Sustainable Analysis of Maize Production under Previous Wheat Straw Returning in Arid Irrigated Areas

Conservation tillage is widely recognized as an important way to improve soil quality, ensure food security and mitigate climate change. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the subject in terms of sustainable evaluation of environmental and economic benefits of the combination of no tillage and straw returning for maize production in arid irrigated areas. In this study, grain yield (GY) and water use efficiency based on grain yield (WUEGY), soil carbon emission characteristics and economic benefits were investigated, and a sustainability evaluation index based on the above indicators was assessed in maize production under a wheat–maize rotation system from 2009 to 2012. Four wheat straw returning approaches were designed: no tillage with 25 to 30 cm tall wheat straw mulching (NTSMP), no tillage with 25 to 30 cm tall wheat straw standing (NTSSP), conventional tillage with 25 to 30 cm tall wheat straw incorporation (CTSP), and conventional tillage without wheat straw returning (CTP). The results showed that NTSMP treatment could effectively regulate water consumption characteristics of maize fields and meet the water conditions for high grain yield formation, thus gaining higher GY and WUEGY. NTSMP increased GY and WUEGY of maize by 13.7–17.5% and 15.4–16.7% over the CTP treatment, and by 5.6–9.0% and 2.3–11.2% over the CTSP treatment, respectively. Meanwhile, compared with CTP, the NTSMP treatment could effectively reduce carbon emissions from maize fields, where average soil carbon emission fluxes (ACf), carbon emission (CE) and water use efficiency based on carbon emission (WUECE) were reduced by 17.7–18.9%, 11.1–11.2% and 8.8–12.8% and carbon emission efficiency (CEE) was increased by 10.2–14.7%. In addition, the NTSMP and NTSSP treatments could effectively increase total output and reduce human labor and farm machinery input, resulting in higher economic benefit. Among them, the NTSMP treatment was the most effective, net income (NI) and benefit per cubic meter of water (BPW) were increased by 16.1–34.2% and 19.1–31.8% over the CTP treatment, and by 13.2–13.3% and 9.8–15.6% over the CTSP treatment, respectively. The sustainability analysis showed that the NTSMP treatment had a high sustainability evaluation index and was a promising field-management strategy. Therefore, no tillage with 25 to 30 cm tall wheat straw mulching is a sustainable maize-management practice for increasing economic benefits and improving environmental impacts in arid irrigated areas.

[1]  D. Fornara,et al.  No tillage decreases GHG emissions with no crop yield tradeoff at the global scale , 2023, Soil and Tillage Research.

[2]  R. Rees,et al.  Optimizing crop rotation increases soil carbon and reduces GHG emissions without sacrificing yields , 2023, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.

[3]  Xiaolong Wang,et al.  Agricultural environmental footprint index based on planetary boundary: Framework and case on Chinese agriculture , 2022, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[4]  P. Lakshmanan,et al.  An integrated straw-tillage management increases maize crop productivity, soil organic carbon, and net ecosystem carbon budget , 2022, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.

[5]  K. Siddique,et al.  Straw mulching for enhanced water use efficiency and economic returns from soybean fields in the Loess Plateau China , 2022, Scientific Reports.

[6]  Junya Chen,et al.  Tillage strategies optimize SOC distribution to reduce carbon footprint , 2022, Soil and Tillage Research.

[7]  Q. Chai,et al.  Improving the sustainability of cropping systems via diversified planting in arid irrigation areas , 2022, Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

[8]  Hailin Zhang,et al.  Effects of tillage and straw management on grain yield and SOC storage in a wheat-maize cropping system , 2022, European Journal of Agronomy.

[9]  S. Mondal,et al.  Soil nitrogen status can be improved through no-tillage adoption particularly in the surface soil layer: A global meta-analysis , 2022, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[10]  Zhimin Wang,et al.  Yield sustainability of winter wheat under three limited-irrigation schemes based on a 28-year field experiment , 2022, The Crop Journal.

[11]  H. Zang,et al.  Peanut residue incorporation benefits crop yield, nitrogen yield, and water use efficiency of summer peanut – winter wheat systems , 2022, Field Crops Research.

[12]  X. Peng,et al.  Does straw return increase crop yield in the wheat-maize cropping system in China? A meta-analysis , 2022, Field Crops Research.

[13]  Hailin Zhang,et al.  Comprehensive analysis of resource utilization efficiency under different tillage systems in North China Plain , 2022, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[14]  Cai Zhao,et al.  Energy budgeting, carbon budgeting, and carbon footprints of straw and plastic film management for environmentally clean of wheat-maize intercropping system in northwestern China. , 2022, The Science of the total environment.

[15]  B. Huyghebaert,et al.  Disentangling the impact of contrasting agricultural management practices on soil microbial communities – Importance of rare bacterial community members , 2022, Soil Biology and Biochemistry.

[16]  Lu‐Jun Li,et al.  Dynamics and composition of soil organic carbon in response to 15 years of straw return in a Mollisol , 2022, Soil and Tillage Research.

[17]  B. Zhu,et al.  How do soil organic carbon pool, stock and their stability respond to crop residue incorporation in subtropical calcareous agricultural soils? , 2022, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment.

[18]  A. Zhu,et al.  Soil respiration and net carbon flux response to long-term reduced/no-tillage with and without residues in a wheat-maize cropping system , 2021 .

[19]  Yinglong Chen,et al.  Benefits and limitations of straw mulching and incorporation on maize yield, water use efficiency, and nitrogen use efficiency , 2021 .

[20]  K. Siddique,et al.  Soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, available nutrients, and yield under different straw returning methods , 2021 .

[21]  Junjie Guo,et al.  Crop rotation history constrains soil biodiversity and multifunctionality relationships , 2021 .

[22]  Yan Liu,et al.  Effects of no-tillage and stover mulching on the transformation and utilization of chemical fertilizer N in Northeast China , 2021 .

[23]  H. Tian,et al.  Conservation tillage increases corn and soybean water productivity across the Ohio River Basin , 2021 .

[24]  Jeffrey A. Coulter,et al.  Managing the trade-offs among yield, economic benefits and carbon and nitrogen footprints of wheat cropping in a semi-arid region of China. , 2021, The Science of the total environment.

[25]  Jiechen Wu,et al.  Integrated wheat-maize straw and tillage management strategies influence economic profit and carbon footprint in the Guanzhong Plain of China. , 2021, The Science of the total environment.

[26]  Hailin Zhang,et al.  Responses of greenhouse gas emissions to residue returning in China's croplands and influential factors: A meta-analysis. , 2021, Journal of environmental management.

[27]  Jeffrey A. Coulter,et al.  No tillage with previous plastic covering increases water harvesting and decreases soil CO2 emissions of wheat in dry regions , 2021 .

[28]  K. Siddique,et al.  Effect of natural factors and management practices on agricultural water use efficiency under drought: A meta-analysis of global drylands , 2021 .

[29]  Xin-ping Chen,et al.  Converting maize production with low emergy cost and high economic return for sustainable development , 2021 .

[30]  A. Mamun,et al.  Agricultural subsidies and global greenhouse gas emissions , 2020, Nature Communications.

[31]  Meng Li,et al.  Non-negligible regional differences in the driving forces of crop-related water footprint and virtual water flows: A case study for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region , 2020, Journal of Cleaner Production.

[32]  Z. Jia,et al.  Hydrothermal effects on maize productivity with different planting patterns in a rainfed farmland area , 2021 .

[33]  Q. Zhuang,et al.  Evapotranspiration partitioning and water productivity of rainfed maize under contrasting mulching conditions in Northwest China , 2021 .

[34]  Na Liu,et al.  Depth of straw incorporation significantly alters crop yield, soil organic carbon and total nitrogen in the North China Plain , 2021 .

[35]  Hailin Zhang,et al.  Responses of grain yield and water use efficiency of winter wheat to tillage in the North China Plain , 2020 .

[36]  Jeffrey A. Coulter,et al.  Straw and plastic management regulate air-soil temperature amplitude and wetting-drying alternation in soil to promote intercrop productivity in arid regions , 2020 .

[37]  Jeffrey A. Coulter,et al.  Conservation Tillage Increases Water Use Efficiency of Spring Wheat by Optimizing Water Transfer in a Semi-Arid Environment , 2019, Agronomy.

[38]  Cai Zhao,et al.  Wheat-Maize Intercropping With Reduced Tillage and Straw Retention: A Step Towards Enhancing Economic and Environmental Benefits in Arid Areas , 2018, Front. Plant Sci..

[39]  Xuezheng Shi,et al.  Economics- and policy-driven organic carbon input enhancement dominates soil organic carbon accumulation in Chinese croplands , 2018, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[40]  Lindsay C. Stringer,et al.  The adaptive capacity of maize-based conservation agriculture systems to climate stress in tropical and subtropical environments: A meta-regression of yields , 2018 .

[41]  Qiang Yu,et al.  Biophysical controls of soil respiration in a wheat-maize rotation system in the North China Plain , 2017 .

[42]  Huili Zhao,et al.  Impact of Straw Return on Soil Carbon Indices, Enzyme Activity, and Grain Production , 2017 .

[43]  Cai Zhao,et al.  Effects of Previous Wheat Straw on the Yield of Maize in the Oasis Irrigation Region , 2017 .

[44]  R. Lal,et al.  Crop yields under no-till farming in China: A meta-analysis , 2017 .

[45]  J. Six,et al.  When does no-till yield more? A global meta-analysis , 2015 .

[46]  Aizhong Yu,et al.  Less carbon emissions of wheat–maize intercropping under reduced tillage in arid areas , 2015, Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

[47]  Aizhong Yu,et al.  Higher yield and lower carbon emission by intercropping maize with rape, pea, and wheat in arid irrigation areas , 2014, Agronomy for Sustainable Development.