Soil nitrogen balance and nitrogen utilization of winter wheat affected by straw management and nitrogen application in the Yangtze river basin of China

Straw incorporation is a useful management practice in sustainable agricultural systems to improve soil fertility and to reduce air pollution from straw burning. A three-year field experiment was conducted under two rice straw managements and four nitrogen (N) application rates in Rugao, China during 2010–2013, to examine whether straw management practices integrated with fertilizer N applications affect crop yield, N balance and N use efficiency in the wheat season of rice-wheat cropping systems. The results showed that straw incorporation had positive effects on plant N uptake and grain yield. This may be attributed to the greater soil water content and lower amount of seasonal rainfall. However, straw incorporation resulted in lower soil inorganic N and more N surplus at the early growth stage. Grain yield had a significant relation with wheat N uptake from sowing to jointing and from jointing to anthesis with straw incorporation. Therefore, our results suggest that in adjusting the ratio of basal and topdressing N fertilizer, it is important for the supply of optimum N to the crop and to maintain grain production with straw incorporation.