
a
National Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Soil and Fertilizer Resources, National Engineering & Technology Research Center for Slow and
Controlled Release Fertilizers, College of Resources and Environment, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong 271018,China
b
Institute for Plant Protection and Soil Science, Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wuhan 430064, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Nitrogen (N) fertilizer has played an important role in increasing rice and oilseed rape yields, but more
Received 12 May 2015 than half of the N fertilizer applied into the field has been lost and results in not only an environmen-
Received in revised form 27 July 2015 tal hazard but also a substantial economic loss. Thus, the controlled release N fertilizer was expected
Accepted 5 September 2015
to reduce the labor cost from fertilizer dressing, to the convenience of fertilizers application and to
increase N use efficiency. A 7-year field fertilization experiment applied controlled-release urea (CRU)
Keywords:
100% (180 kg ha−1 ), 70% (126 kg ha−1 ) and 50% (90 kg ha−1 ) of the recommended N fertilizer to explore
Controlled release urea
its effects on crops yield and soil fertility under the rice (Oryza sativa L.)-oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.)
Crop yield
Long-term fertilizer experiment
rotation system in Hubei province of China. Meanwhile the equivalent rates of N as common urea were
Nitrogen use efficiency supplied as split applications in different growth stages as the control. The N release characteristic of CRU
Soil fertility in field condition was closely matched to the demand for N during the whole growth periods of crops.
Consequently, the CRU treatments achieved significantly higher rice and oilseed rape yield by 6.1–8.2%
and 6.3–15.5%, the mean nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of CRU treatments was increased by 15.4–38.4%,
and the average annual net profit was also increased by 16.0–20.8%, compared with urea treatment at
the same N rate. For each type of N fertilizer, the yield increased as the input N rate increased. However,
reducing CRU rate by 30% produced the same yield of rice and oilseed rape as with the 100% rate of urea.
And, the rice yield of CRU50% treatment was even showed no significant with Urea100% treatment. The
contents of nitrate N (NO3 − -N) and ammonium N (NH4 + -N) were higher in 0–40 cm soil of CRU treatments
than urea treatments over 7-year fertilization in 2013, but the opposite trend was found in 60–100 cm
soil, which indicating that CRU decreased the NO3 − -N and NH4 + -N leaching to deep in the soil. The con-
tents of total N and organic matter were increased by applying CRU for 7 years compared with urea
fertilizer. Although the contents of available P and K were increased over the 7 years of fertilization and
cultivation, no prominent difference was observed between CRU70% and Urea100%. The results suggest
that a 30% decrease in the recommended application rate of N is possible with CRU while maintaining
the same yield, preserving the soil fertility and also labor/time-saving.
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction than 60% of the population in China (Bi et al., 2009), and the crop
yield was increased mainly through the application of chemical fer-
Paddy-upland crop rotations are the most important cropping tilizers which had gradually become the main measures to improve
system in South and East Asia countries such as China, India and the soil fertility (Nam et al., 2013). Nitrogen is the most required
Nepal (Timsina and Connor, 2001). An example is the rice-oilseed nutrient for plant among the most important growth-limiting fac-
rape rotation system that is the main cropping system in the tors (Yin et al., 2014), and N has a significant effect on yield-increase
Yangtze River valley of China. Rice is the main staple food for more during long-term cultivation compared with no N treatment (Shen
et al., 2004; Lyu et al., 2011). Considerable researches have showed
that N fertilization effects on N cycling, soil C storage and mineral-
∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +86 5388242250. ization rates (Sardans et al., 2008), and also influence significantly
E-mail addresses: gengjibiao@[Link] (J. Geng), minzhang-2002@[Link] temporal and spatial distribution of inorganic soil N (Shi et al.,
(M. Zhang), chengliang li11@[Link] (C. Li). 2012). However, the utilization efficiency of N fertilizer is very low

[Link]
0378-4290/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
66 J. Geng et al. / Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73

with an average of 27.5% in China (Zhang et al., 2007). Meanwhile,

excessive chemical N fertilizer in fields may negatively affect the
quality of environment and soil through leaching, runoff, and the
volatilization of N (Galloway et al., 2008).
Many studies had found that the application of controlled
release N fertilizer significantly increased the NUE and yields of
crops (Yang et al., 2011; Haderlein et al., 2001). Besides, some
reports asserted that certain CRU enhanced N uptake and rice grain
yield through prolonged N release from these fertilizers (Fu et al.,
2001; Kiran et al., 2010). Using CRU on rice, N rate and application
frequency were reduced in a 2-year field experiment (Yang et al.,
2012). Moreover, the rice yield and oilseed rape yield with applied
CRU increased by 6.9% each, even when CRU rate was reduced by
20% relative to common urea (Zhang et al., 2010).
A long-term fertilization experiment is an important platform
to identify important scientific problems and to carry out sci-
entific research (Manna et al., 2005; Chinnadurai et al., 2014).
Systematic research with long-term experiments on soil fertil-
ity was conducted by many countries. For example, Regmi et al.
(2002) reported that the long-term fertilized with recommended Fig. 1. Nitrogen release rate for period of time and accumulative release rate of CRU
in 25 ◦ C water.
NPK fertilizer application or farmyard manure not only maintained
or increased N, P and organic carbon contents in soil, but also
decreased available K content compared with the initial soil. Some 2 months and 4 months longevity of CRU, the weight ratio was 1:1.
similar studies found that N application increased residues, includ- So, there were two release peaks during the release time. The same
ing roots, returned to the soil, and increased the organic matter products were used throughout 7 years. The N release longevity of
content in most crops land of China (Liao et al., 2013). CRU in water of 25 ◦ C was showed in Fig. 1. The cultivar used in the
Much effort has been made to explore the long-term influences present study was ‘Fengeryou 1’ for rice and ‘Huaza 9’ for oilseed
of fertilizers on soil quality and nitrogen use efficiency, but all the rape. They are currently major cultivars widely cultivated in the
researches focused on the effects of common urea, organic fertilizer Yangtze River valley of China.
or combined mineral manure with farmyard manure on crop yield
(Shang et al., 2014a). So far, there is a dearth of reports on the long- 2.2. Experimental design and management
term effect of CRU on crop yield and soil chemical properties. Thus,
continuous fertilization of CRU compared with common urea at In this study, there were 7 treatments with triple replicates:
three N levels (90, 126, and 180 kg ha−1 ) was conducted from 2006 the control with no N application (CK), a traditional fertilization of
to 2013. We hypothesized that long-term application of CRU (1) CRU with a N rate of 180 kg ha−1 (CRU100%), CRU with a N rate of
increased the yield of crops and increased N use efficiency, (2) a 30% 126 kg ha−1 (CRU 70%), CRU with a N rate of 90 kg ha−1 (CRU50%),
decrease in the recommended application rate of N is possible with in comparison with the traditional urea fertilization that with a N
CRU while maintaining a high yield, achieving much farm profit and rate of 180 kg ha−1 (Urea100%), urea with a N rate of 126 kg ha−1
reducing labor cost of fertilization, (3) and improved soil fertility (Urea70%) and urea with a N rate of 90 kg ha−1 (Urea50%). All the
under rice-oilseed rape rotation system. treatments were ranked in a randomized block design. The CRU
was used as basal fertilizer once before planting rice and oilseed
rape. While urea was used as split fertilization, it was split in two
2. Materials and methods development stages of the rice crop: one was at preplant (70%)
and the other was in tillering stage (30%), three for oilseed rape
2.1. Study site and materials that was at preplant (50%), seedling stage (20%), and bolting stage
(30%), respectively. Phosphorus and K fertilizers in all treatments
The study was conducted over a period of 7 years from 2006 to were applied as basal dressings at the rate of 26.2 (P) and 74.7 (K)
2013 at the experimental farm located in Zhijiang, Hubei province, kg ha−1 , respectively.
China (E 111◦ 45 26 , N 30◦ 29 30 ). The area was characterized by a The rice and oilseed rape were cultivated with a density of
subtropical monsoon climate with an annual average temperature 195,000 plants ha−1 and 120,000 plants ha−1 , respectively. Plots
of 16.50 ◦ C and annual mean precipitation of 1041.8 mm, and the were arranged randomly with an area of 25 m2 (5 m × 5 m). Oilseed
precipitation was mainly in June and July. The crop rotation was rice rape was transplanted in October of each year and harvest in May
(Oryza sativa L.)-oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Main properties next year, and then rice was transplanted, which was harvested in
for top-layer soil (0–20 cm) at the experimental site in 2006 before mid-September in the same year.
planting were: pH, 6.35 (1:5, the ratio of soil to water), soil total
N concentration, 1.2 g kg−1 , NO3 − -N concentration, 7.1 mg kg−1 , 2.3. Sampling and measurement
NH4 + -N concentration, 14.2 mg kg−1 ; available P concentration,
7.5 mg kg−1 , organic matter concentration, 22.4 g kg−1 , and avail- The N content and longevity of CRU in water were determined
able K concentration, 141.8 mg kg−1 , respectively. by the method of “State Standard of the People’s Republic of China-
The conventional fertilizers used were urea (containing 46% N) Slow Release Fertilizer” (Liu et al., 2009), 10 g CRU was placed in
as N fertilizer, superphosphate (containing 5.2% P) as P fertilizer, a glass bottle containing 500 ml distilled water in three replicates,
and potassium chloride (containing 49.8% K) as K fertilizer, respec- and then keep in a constant temperature incubator at 25 ◦ C. The
tively. The polymer coating of sulfur-coated urea (hybrid coatings content of released N from CRU was determined using Kjeldahl
with sulfur and a thin polymer-coating containing 33% N, made method, and the solution samples were collected at 10, 20, 30, 40,
by Kingenta Ecological Engineering Co. Ltd., Shandong, China) was 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 d when the accumulative N release rate
used as CRU for crops. The CRU used in this paper was a mixture of of CRU was more than 80%. For field conditions, the N cumulative
 J. Geng et al. / Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73 67

release rates were measured by a weight loss method (Wilson et al., 3.2. Crop yield under rice-oilseed rape rotation system
2009). There were 50 mesh bags (10 cm length and 8 cm wide) in
which 10 g CRU prills were contained in every bag were placed in The rice grain yield was significantly increased by the applica-
the ploughed layer of soil before planting crops, and 3 bags were tion of N fertilizers throughout 7-year cropping season compared
picked up every 10 days in the rice field, while every 30 days in the with control treatment (Table 1). For control treatment, the rice
oilseed rape field. The loss of weight was assumed as the rate of yield showed a decreasing trend from 2008 to 2013 despite of some
N release from CRU. Meanwhile, a soil temperature and humidity fluctuations with cultivated time. The yields were increased with
recorder was buried in soil with a depth of 15 cm. the increasing N application rates and the rice yields of CRU treat-
At the end of the growing season, the grain yields of rice or ments were significantly higher than those used urea at the same
oilseed rape were measured from 15 m2 in the center. Soil sam- N application rates. The average annual yield of CRU 100% treat-
ples were collected twice in October 6, 2012 after harvest of rice ment was increased by 7.9% during the 7-year period relative to
and in May 23, 2013 after harvest of oilseed rape. Three soil cores that in Urea100% treatment, and the largest response occurred in
were collected in each plot from the 0–20, 20–40, 40–60 cm soil lay- 2009 and 2010 with yield increased by 11.2% and 12.1%, respec-
ers, respectively. Fresh soil samples of the same soil depth per plot tively. Although the yield of CRU70% was significantly higher than
were mixed as a composite sample throughout the whole plots. In Urea100% treatment except for 2007, 2011, and 2012, there was no
addition, soil samples in CK, CRU100% and Urea100% treatments at significant difference in rice yields between CRU50% and Urea100%
depths of 60–80 and 80–100 cm were collected. Soil samples were in the 7 years. On the other hand, the grain yield in Urea70% and
divided into two parts. One part was stored fresh in a 4 ◦ C refrig- Urea50% treatments were significantly lower compared with that
erator, until soil inorganic N content was determined by analyzing in Urea100%.
NO3 − -N and NH4 + -N, and another part was air-dried, and ground Different N managements had significant effects on the oilseed
pass through 2 mm sieve and 0.25 mm sieve. rape yields (Table 2). The yields were higher in the first year (2007),
The concentrations of NO3 − -N and NH4 + -N (extraction with but the yields were relatively stable from 2008 to 2013. The CRU
0.01 M CaCl2 ) in fresh soil samples were analyzed in extract solution was superior to the urea in yield improvement, and the yield of
using the AA3-A001-02E Auto-analyzer (Bran-Luebbe, Germany) CRU100% treatment increased by 16.0% and 12.3% in 2011 and 2012
within 48 h after collection. Soil organic carbon was determined than Urea100%, but there was no significantly difference in other
by using a wet oxidation method with K2 Cr2 O7 and concentrated years. The oilseed rape yield in CRU70% had no difference with
H2 SO4 (Nelson and Sommer, 1975). Total N content was measured Urea100%. However, the yields of CRU70% and CRU50% treatments
by using a Kjeldahl digestion method (Douglas et al., 1980). Soil pH were 4.2–23.5% and 8.5–30.7% higher than that in the Urea70%
value was measured at a 1:5 (w:v) ratio of soil to CO2 -free distilled and Urea50% treatments, respectively. Among all the treatments,
water using a pH meter (PB-10, Sartorius AG, Germany). Soil avail- the highest yield occurred in the CRU100%, followed in descending
able P content was determined using the Olsen-P method, based on order by Urea100% and CRU70%, Urea70% and CRU50%, Urea50%
extraction of air-dry soil with 0.5 M NaHCO3 at pH 8.5. Soil avail- and CK.
able K content was measured by using the CH3 COONH4 extraction
method measured by a flame photometer. The total apparent NUE 3.3. NUE under rice-oilseed rape rotation system
(%) = (plant total N uptake from N treatment – the plant total N
uptake in no N fertilizer treatment)/total applied fertilizer N in the The NUE of rice plant was relatively stable with time before
N treatment × 100% (Yang et al., 2012). 2008, but had a small decrease from 2009 to 2010 (Fig. 3). From
2010 to 2013, the NUE increased with time in all treatments. It
was the lowest in Urea100% treatment, and the highest NUE was
2.4. Data statistical analysis
occurred in CRU50%. The NUE in CRU treatments was significantly
higher than that in urea treatments with the same N rates fertil-
Microsoft Excel 2007 was adopted for processing data and
ization. It was lower in CRU100% in the first year, compared to
SigmaPlot12.2 was used for drawing of figures. Date were com-
Urea70%, but it was equal or higher than Urea70% from continued
pared statistically by one-way ANOVA with least significant
application of CRU. For the oilseed rape, the NUE was also remained
difference test (Duncan’s multiple range test) at the 0.05 proba-
a stable level despite some fluctuations with time over 7-year of fer-
bility level in Statistical Analysis System (SAS) package version 9.2
tilization and cultivation in all treatments (Fig. 3), and the dynamics
(2010, SAS Institute, Cary, NC).
trends of NUE was the same with that in rice. The NUE of oilseed
rape was higher compared with rice, which caused by the poor
3. Results production of rape plant and low N uptake in the control treatment.

3.1. Nitrogen cumulative release characteristics of CRU in water 3.4. Organic matter and soil N content
and field conditions
The content of soil organic matter remained at a stable level
The cumulative release curve of the CRU under laboratory con- with time over 7 years of fertilization (Table 3). The organic mat-
ditions (25 ◦ C in water) revealed quick release in the first month ter content in all treatments was increased compared with the
(Fig. 1), then the release rate was slow from 30th to 60th day, and initial value (22.4 g kg−1 ) in 0–20 cm soil, but it reduced with the
followed by an accelerated nutrient-release stage (70th to 90th deeper of soil layers. Although the organic matter increased with
day). The cumulative release rate of CRU reached 81.1% in 90 days. the increase of N application rates in 0–60 cm, no difference was
The N release characteristic in the rice field was similar to that in found among CRU100%, Urea100% and CK treatments in 60–100 cm
water (Fig. 2), which showed that there were two release peaks, soil. The total N content showed an obvious decrease with deeper of
one was in the first month (27.8% was released) and the other was soil layers (Table 4) and increased in 0–20 cm over 7-year fertiliza-
occurred in 60–80th day. There were almost 84.6% of N was released tion. Compared with the control treatment, the total N contents in
in harvest stage of rice. However, the N release was quickly in the 0–40 cm soil of CRU100%, CRU70% and Urea100% were significantly
first month, followed by a stage of slow release from 30th to 150th increased after the harvest of rice. However, the total N content
days (13.6% was released), and ending with an accelerated release was increased in 0–20 cm soil, except the control treatment, com-
stage in the oilseed rape field. pared with the initial value, after the harvest of oilseed rape, and
68 J. Geng et al. / Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73

Fig. 2. Nitrogen accumulative release rate of CRU in mesh bags buried in the rice-oilseed rape field.

Table 1
Long-term effects of CRU on the yield of rice in the growing seasons from 2007 to 2013.

Treatment Rice yield by per year (kg ha−1 ) Average yield(kg ha−1 ) % change relative to Urea100%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

CK 5950 e 6565 e 6411 d 6470 d 6320 e 6070 e 6003 d 6255 −24.1

CRU100% 8242 a 8217 a 9397 a 9046 a 9128 a 9323 a 8868 a 8889 7.9
CRU70% 8017 b 8173 a 8971 ab 8963 a 9051 ab 9053 ab 8771 a 8714 5.8
CRU50% 7733 c 8062 ab 8563 bc 8054 b 8377 c 8471 bc 7962 b 8175 -0.8
Urea100% 7917 b 7920 bc 8454 c 8071 b 8629 bc 8629 bc 8041 b 8237 –
Urea70% 7758 c 7813 cd 8321 c 7954 bc 8392 c 8367 cd 7769 bc 8053 −2.2
Urea50% 7300 d 7637 d 8112 c 7579 c 7891 d 7976 d 7416 c 7702 −6.5

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05).

Table 2
Long-term effects of CRU on the yield of oilseed rape in the growing seasons from 2007 to 2013.

Treatment Oilseed rape yield by per year (kg ha−1 ) Average yield(kg ha−1 ) % change relative to Urea100%

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

CK 1140f 925c 792f 1159e 902g 747f 832d 928 −62.9

CRU100% 3551a 2309a 2434a 2543a 2846a 2154a 2776a 2659 6.3
CRU70% 3277b 2192a 2251b 2484ab 2644b 2001b 2674a 2503 0.1
CRU50% 2603d 2003ab 1959d 2393bc 2284d 1798cd 2441b 2212 −11.6
Urea100% 3471ab 2213a 2359a 2451ab 2454c 1918bc 2641a 2501 –
Urea70% 2899c 2034ab 2068c 2384c 2141e 1714de 2386b 2232 −10.7
Urea50% 1992e 1847b 1768e 2168d 1786f 1631e 2218c 1916 −23.4

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05).

Fig. 3. Dynamics of NUE of rice and oilseed rape in the different fertilizer treatments with time during 7-year fertilization.
 J. Geng et al. / Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73 69

Table 3
Long-term effects of CRU on soil organic matter concentration in 0–100 cm soil profile at the harvest stage of crops.

Treatment Organic matter content after the rice harvest in 2012 (g kg−1 ) Organic matter content after the oilseed rape harvest in 2013 (g kg−1 )

0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 60–80 cm 80–100 cm 0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 60–80 cm 80–100 cm

CK 22.8 b 12.1 c 8.5 c 8.6 a 7.8 a 23.6 c 12.8 c 8.5 c 9.4 a 8.3 a
CRU100% 25.4 a 16.2 a 10.8 a 8.6 a 7.2 a 27.1 a 18.2 a 11.6 a 9.6 a 8.8 a
CRU70% 24.5 a 14.1 b 10.3 a – – 26.2 ab 17.6 ab 11.4 a – –
CRU50% 23.6 ab 11.8 c 9.2 b – – 24.3 b 15.3 bc 9.8 bc – –
Urea100% 24.0 a 14.5 b 9.6 ab 8.4 a 7.4 a 27.7 a 18.1 a 10.5 b 9.4 a 7.3 a
Urea70% 23.8 ab 11.7 c 8.7 c – – 25.2 b 16.6 b 10.4 b – –
Urea50% 22.9 b 10.9 c 8.6 c – – 24.5 c 13.5 c 9.2 bc – –

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05). “–” means no data was available.

Table 4
Long-term effects of CRU on soil total N concentration in 0-100 cm soil profile at the harvest stage of crops.

Treatment Total N content after the rice harvest in 2012 (g kg−1 ) Total N content after the oilseed rape harvest in 2013 (g kg−1 )

0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 60–80 cm 80–100 cm 0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 60–80 cm 80–10 cm

CK 1.36 c 0.86 b 0.66 a 0.61 a 0.51 a 1.43 c 0.80 b 0.59 a 0.41 a 0.44 a
CRU100% 1.66 a 0.92 a 0.78 a 0.58 a 0.52 a 1.73 a 0.93 a 0.62 a 0.45 a 0.40 a
CRU70% 1.59 ab 0.96 a 0.73 a – – 1.69 a 0.83 ab 0.63 a – –
CRU50% 1.51 b 0.89 b 0.71 a – – 1.66 a 0.84 ab 0.62 a – –
Urea100% 1.50 b 1.04 a 0.73 a 0.56 a 0.49 a 1.69 a 0.89 a 0.60 a 0.44 a 0.42 a
Urea70% 1.46 c 0.85 b 0.68 a – – 1.61 ab 0.85 ab 0.62 a – –
Urea50% 1.42 c 0.85 b 0.69 a – – 1.54 b 0.74 b 0.66 a – –

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05). “–” means no data was available.

only CRU100% and Urea100% treatment was significantly higher The pH value was decreased little in all treatments compared
in 20–40 cm soil compared with CK. No prominent difference was with initial value (pH 6.35), but was significantly decreased with
found in 40–100 cm soil. the increased N application rates. In comparison with CK, the pH
The content of NO3 − -N increased with increasing rates of N value in CRU100% and Urea100% significantly decreased in 0–20 cm
application (Table 5). The NO3 − -N content by using CRU was higher and 20–40 cm depth. However, it was higher in CRU treatments
at 0–60 cm soil layers than that in urea treatments at the same N compared with urea treatments at the same N rates, and also no
rate application, but was lower in 60–100 cm. The NO3 − -N content remarkable differences were found in 40–100 cm depth among all
in CRU70% treatment was higher in 0–20 cm soil, while no signif- treatments.
icant difference was discovered in 40–60 cm soil, compared with
Urea100% in the rice season. Meanwhile, the NO3 − -N content of
4. Discussion
CRU70% in 20–60 cm soil was lower than that in the Urea100% in
the oilseed rape season.
4.1. Long-term effects of CRU on crops yields and NUE
Soil NH4 + -N in CK treatment was lower compared with N fer-
tilization treatments in the 0–40 cm soil layer of rice and oilseed
The CRU generally outperformed granular urea fertilizer in
rape fields (Table 5). Although there was no significant difference
reducing N losses, stimulating plant growth, and increasing NUE
between CK and the reduced N rates fertilization treatments, it was
(Kiran et al., 2010). Yang et al. (2012) reported that placing the
decreased compared with the 100% N rate fertilization treatments.
CRU with rice seeds without additional fertilizer application dur-
Meanwhile, soil NH4 + -N in CRU treatments was higher than urea
ing the whole growing season significantly increased N availability
treatments at the same N fertilization rates in 0–60 cm, but NH4 + -N
in soil and improved rice yields by 13.6–26.5%. In the present study,
content of the treatments below 60 cm soil level was ranked as the
the rice and oilseed rape yields were increased by 23.0–42.0% and
following sequence: Urea100% > CRU100% > CK.
106.0–187.0% by N fertilization, respectively, compared with the
control treatment. As for rice, the yields of CRU treatments were
3.5. Available P and K content and soil pH values significantly higher than urea treatments with the same N rate
application, and even when the CRU was reduced 50% N rates, the
It was observed that the content of available P was declined with CRU50% was still remained the same yield with Urea100%. How-
the soil depth (Table 6). Although the available P was increased over ever, the oilseed rape yields in CRU100% were not significantly
7-year fertilization and cultivation, compared with initial value, no augmented compared with Urea100% except 2011 and 2012, while
pronounced difference was observed among all the treatments in there was no difference between CRU70% and Urea100%. The yields
the same soil layer. Available K content in soil profile was signif- of CRU70% and CRU50% were pronounced increased compared with
icantly influenced by N fertilization (Table 7). The soil available K Urea70% and Urea50% treatments. So, the crops which applied CRU
content in rice season was higher than that in oilseed rape sea- achieved more grain yield than the crops applied urea over 7-year
son within 0–60 cm. The available K content of CRU showed a clear fertilization, and similar research also reported by Yang et al. (2011)
decrease with the increase N applications rates while the K content and Ye et al. (2013) in 2-year cultivation.
in urea treatments was increased with the increase N applications The demand of N by rice was low during early growth period,
rates in 0–20 cm soil. high N demand from transplanting to heading stage, and low N
There was a strong depth-dependency of soil pH value in the demand from heading to mature stage (Kirk, 2001), and the N-
rotation (Table 8), and the pH value was increased with the depth. demand of oilseed rape during autumn can be accomplished by
70 J. Geng et al. / Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73

Table 5
Long-term effects of CRU on NO3 − -N and NH4 + -N concentration in 0–100 cm soil profile at the harvest stage of crops.

Treatment NO3 − -N content (mg kg−1 ) NH4 + -N content (mg kg−1 )

0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 60–80 cm 80–100 cm 0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 60–80 cm 80–100 cm

After the harvest of rice in 2012

CK 1.56b 2.10ab 1.73b 0.94b 1.72b 7.17c 6.45d 9.83bc 7.67c 7.40c
CRU100% 4.90a 2.42a 2.90a 0.65c 2.03b 9.43a 10.92a 12.37a 9.67b 10.80b
CRU70% 4.55a 2.00ab 1.95b – – 8.20b 10.50a 8.43c – –
CRU50% 1.76b 1.60b 1.39b – – 7.75bc 7.65c 8.17c – –
Urea100% 4.90a 2.00ab 1.65b 2.87a 3.58a 8.63ab 8.85b 11.40ab 13.00a 12.80a
Urea70% 1.63b 1.85ab 1.03b – – 7.86bc 8.45b 7.95c – –
Urea50% 1.26b 1.60b 1.39b – – 7.57c 7.80c 8.11c – –

After the harvest of oilseed rape in 2013

CK 5.08c 2.75b 1.22e 0.87b 0.74b 8.27cd 9.93bc 11.15b 8.94b 8.4b
CRU100% 8.85a 3.75a 6.58a 1.31b 0.84b 16.53a 13.47a 14.30a 9.58ab 8.38b
CRU70% 6.84b 1.94c 2.92c – – 14.32b 10.08bc 10.33bc – –
CRU50% 2.37d 1.35d 1.10e – – 9.04c 9.08bc 11.38b – –
Urea100% 4.68c 2.92b 4.75b 2.26a 1.3a 12.80bc 10.82b 12.19ab 10.95a 9.95a
Urea70% 4.47c 1.88c 2.45cd – – 9.00c 8.30cd 8.46c – –
Urea50% 2.09d 1.54cd 1.71de – – 9.02c 7.77d 8.26c – –

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05). “-” means no data was available.

Table 6
Long-term effects of CRU on available P concentration at the harvest stage of crops.

Treatment Available P content after the harvest of rice (mg kg−1 ) Available P content after the harvest of oilseed rape (mg kg−1 )

0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm

CK 10.0 a 8.2 a 10.9 a 10.9 a 7.8 b 8.4 a

CRU100% 11.4 a 9.0 a 11.3 a 11.0 a 8.4 a 9.7 a
CRU70% 10.5 a 9.9 a 10.8 a 10.9 a 8.7 a 9.1 a
CRU50% 10.4 a 9.0 a 10.5 a 10.9 a 8.2 a 9.2 a
Urea100% 10.5 a 8.7 a 11.7 a 10.2 a 8.8 a 9.4 a
Urea70% 10.2 a 8.6 a 9.6 a 9.9 a 8.9 a 9.7 a
Urea50% 10.2 a 8.2 a 9.2 a 9.7 a 8.4 a 9.8 a

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05). “–” means no data was available.

Table 7
Long-term effects of CRU on available K concentration at the harvest stage of crops.

Treatment Available K content after the harvest of rice (mg kg−1 ) Available K content after the harvest of oilseed rape (mg kg−1 )

0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm

CK 269.6 a 346.3 a 406.0 ab 169.8 a 242.5 b 366.5 a

CRU100% 197.4 c 316.6 c 418.1 a 145.7 c 205.9 cd 343.2 ab
CRU70% 232.3 ab 290.1 c 332.7 d 152.5 bc 283.7 a 367.8 a
CRU50% 171.7 cd 302.6 c 410.1 ab 157.5 ab 209.2 cd 292.8 c
Urea100% 252.1 a 291.3 c 352.9 c 158.4 ab 203.6 cd 275.7 c
Urea70% 230.9 ab 344.8 a 373.1 c 149.7 c 192.8 d 299.2 c
Urea50% 192.4 c 324.1 bc 420.5 ab 151.9 bc 220.7 bc 332.1 b

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05). “–” means no data was available.

Table 8
Long-term effects of CRU on soil pH values in 0–100 cm soil profile at the harvest stage of oilseed rape.

Treatment 0–20 cm 20–40 cm 40–60 cm 60–80 cm 80–100 cm

CK 6.24 a 6.45 a 6.59 a 6.75 a 6.84 a

CRU100% 6.10 b 6.22 b 6.52 a 6.84 a 6.93 a
CRU70% 6.20 ab 6.45 a 6.62 a – –
CRU50% 6.22 ab 6.48 a 6.69 a – –
Urea100% 6.07 b 6.31 b 6.56 a 6.85 a 6.86 a
Urea70% 6.15 ab 6.33 b 6.71 a – –
Urea50% 6.16 ab 6.40 a 6.86 a – –

Note: Means followed by different lowercase letters in the same column were significantly different by Duncan’s test (P < 0.05). “–” means no data was available.

mineralization of residual-N and soil-N related to the previous crop peak stage of CRU (60–90th day). In the oilseed rape field, there
(Dreccer et al., 2000). Therefore, synchronized fertilizer inputs with was only 16.5% released from 30th to 120th day after buried in soil
the crop needs is great important in crop production. In this study, during winter season, because the release rate of CRU was affected
the release rate was quick during tillering stage (the first month by temperature (Yang et al., 2011), and when the soil temperature
after transported) when the rice plant was relatively sensitive and was below 0 ◦ C (Fig. 4), the CRU was almost not released in soil.
urgent for N nutrient, and it required a lot of N for reproductive and The release rate was accelerated during 150–220th day. Hence, the
vegetative growth of crops which was accord to the second release CRU had a character of slow release of nutrient, and the N release
 J. Geng et al. / Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73 71

Fig. 4. Change of soil temperature and humidity.

characteristic in natural field conditions was closely matched the result in soil acidification caused by nitrates leach and unbanlanced
demand for N during the whole growth period of crop. Meanwhile, anions absorber (Kemmitt et al., 2006; Miao et al., 2011). Similary,
the residual N of CRU used in rice season also strengthened the yield the pH values of topsoil were decreased by 0.13–0.28 by N fertil-
of oilseed rape under rice-oilseed rape rotation system. ization in this experiement, but the decrease amplitute was bigger
Also, along with increasing rate of N-fertilizer, the apparent NUE in urea treatments than that in CRU treatments. The pH was even
declined substantially (Rathke et al., 2006; Peng et al., 2010). In the higher in CRU70% than that in Urea70% and Urea50% treatments.
present study, there was also a negative relationship between NUE These results indicateded that the acidification of soil was slowed
and N application rates, and the NUE of CRU treatments was signif- down by applied CRU.
icantly higher than that in urea treatments with the same N rates. Lu et al. (2009) found linear relationships between soil C seques-
Although the highest NUE occurred in CRU50%, CRU70% achieved tration and amount of N fertilizer applied and straw returned. Lyu
more yield than CRU50%. The average annual net farm profit in et al. (2011) also reported both soil organic carbon and total N con-
CRU100% and CRU70% was increased by 16.0% and 12.5%, respec- tent significantly increased after 18 years by using fertilizers, but
tively, compared to Urea100% (Table 9), and even CRU50% showed insufficient supply of nutrients especially N, in either organic or
no difference with Urea100%. The results indicated that CRU as sin- inorganic forms could cause consistent decreases in rice yields over
gle basal application was a greater convenience to increase crops time (Bi et al., 2009). In this study, both total N and soil organic
yield, and a decrease of 30% of the traditional application rate of matter content were increased after 7-year fertilization than initial
urea was recommended to increase NUE. Moreover, it was signif- value, and the values decreased with the depth of soil. Within the
icantly saving in labor, time and energy than urea which applied same N rate, total N and organic matter contents in CRU treatments
twice or three times during the growth seasons of crops. were higher compared with urea treatments in each soil layer. The
reason was that CRU achieved more yield and biomass, and also
4.2. Long-term effects of CRU on soil fertility increased residues, including roots, returned to the soil, and as a
result, increased total N and organic carbon. The contents of total N
The nitrate nitrogen was not adsorbed on soil particles but was and organic matter in CRU70% were higher than that in Urea100%
free in the soil solution, and therefore available for plant uptake treatment.
but also liable leaching (Owens et al., 1994). Fang et al. (2006) indi- Potassium (K) is an essential nutrient and involved in many
cated that the optimization of N application (amount and time) to important physiological processes in plants (Duan et al., 2014).
meet crop N requirement was the key to increase crop yield and Some researchers reported that the continuous unbalanced fer-
minimize NO3 − -N leaching, but the high N-fertilizer doses applied tilization had led to serious depletion of soil K across large areas
to achieve maximum yields might increase the risk of environ- of China (Sheldrick et al., 2003; Zhao et al., 2014). The content of
mental pollution (Choudhury and Kennedy, 2007). In this study, available K in this study was ranked as the following sequence:
the application of N fertilizer significantly increased inorganic N CK > Urea100% > CRU100% treatment in 0–20 cm soil. This could be
content compared with unfertilized treatment over 7-year culti- explained that both rice and the oilseed rape removed enormous
vation. It mainly was NH4 + -N that occupied 55.0–95.0% of total amounts of K, resulting in a significant negative K balance in soils
inorganic N in both seasons, which was differed from Shang et al. regardless of whether K fertilizers were applied. However, the con-
(2014b) who hold the view that residual mineral N was NH4 + -N tent of available P showed no significant difference. The result
after rice harvest but was NO3 − -N after upland crop. The content of indicated that 74.7 kg ha−1 K application was insufficient for crop in
NO3 − -N in CRU treatments was higher in 0–60 cm soil layer com- the rice-oilseed rape rotation system. So, controlled release K fertil-
pared with urea treatments, but the opposite trend was observed izers or compound fertilizers involved K should be recommended
in 60–100 cm soil. This was because the supplied N of CRU was and the application rate of K fertilizer should be increased, to meet
according to the need of crops and maintaining more mineral N the need of crop. All the above results suggested that the soil fertil-
in topsoil, to feed plants and decrease the leaching of N under ity of 0–60 cm soil was easily affected by fertilization, but remained
long-term CRU fertilization. Therefore, CRU had great potential for at a stable level in the 60–100 cm soil.
environmental protection and reduced the risk of NO3 − -N leach-
ing. Long-term application of N fertilizers in crop production could
72 J. Geng et al. / Field Crops Research 184 (2015) 65–73

Table 9
Average annual total revenue, cost and net profit of crop production with different N managements.

Treatment Total revenue Fertilizer cost Labor cost of fertilization Other cost Net profit % change relative to Urea100%

(USD ha−1 year-1 )

CK 3418.0 124.8 144.9 1352.7 1795.7 −46.5

CRU100% 5720.6 326.4 144.9 1352.7 3896.6 16.0
CRU70% 5541.3 265.9 144.9 1352.7 3777.7 12.5
CRU50% 5110.8 225.6 144.9 1352.7 3387.6 0.9
Urea100% 5324.9 250.8 362.3 1352.7 3359.1 0
Urea70% 5068.7 213.0 362.3 1352.7 3140.7 −6.5
Urea50% 4706.9 187.8 362.3 1352.7 2804.1 −16.5

Note: The average price in China, rice-450.89 USD t−1 , oilseed rape-644.12 USD t−1 , CRU-515.30 USD t ha−1 , Urea-322 USD t−1 , labor cost of fertilization for one time-
72.46 USD ha−1 . Other cost included seeds, irrigation, pesticide, insecticide, machinery, other materials and expenses.

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This research was partially supported by the Natural Science manure application on soil organic carbon storage, soil quality and yield
sustainability under sub-humid and semi-arid tropical India. Field Crops Res.
Foundation of China (Grant No. 41571236), the Key Projects in the 93 (2–3), 264–280.
National Science & Technology Pillar Program during the Twelfth Miao, Y.X., Stewart, B.A., Zhang, F.S., 2011. Long-term experiments for sustainable
Five-year-Plan Period (Grant No. 2011BAD11B01, 2011BAD11B02) nutrient management in China. A review. Agron. Sustain Dev. 31 (2), 397–414.
Nam, H., Kwak, J., Lim, S., Choi, W., Lee, S., Lee, D., Lee, K., Kim, S., Lee, S.,
and the Key Projects in the National “948” Program during the
Matsushima, M., 2013. Fertilizer n uptake of paddy rice in two soils with
Twelfth Five-year Plan Period (Grant No. 2011-G30). different fertility under experimental warming with elevated CO2 . Plant Soil
369 (1–2), 563–575.
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