N Stress Alleviation in Crops—A System Approach Analysing Residual N From Winter Crops in a Late‐Maize‐Wheat Sequence

Abstract

Nitrogen (N) is crucial for crop production. Crop sequences with different legume participation affect N availability and therefore N fertiliser management. The study aimed to assess the inclusion of winter crops (WC) with different amounts of residues and different C:N ratios on the following: (i) the response to N fertilisation in the following late-­maize (Zea mays L.), and tocarry that comparison into a subsequent wheat crop (Triticum aestivum L.), and (ii) identify soil N indicators associated with these responses. Two field experiments (E1 and E2) were conducted in the Argentinean Pampas during two growing seasons to evaluate a WC/late-­maize-­wheat sequence under no-­tillage. In each experiment, late-­maize was sown after a bare-­fallow andthree WC: wheat, vetch (Vicia villosa L.) and field pea (Pisum sativum L.), where five rates of N fertilisation were evaluated. An area of late-­maize that was not fertilised with N within each previous WC was used to evaluate the response to N fertilisation in the subsequent wheat crop. Indigenous N was estimated by using N uptake in the non-­N-­fertilised treatments. Soil N indicatorsand C:N ratio of WC residues were evaluated as indicators of response to N fertilisation in both crops. Significant responses to N fertilisation in grain yield and N uptake were observed in late-­maize when bare-­fallow and wheat were the previous treatments in both experiments. In contrast, vetch and field pea supplied 32 and 40 kg N ha−1 in E1 and E2, respectively, and showed no re-sponse to N fertilisation, satisfying the N required by late-­maize. However, this supply was not enough to sustain the N demand of the subsequent wheat, where the response to N addition ranged from 36% to 74% when vetch and wheat were the previous WC, respectively. Only soil inorganic N indicators were associated with indigenous N supply. Moreover, the apparent net WC effect was linked to late-­maize (r2 = 0.91) and subsequent wheat (r2 = 0.67) grain yield response, which was also related to the C:N ratio of the WC residues in late-­maize and the subsequent wheat (r2 = 0.78), suggesting that mineralisation occurs when C:N ratio is below 18. Consequently, in future studies the C:N ratio of the WC residues can be included in N fertilisation recommendation schemes when late-­maize is sown as a double crop in more intensified crop sequences.