IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agiwat/v309y2025ics0378377425000484.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Integrated application of fertilization increased maize (Zea mays L.) yield by improving soil quality, particularly under limited water conditions in a semi-arid sandy area

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Ning
  • Zhang, Tonghui
  • Li, Yuqiang
  • Cong, Anqi
  • Lian, Jie
  • Feng, Keyun

Abstract

Water shortage and soil degradation are major challenges to agricultural production encountered in the semi-arid areas. The advantage of application of organic and biofertilizers in improving the soil productivity have been verified. However, there is still a lack of related research evaluating the effect of integrated fertilization measures on soil quality and crop productivity as well as their potential relationships under varying water supply levels. Herein, a two-year field study with two water levels (sufficient water, 220 mm; limited water, 60 mm) and five fertilization treatments (CK, no fertilizer; CF, chemical fertilizer; CFB, bio-fertilizer combined with CF; CFO, organic fertilizer combined with 70 % CF; CFOB, bio-fertilizer combined with CFO) was conducted to evaluate the effects on grain yield, resource use efficiency and soil quality. The results showed that the limited water supply decreased the grain yield, dry matter weight, nitrogen (N) uptake, N use efficiency, water productivity and most soil properties compared with those under sufficient water supply. Among different fertilization measures, CFOB was superior to other treatments both at sufficient and limited water supply, as it significantly improved the maize average yield (2022 and 2023), dry matter weight, N uptake, NUE and WP by 18.2–27.3 %, 9.2–31.2 %, 13.3–16.6 %, 38.9–62.3 %, 18.7–26.8 % compared with CF, respectively. Moreover, CFOB promoted the soil quality index (SQI) by improving the soil properties and consequently increased the grain yield. Accordingly, the integrated application of biofertilizer, organic and chemical fertilizer would be a sustainable fertilization strategy for improving soil quality and crop productivity, particularly in the semiarid sandy areas. Additionally, the results also revealed the underlying mechanisms of positive response between grain yield and SQI under varying water supply levels, which mainly attributing to the different key soil factors related to the grain yield. This study provided theoretical guidance for fertilization measures under varying water supply to improve soil quality and sustainable development of agriculture.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Ning & Zhang, Tonghui & Li, Yuqiang & Cong, Anqi & Lian, Jie & Feng, Keyun, 2025. "Integrated application of fertilization increased maize (Zea mays L.) yield by improving soil quality, particularly under limited water conditions in a semi-arid sandy area," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:309:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425000484
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109334
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378377425000484
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.agwat.2025.109334?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.

    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:agiwat:v:309:y:2025:i:c:s0378377425000484. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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/agwat .

    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.