IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v145y2016icp90-98.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a wheat–maize rotation system while still maintaining productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Jianzheng
  • Wang, Enli
  • Wang, Yingchun
  • Xing, Hongtao
  • Wang, Daolong
  • Wang, Ligang
  • Gao, Chunyu

Abstract

High-input agriculture in China has successfully increased crop productivity in the past decades, but at a significant environmental cost. It is essential to improve management strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental costs, while maintaining grain yields. However, there is a lack of studies to evaluate mitigation strategies under long-term climate variability. This paper combines field experimental data and soil–plant systems modeling to investigate the potential for improving water and nitrogen management of a wheat–maize double cropping system in North China Plain. The APSIM model was calibrated against the data and then applied to simulate crop yield and N2O emissions from soil in response to irrigation and nitrogen inputs. Our results show that the N fertilizer rate and irrigation amount under the local farmer practice could be reduced by 28% and 14% without sacrificing crop yield. This in turn led to a reduction in GHG emissions by 31%, mainly attributed to the decrease in emissions from the production and transportation of N fertilizer and direct N2O emissions from soil. Additionally, the results indicate that the direct N2O emissions from soil was positively correlated with N inputs, implying an increasing emission factor (N2O produced per unit of N input) with N application rates. It is concluded that potential exists to optimize N fertilizer rate and irrigation amount to reduce GHG emissions while still maintaining crop yield in the agro-ecosystems in North China Plain.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Jianzheng & Wang, Enli & Wang, Yingchun & Xing, Hongtao & Wang, Daolong & Wang, Ligang & Gao, Chunyu, 2016. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a wheat–maize rotation system while still maintaining productivity," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 90-98.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:145:y:2016:i:c:p:90-98
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2016.03.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X16300476
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agsy.2016.03.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Probert, M. E. & Dimes, J. P. & Keating, B. A. & Dalal, R. C. & Strong, W. M., 1998. "APSIM's water and nitrogen modules and simulation of the dynamics of water and nitrogen in fallow systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 1-28, January.
    2. Xinping Chen & Zhenling Cui & Mingsheng Fan & Peter Vitousek & Ming Zhao & Wenqi Ma & Zhenlin Wang & Weijian Zhang & Xiaoyuan Yan & Jianchang Yang & Xiping Deng & Qiang Gao & Qiang Zhang & Shiwei Guo , 2014. "Producing more grain with lower environmental costs," Nature, Nature, vol. 514(7523), pages 486-489, October.
    3. Fang, Q. & Ma, L. & Yu, Q. & Ahuja, L.R. & Malone, R.W. & Hoogenboom, G., 2010. "Irrigation strategies to improve the water use efficiency of wheat-maize double cropping systems in North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(8), pages 1165-1174, August.
    4. Guo, Ruiping & Lin, Zhonghui & Mo, Xingguo & Yang, Chunlin, 2010. "Responses of crop yield and water use efficiency to climate change in the North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(8), pages 1185-1194, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yan, Zongzheng & Zhang, Xiying & Rashid, Muhammad Adil & Li, Hongjun & Jing, Haichun & Hochman, Zvi, 2020. "Assessment of the sustainability of different cropping systems under three irrigation strategies in the North China Plain under climate change," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    2. Bai, Huiqing & Wang, Jing & Fang, Quanxiao & Huang, Binxiang, 2020. "Does a trade-off between yield and efficiency reduce water and nitrogen inputs of winter wheat in the North China Plain?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    3. Jianzheng Li & Zhongkui Luo & Yingchun Wang & Hu Li & Hongtao Xing & Ligang Wang & Enli Wang & Hui Xu & Chunyu Gao & Tianzhi Ren, 2019. "Optimizing Nitrogen and Residue Management to Reduce GHG Emissions while Maintaining Crop Yield: A Case Study in a Mono-Cropping System of Northeast China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Hao, Shirui & Ryu, Dongryeol & Western, Andrew & Perry, Eileen & Bogena, Heye & Franssen, Harrie Jan Hendricks, 2021. "Performance of a wheat yield prediction model and factors influencing the performance: A review and meta-analysis," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    5. Zhao, Junfang & Yang, Jiaqi & Xie, Hongfei & Qin, Xi & Huang, Ruixi, 2024. "Sustainable management strategies for balancing crop yield, water use efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    6. Li, Jianzheng & Wang, Ligang & Luo, Zhongkui & Wang, Enli & Wang, Guocheng & Zhou, Han & Li, Hu & Xu, Shiwei, 2021. "Reducing N2O emissions while maintaining yield in a wheat–maize rotation system modelled by APSIM," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lu, Jie & Bai, Zhaohai & Velthof, Gerard L. & Wu, Zhiguo & Chadwick, David & Ma, Lin, 2019. "Accumulation and leaching of nitrate in soils in wheat-maize production in China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 407-415.
    2. van Oort, P.A.J. & Wang, G. & Vos, J. & Meinke, H. & Li, B.G. & Huang, J.K. & van der Werf, W., 2016. "Towards groundwater neutral cropping systems in the Alluvial Fans of the North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 131-140.
    3. Guanghua Yin & Jian Gu & Fasheng Zhang & Liang Hao & Peifei Cong & Zuoxin Liu, 2014. "Maize Yield Response to Water Supply and Fertilizer Input in a Semi-Arid Environment of Northeast China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-6, January.
    4. Dono, Gabriele & Cortignani, Raffaele & Doro, Luca & Giraldo, Luca & Ledda, Luigi & Pasqui, Massimiliano & Roggero, Pier Paolo, 2013. "Adapting to uncertainty associated with short-term climate variability changes in irrigated Mediterranean farming systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 1-12.
    5. Hao, Shirui & Ryu, Dongryeol & Western, Andrew W & Perry, Eileen & Bogena, Heye & Franssen, Harrie Jan Hendricks, 2024. "Global sensitivity analysis of APSIM-wheat yield predictions to model parameters and inputs," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 487(C).
    6. El-Naggar, A.G. & Hedley, C.B. & Horne, D. & Roudier, P. & Clothier, B.E., 2020. "Soil sensing technology improves application of irrigation water," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    7. Li, Sien & Kang, Shaozhong & Zhang, Lu & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Ding, Risheng & Guo, Weihua & Zhao, Peng & Chen, Xia & Xiao, Huan, 2015. "Ecosystem water use efficiency for a sparse vineyard in arid northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 24-33.
    8. Taotao Yang & Jixiang Zou & Longmei Wu & Xiaozhe Bao & Yu Jiang & Nan Zhang & Bin Zhang, 2024. "Experimental Warming Reduces the Grain Yield and Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency of Double-Cropping indica Rice in South China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-12, June.
    9. Zhao, Zhanqing & Qin, Wei & Bai, Zhaohai & Ma, Lin, 2019. "Agricultural nitrogen and phosphorus emissions to water and their mitigation options in the Haihe Basin, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 262-272.
    10. Yan, Nana & Wu, Bingfang & Perry, Chris & Zeng, Hongwei, 2015. "Assessing potential water savings in agriculture on the Hai Basin plain, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 11-19.
    11. Chen, Qi & Qu, Zhaoming & Ma, Guohua & Wang, Wenjing & Dai, Jiaying & Zhang, Min & Wei, Zhanbo & Liu, Zhiguang, 2022. "Humic acid modulates growth, photosynthesis, hormone and osmolytes system of maize under drought conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    12. Bruna Moreira & Alexandre Gonçalves & Luís Pinto & Miguel A. Prieto & Márcio Carocho & Cristina Caleja & Lillian Barros, 2024. "Intercropping Systems: An Opportunity for Environment Conservation within Nut Production," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-23, July.
    13. Azam Lashkari & Amin Alizadeh & Ehsan Rezaei & Mohammad Bannayan, 2012. "Mitigation of climate change impacts on maize productivity in northeast of Iran: a simulation study," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, January.
    14. Chen, Shang & He, Liang & Cao, Yinxuan & Wang, Runhong & Wu, Lianhai & Wang, Zhao & Zou, Yufeng & Siddique, Kadambot H.M. & Xiong, Wei & Liu, Manshuang & Feng, Hao & Yu, Qiang & Wang, Xiaoming & He, J, 2021. "Comparisons among four different upscaling strategies for cultivar genetic parameters in rainfed spring wheat phenology simulations with the DSSAT-CERES-Wheat model," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    15. Rashid, Muhammad Adil & Jabloun, Mohamed & Andersen, Mathias Neumann & Zhang, Xiying & Olesen, Jørgen Eivind, 2019. "Climate change is expected to increase yield and water use efficiency of wheat in the North China Plain," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 193-203.
    16. Zhang, Chao & Xie, Ziang & Wang, Qiaojuan & Tang, Min & Feng, Shaoyuan & Cai, Huanjie, 2022. "AquaCrop modeling to explore optimal irrigation of winter wheat for improving grain yield and water productivity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    17. Zhao, Nana & Liu, Yu & Cai, Jiabing & Paredes, Paula & Rosa, Ricardo D. & Pereira, Luis S., 2013. "Dual crop coefficient modelling applied to the winter wheat–summer maize crop sequence in North China Plain: Basal crop coefficients and soil evaporation component," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 93-105.
    18. Li, Mo & Fu, Qiang & Singh, Vijay P. & Liu, Dong & Li, Jiang, 2020. "Optimization of sustainable bioenergy production considering energy-food-water-land nexus and livestock manure under uncertainty," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    19. Zhang, Bangbang & Li, Xian & Chen, Haibin & Niu, Wenhao & Kong, Xiangbin & Yu, Qiang & Zhao, Minjuan & Xia, Xianli, 2022. "Identifying opportunities to close yield gaps in China by use of certificated cultivars to estimate potential productivity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    20. Ma, L. & Ahuja, L.R. & Islam, A. & Trout, T.J. & Saseendran, S.A. & Malone, R.W., 2017. "Modeling yield and biomass responses of maize cultivars to climate change under full and deficit irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 180(PA), pages 88-98.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:145:y:2016:i:c:p:90-98. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.